Welcome to Winter Quarter!

Dear Western Community, 

For new and transfer students, welcome to campus! We’re so happy to have you here. For everyone else, welcome back and Happy New Year! I hope that your holiday break was safe, restful, and enjoyable – and that you're refreshed and prepared for another productive, exciting quarter at Western. 

While the daylight hours may be getting longer now, January and February can still be challenging. For employees, WWU’s Employee Assistance Program is just a click away. For students, a range of resources is available, starting with our Counseling and Wellness Center’s (CWC) annual Beat the Blues programming, which will be held throughout winter quarter. Also, remember that the CWC is available to all students, day or night. Students can also seek support from the experts at our Academic Advising and Student Achievement Center, who provide guidance on academics, personal goals, and overall achievement. 

Another important way to stay active during the winter is to take part in meaningful activities: WWU will honor, support and celebrate The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in a joint ceremony with community partners this Saturday, Jan. 18 at Bellingham High School on Cornwall Avenue. The day will involve a free community breakfast at 10 a.m., the ceremony itself from 11 a.m. to noon, and an afternoon of community service opportunities after that. Join us! Find out more here and sign up for a community work party to help give back.  

Additionally, this quarter the Office of Equity will be facilitating a series of conversations on Feeling, Seeing, and Shaping Belonging at WWU, which is open to all students, faculty and staff. The year-long series on “Community Building through Difficult Conversations,” organized by the Faculty Senate and the Office of Equity, will also continue with sessions on Free Expression and Promises/Perils of AI. I encourage you to engage in those activities.

Kaiser Borsari Hall, our newest building – and the first zero-energy academic building in the region – just opened this quarter. It will expand capacity in WWU’s electrical and computer engineering, energy science, and computer science programs. Stop in and take a look around when you can! I hope you leave the building as proud of it as I am.

I also wanted to take this chance to express my sympathy to our students, employees, and their families who have been affected by the devastating wildfires in Southern California. In the face of this unprecedented disaster, our hearts are with every member of our campus community who has been impacted, and we remain committed to offering our support. 

Finally, over the next several months, our focus will be on advocating for WWU's budget priorities with the state Legislature, alignment of expenditures and revenues within the university's budget, boosting student enrollment, advancing student support initiatives across campus, and, as always, ensuring the safety and well-being of students, faculty, and staff.

I wish you all a successful quarter, and I hope to see you around campus! 

Sabah