WWU Students Move into Residence Halls Sept. 22-24 Classes Begin Sept. 27; Many Activities Planned for Students

About 4,200 students will move into Western Washington University’s residence halls and apartments from Friday, Sept. 22 through Sunday, Sept. 24.

The first day of classes at Western is Wednesday, Sept. 27. Total enrollment is expected to be about 15,800, slightly higher than last year.

“We welcome new and returning students to campus and look forward to a new academic year – a wonderful and productive journey of discovery for our students,” said President Sabah Randhawa, starting his second year as president of Western

About 75 percent of students living in campus residence halls will be new to Western and will be introduced to campus traditions during Western Welcome Week, Sept. 23-29 with activities that include Welcoming Convocation, and a planned fireworks display, on Sept. 26. For more information about moving into residence halls, go to http://www.housing.wwu.edu/

On Sept. 25-26 there will be a variety of workshops on study skills, declaring a major and information on managing personal finances, as well as free bus and bike tours of Bellingham, an outdoor movie, and concerts. For more information, visit the New Student Services/Family Outreach website at: http://www.nssfo.wwu.edu/westernWelcomeWeek/index.shtml. New Student Services also provides updates about programs, upcoming events and campus news that helps new students get acclimated to campus. Another good source of information is the WWU Family Connection newsletter for Western families.

A number of informative and interesting activities are planned for Western students at the start of the academic year, including the annual Associated Students Info Fair Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 25 and 26, in Red Square. The Wade King Student Recreation Center Late Night for students will be held from 9 p.m. to midnight on Monday, Sept. 25 at the recreation center. Activities will include dancing, fitness class demonstrations, rock climbing, swimming and more. For more information contact Campus Recreation Services at 650-3766.

On Wednesday, Sept. 27, the WWU Alumni Association will host the second annual Paint B’Ham Blue  for WWU. The evening event, a special downtown Bellingham celebration welcoming new students to the community, starts at 5:45 p.m. at Red Square on campus with a student procession led by President Randhawa and Associated Students President Simrun Chhabra; they will walk about a mile to Depot Market Square. A special downtown festival – a free event for WWU students, alumni, faculty and staff ­– will be offered in the adjacent Depot Market Square with music, food, giveaways and other activities. The sign atop the Herald also will turn to WWU blue, and the downtown will be decked out with 180 trees illuminated with blue lights – a gift from the WWU Alumni Association.

Students use their Western ID card as a Bus Pass, which is valid on all WTA routes including the 80X to Mount Vernon.  A new system, implemented summer 2017, allows the Student ID to function as a bus pass when a student has a transportation fee on their student account for the quarter, without annual re-encoding. Returning students, with ID cards prior to June 28, 2017, should bring their ID card to the Western Card Office for a one-time encoding, enabling the ID to work in the new system.  The Student Late Night Shuttle begins operation Sunday, Sept. 24.  Hours of operation are 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Monday – Saturday and 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays. Students must show a Western ID to board. For complete transportation information visit http://www.wwu.edu/transportation/ or call 360-650-7960.