Videos


Viking TV, the television show from the student-run station KVIK, is produced several times per quarter, with students covering a variety of topics related to the WWU campus. The latest episode includes, among other things, an interview with Holocaust survivor Noemi Ban and a visit to the recent Drawing Jam event in the VU Gallery.


Past episodes of VTV are available for viewing online.

Ralph Vernacchia, a professor in Western Washington University's department of physical education, health and recreation, discusses the sport of track and field, the Olympic Games and his coming retirement from the university.

Vernacchia, director of Western's Center for Performance Excellence, is the namesake of the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational team track and field meet, which takes place every year at WWU.

He has been a professor at Western for 38 years.

Video by Daniel Berman | University Communications intern

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For most of the last school year, a handful of Western Washington University students worked together to create, from scratch, a theater production that asked "What does it mean to be an American?" Throughout the process, which required many long days (and nights) of collaboration on the piece, they discovered who they are and what they mean to each other.

An investigation of the young American experience, "US" is inspired by Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" and photographer Robert Frank's book "The Americans." The production explored why these two artists traveled thousands of miles to ask "what does it mean to be an American?" and investigated what that question meant 50 years ago and how it resonates for audiences today.

With the help of Rich Brown, an assistant professor of Theatre Arts at Western the ensemble of WWU students devised the original piece, which contained live music, singing, dance and moments of heightened theatricality.

Video filmed and edited by Becky Tachihara | WWU University Communications intern

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Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard speaks on the current budget challenges in an address he also delivered to the WWU Board of Trustees at its regular meeting April 14, 2011.

Video produced by ATUS Video Services

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"Homeschooling," a novel by Western Washington University associate professor of English Carol Guess, is a finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in the lesbian fiction category. In this brief interview, Guess talks about her book, her writing and her career.

Video by Daniel Berman | University Communications intern

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Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard appeared on the "KCTS 9 Connects" television show Friday to talk about funding for higher education in Washington state.


The episode, called "Higher Education Emergency," featured the presidents of five of the state's four-year institutions of higher learning. Shepard begins talking at about 36:40 of the video. Click here to watch the full episode online.


KCTS 9 is a Public Broadcasting System television station in Seattle.

Winter 2011 commencement’s student speaker was graduating senior Sarah Olson, who received a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with two concentrations: International Business and Management Information Systems. A Langley native and graduate of South Whidbey High School, Olson talked to her fellow graduates about the importance of finding their passions.

“Life is too short to neglect our passions,” she says. “Sometimes we need to push everything else aside and ask ourselves, ‘Will this make me truly happy?’”

Approximately 530 undergraduates and 30 master’s candidates received degrees winter quarter.

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Ron Bundy, CEO of Russell Index Group of Russell Investments of Seattle, addressed the winter commencement ceremony at Western Washington University on Saturday, March 19, in Carver Gymnasium.

The Russell Index Group develops benchmarks used by millions to measure the performance of their investments. In addition to helping the Russell Index Group grow into a global leader in investment benchmarking, Bundy also spent two years in Tokyo as CEO of Russell Investments Japan.

Bundy, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Western in Business Administration-Marketing, got some early public speaking experience as president of a large student business club on Western’s campus. He talked to graduates about the importance of persistence.

“This isn’t actually a bad time to be coming into the job market,” Bundy says. “But you have to earn it every day. You can’t assume that just because you got good grades or did a good job, that will carry you forward. As fast as the world’s moving, we have to give it our best every single day.”

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The Western Washington University Foundation on Thursday, March 17, sent to 20,000 young alumni a link to a new fundraising video. The video, which features a simulation of an Apple iPad, shows alums how far their money can go in helping fund current students' educations in form of scholarships.

Click here to view the video in full-screen mode.


Students of Western Washington University physics and astronomy associate professor Richard Vawter pay him a surprise musical tribute during one of his final classes at Western Washington University. Vawter is retiring after 42 years of teaching.


Visit the video on YouTube to read the full text of the song.