The 
northernmost university in the contiguous United States, Western Washington University boasts a magnificent, green campus that’s home to 15,000 students and 160 academic programs. Western Washington University is sustainable to a tee — its Huxley College of the Environment began in 1969 and since 2004 the campus has purchased 100% renewable energy. All this greenery makes Western an awesome campus to explore, whether you live in the city, are the parent of a student, or are in town for a quick break from home. Here are our five must-see picks when visiting campus:
Tour the Sculpture Garden
This garden encompasses Western Gallery’s plaza and includes other campus buildings, quadrangles, lawns and playing fields as well as Western’s renowned Sculpture Collection. Back in 1957, Western’s Board of Trustees decided to acquire works of art when they did any new construction, and the first large-scale installation came three years later with “Rain Forest” by James Fitzgerald. Today’s collection is a fascinating assortment of indoor and outdoor art that features international, national and regional artists. Their work touches on nature, culture, human scale, personal perceptions and spatial dynamics, and the garden as a whole was listed as one of the 10 acclaimed campus collections in the country by Public Art Review Magazine. Pick up a brochure at the Bellingham Whatcom County Visitor Info Center for a self-guided tour.
Walk in the Sehome Arboretum
This 180-acre park of second growth forest is on the hill adjacent to the Western Washington Univeristy campus. The forested trails of Sehome Hill Arboretum were routes once built for Model Ts and Sunday drives, but today they’ve been reclaimed by nature, making this preserve a fabulous place for a quiet walk. On six miles of trails, you will pass ancient fossils of ferns and alders, bedrock and sandstone boulders and towering maples. There’s a tower at the summit of the 630-foot hill and from it, the view of Bellingham Bay sprawls before you, an uplifting, spectacular mix of Pacific Ocean presided over by colossal mountains. Parking for Sehome Hill Arboretum is on Bill McDonald Parkway at 25th Street, near the South end of Western Washington University’s campus.
Outback Farm
The university’s Outback Farm is a four-acre property on campus operated jointly by Fairhaven College and the Western Washington University Student Union. Here, students, faculty and community members cultivate vegetable plots and grow produce for donation to the Bellingham Food Bank. A couple years back I joined a late afternoon Outback Work Party and spent a few hours immersed in the pleasure of garden tasks, preparing vegetable beds, planting crops, weeding, and pruning fruit trees under the direction of a student site manager. Ducks paddled in a small pond at the farm and chickens watched us cautiously from a nearby pen. “In an average year we donate one ton of vegetables and grow over 50 varieties of vegetables and herbs in field plots,” John Tuxill, associate professor at Western Washington University’s Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, told me. “We have fruit trees, a native berry grow featuring edible native species, a chicken flock and beehives.” Outback Farm includes greenhouses, a restored wetland and native forest grove, an orchard and an outdoor performance stage that hosts musical concerts and student theater productions.
Watch the Vikings
The Vikings represent Western Washington University in intercollegiate sports at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference. There are six sports for men and nine for women, with approximately 350 student-athletes in total. Watching one of the games (basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, track and field, rowing, softball and volleyball) is a great way to soak up the college spirit. Check out the schedule for games and consider attending one! The basketball team’s home is the Sam Carver Gymnasium while the baseballers play at Viking Field. Visit The Vikings’ website for the current season and schedule.
Attend Back2Bellingham
Back2Bellingham is an annual event held in May that celebrates today’s learning on the 116-year-old campus. The fun-filled event packs in three days of public lectures, campus tours, kids’ camps, art, food, entertainment and even a zip line. If you have a kid that might go to Western, this is a great, soft introduction to the campus. Parents can match up their kids with a college student who will give them a personalized guided tour, attend an informative “classes without quizzes” session, and the campus is lit up with the energy and music of college life. Tickets are inexpensive ($5-$25) and can be purchased online a month ahead of the event, or at the event itself. Check back2bellingham.org for next year’s lineup.
