Looking back: Western's early international students
In keeping with its stated mission of “bringing the world to Washington and Washington to the world,” Western Washington University is currently working to increase its international student population. While, historically, the percentage of international students at Western has been very low compared to peer universities, international students have had a presence at this institution for over a hundred years.
The April/May 1905 edition of “The Normal Messenger,” the school newspaper for the Washington State Normal School at Bellingham (as the institution was then called), makes note of one of the earliest known international students:
“A new student in our halls is Mr. Mazumdar, a native of India. Mr. Mazumdar is a Hindu and is in this country to study our language and civilization. He gave us a short talk upon arriving and we are looking forward to a lecture by him about his own far away country.”
On Sept. 3, 1907, The Bellingham Herald ran a piece titled “Hindu Student To Attend Normal” to announce the arrival of another Indian student, Nabhi Ram Joshi, at the Normal School.
“He has graduated from one of the best universities of his native land and comes to the United States to finish his education,” the paper notes. “The young man is well educated, being able to converse in several languages, of which English is one.”
Just two days later, the paper ran this headline: “Hindus Hounded From City, Mob Drives Foreigners from Lodging Houses and Mills.”
In one of the darkest moments in Bellingham history, a mob of white lumber mill workers attacked South Asian mill workers – who were mostly Sikhs, though the media referred to them as “Hindus” – and drove the entire community of more than 200 people out of town. (See the recent Klipsun Magazine piece by Annika Wolters for more on the riot and its legacy.)
Despite the intolerant atmosphere in the city, Joshi remained at the Normal School and – perhaps because of his social class and status as a student – did not suffer the same fate as his compatriots. Joshi lived with the school’s principal, Edward T. Mathes, and his family in a house across from Old Main (where the Viking Union is now) and attended classes informally. Joshi left the Normal School in 1908, but his experience in Bellingham clearly left an impression on him. In 1924, he wrote a letter to then-president Charles Fisher and asked that it be published in The Normal Messenger. In the letter, which appeared in the January 1925 edition, Joshi writes:
“I want to send to the former and present teachers and students my love and greetings and wish them a Merry Xmas and Happy New Year. May they all enjoy good health and a prosperous year [. . .]
[ . . . ] I wish sincerely to pay, once more in my life, a very humble personal visit to the school, but I do not know if I can ever succeed in it [. . .] I hear that since I have left your country in 1915 the government has made strict laws, making it almost impossible for my countrymen to enter your land and on this side the Indian government is very loath to issue passports to leave India, but I will certainly come if my friends assure me that I will not have any trouble to enter the United States of America.”
It’s unclear if Joshi was ever able to return to Bellingham, but his legacy was felt by the Normal School (and later Western) community. He continued to correspond with members of the Mathes family up until his death in 1969. In his letters, he reminisced about the “beautiful scenery of the sunset at Bellingham Bay” and sent “love and good wishes for the people of Bellingham, the students and staff of the college where I was once a student, and the people of USA.”
In 1997, Miriam Snow Mathes, Librarian of Children’s Literature at Western and daughter-in-law of Edward Mathes, endowed the Nabhi Ram Joshi Scholarship with “the intention of keeping Nabhi Ram Joshi’s name alive at Western, but even more with the hope the scholarship will attract potential leaders from his part of the world.” The Nabhi Ram Joshi Scholarship continues to be offered and is open to students who were born in India or have a parent or grandparent born in India.
While Western’s international population is still small, numbering only 150 (1 percent of the student body), students from around the world continue to make an impact on campus and carry memories of their time in Bellingham with them around the globe.
International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS) supports international degree-seeking and exchange students at WWU in immigration, academic, and cultural matters. For more information, see: www.wwu.edu/isss.
Thanks to University Libraries, Special Collections, and University Advancement for research assistance.
