"Western was established as the
Northwest Normal School, a
predominantly for women although men also enrolled, by
in
, Washington, in 1886.
Eventually the school moved to Bellingham (then "New Whatcom"), and through the efforts of
and George Judson (Phoebe's son).
Governor
signed legislation establishing the
New Whatcom Normal School on February 24, 1893. In November 1895, construction began on a permanent school building, now known as
, the current administration building. Designed by prominent
architects Warren Skillings & James Corner, it was completed by early 1897 but could not be opened to students until funds could be secured to install heating, lighting, and to do general grounds maintenance, which were not included in the original contract.
The first official class entered in 1899, composed of 88 students.
The institution that is now Western Washington University underwent several name changes. In 1901, the school's name was changed to
State Normal School at Whatcom to reflect New Whatcom's name change. In 1904, the name was changed to
Washington State Normal School at Bellingham when the townships of Whatcom and
joined, and again in 1937, to
Western Washington College of Education when it became a four-year college. Twenty-four years later it became
Western Washington State College and finally, in 1977, the institution gained university status and changed to its present name.
The 1960s was a period of especially rapid growth for Western, as its enrollment increased from 3,000 students to over 10,000 during the decade. Also during this time, the
was founded (1967), with non-traditional education methods that would serve as a model for
in
. Two years later, the
, the nation's first dedicated environmental science college, was founded, continuing Western's trend toward "cluster" colleges. That same year, on a spring afternoon, students gained headlines by blocking
to protest the
. Also in 1969, the College of Ethnic Studies was established; however, after being met with significant resistance, it was dismantled in 1975.
Since this period, the College of Arts and Sciences was founded (1973) and divided into the College of Humanities & Social Sciences and the College of Science & Engineering (2003); the College of Fine and Performing Arts was formed from several art departments (1975); and the College of Business and Economics was established (1976).
Today, WWU has a student body that currently consists of over 16,000 students. The university is the third largest in Washington after
and the
."