UW Bothell Traditions
Becoming a tradition
In order for an event to REACH the level of a campus tradition, the event must meet the following criteria:
- R — reflects on values and collaborative purpose across generations of the UW Bothell community
- E — generates enthusiasm and pride
- A — creates anticipation of when it will happen again (broad knowledge)
- C — provides means of building community
- H — incorporates the history of the institution
View traditions at UW Seattle and UW Tacoma campuses.
Welcome Week
(photos are pre-pandemic)
Each fall the campus comes alive as we welcome back students for the new academic year. There are over 50 events that take place. Some annual highlights include Move-in, Convocation, Movie Under the Stars, ARC Carnival, The Resource and Involvement Fair, and The Block Party.
W Photo
Each year, the new students take a group photo on the sports field to commemorate joining the Husky family.
ASUWB Elections
The Associated Students of the University of Washington Bothell (ASUWB) serves as the student government for UWB. Every year students participate in elections to vote for the ASUWB Executive Board, who represent and advocate for the student body. Elections are held in the spring and all students are encouraged to vote!
Casino Night
A grand night of casino-themed games, magic, and prizes brought by CEB and Cascadia EAB. Takes place in early February.
Clamor Launch Event
The Clamor student editorial board publish their literary and art journal every spring quarter. Clamor hosts a launch event to have the artists and contributors of the journal showcase and perform their submissions. Takes place in Spring Quarter
Grad Stoles & Cultural Graduation
Over a dozen clubs celebrate their graduates with events that welcome families, acknowledge achievements, and recognize graduates with stoles that reflect their unique major, association, or culture.
Holly Husky
Holly is the first female mascot in UW history and is dedicated to spreading the Husky spirit. She pumps-up community excitement and involvement at campus and community events and she displays to the community why being a Husky is such an honor.
Homecoming Game travel
Students and friends cheer our beloved Husky Football team onto victory at their Homecoming Game. Takes place in fall quarter.
IDEA Sessions
Students are welcomed to campus by the Social Justice Organizers (SJOs) and encouraged to use their voices to make the most of their UW Bothell experience.
Spooktacular/Fall Harvest
Fall-themed activities, candy, and fun for the whole campus, where friends and family can join in on the fun, too. Takes place in late October.
Spring Fest
“The biggest event of the year! A campus-wide festival with inflatables, make-and-takes, music, and even a petty zoo hosted by CEB in collaboration with Cascadia College to celebrate spring. Takes place in late May.”
Spring Hiring
In spring quarter, the Division of Student Affairs opens applications to more than 100 student employment opportunities. From building manager in the Activities & Resource Center to Husky Herald’s Editor-In-Chief, there may be an opportunity for you! (No photo)
Student Activity & Resource Fair
To start every academic year, Orientation & Transition Programs and Student Engagement & Activities host the Student Activity & Resource Fair. It’s the perfect opportunity for clubs, organizations, and resources on campus to promote themselves and for students to explore the diverse range of opportunities UW Bothell has to offer.
W-Day
“Campus street fair with food, games, photobooth, and giveaways, where we come together as a Husky and Bothell community to show off our spirit and pride. Takes place on the Friday before the Husky Football Homecoming Game.”
Earth Week
Earth Week at the UW Bothell campus has been an annual celebration around Earth Day each April. Since 2017, Earth Week has been a joint UW Bothell/Cascadia College partnership, building a sense of community across the institutions. We host a diverse variety of community partners and on-campus organizations and clubs related to sustainability, shifting the paradigm that sustainability is inherently an environmental subject. We engage the campus community in events and workshops such as movie screenings, lectures, plantings, concerts, tours, tabling events, and more.
Campus Farm
The Campus Farm provides an outdoor learning space designed to engage our campus community in experiential learning and best practices surrounding sustainable land use and food production. This space is one of the few co-managed spaces on campus, through a strong partnership with Cascadia and UW Bothell. The Campus Farm consists of 10 raised beds, a fruit orchard, two styles of composting, and several pollinator plantings. Classes and volunteers are welcome to explore in the space for either class projects or personal interest. This space offers free, fresh, healthy and sustainable produce, which can be picked at any time by campus visitors. We donate produce to our campus food pantries, and have contributed hundreds of pounds of produce from the farm to people facing food insecurity issues in our community.
Lighting The W
Each year during the holiday season, our Facilities team illuminates the “W” with festive lights to bring holiday joy to our campus community and celebrate the end of the calendar year. The lights are turned on in the evening and can be found November through January.
Truly House
The Boone/Truly Family were cattle ranchers on this land in the early 1900s, with 450 head of beef cattle at its peak. The family resided in the Truly House and raised their family on the land. In the mid-1990s, after realizing that the area was being developed, the Boone/Truly Family sold the land to the state for the construction of the college/university campus. During campus construction, the Truly House was moved upland and preserved for use as offices for UW Bothell staff and faculty. With such a rich history, friendly ghost sightings have been known in and around the Truly House.
Chase House
Dr. Reuben Chase was Bothell’s first doctor and lived in the Chase House in the late 1880s. He also used the residence as his office and the city’s first hospital. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is home to the UW Bothell/Cascadia College Grounds Team. The home is adjacent to an apple orchard of Belle de Boskoop apple trees, which have been used in campus events for cider pressings.
Plaza Lights
The Fibonacci Echoes are located in the central core of campus within the UW Bothell Plaza, installed in 2014 with the construction of UW Bothell’s first LEED building, Discovery Hall. It is made up of 424 solar LED lights, which are organized in the Fibonacci pattern, consisting of overlapping concentric rings to represent nature’s echoes and raindrops. The Fibonacci sequence is a pattern of numbers, where each number is the sum of the two numbers before it. Nature often mimics this pattern, through elements like seashells, ferns and clouds.
Campus Crows
Since 2009, the UWB/CC campus has been home to one of the area’s largest crow roosts. It is estimated that roughly 16,000 crows pass through campus each night, with their peak population occurring in the darker fall and winter months. During the day, the crows will spend their time foraging for food and socializing up to 30 miles away, but as dusk falls, they make their way back to campus for the night. The North Creek Wetlands and lush old growth trees make the campus an ideal overnight home for the crows. The crows have spurred well-known research, classes, and attracted many visitors to campus.