New Western Washington University students kick off year with downtown welcome event

Students from Western Washington University’s new freshman class descended on downtown Bellingham Wednesday night, Sept. 21, to round out the first day of class with a welcome event.

The WWU Alumni Association hosted Paint B’ham Blue for WWU, a freshman orientation gathering downtown that the association aims to make an annual event. The event featured vendor tents by local stores and restaurants in Depot Market Square before moving to the Herald Building. There, the students, along with university President Sabah Randhawa and his wife, Uzma Ahmad, signed a WWU banner that will hang on the southwest side of the building for the year.

The building’s iconic HERALD sign was also lit in WWU blue to mark the occasion, highlighted by a brief fireworks show.