Thank you to the record 3,140 donors who made this WWU Give Day so successful! This year, Western’s annual 24-hour fundraising campaign raised more than $1.1 million.
“This year, we had the second-largest Give Day across all universities in Washington,” says Fred Gold, Western’s director of Annual Giving. “It shows that Vikings care about WWU and the work we do, which is really great.”
Of the hundreds of projects, departments and programs that received funding, three campus initiatives received major gifts this WWU Give Day:
The Ray Wolpow Institute received $25,000 to establish the Noémi Ban Memorial Lecture honoring Ban, who was a frequent speaker about her experience in the Holocaust, sharing her story with thousands of people. Together, Ban and Wolpow wrote “Sharing is Healing,” and she is the subject of a documentary, “My Name is Noémi.” The lecture named in her memory will allow the Wolpow Institute to host scholars in Holocaust and genocide studies.
The Salish Sea Recording Studio at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, a long-anticipated project, received $150,000. Construction will begin this summer. Fairhaven’s Audio Technology, Music, and Society minor will use the studio, which will also be available to students recording their own projects.
The Nelson Economics Scholarship for deserving students majoring in economics at WWU more than doubled its original fund. David and Lynn Nelson first established the scholarship in December 2022 with $100,000. On Give Day, the Nelson Scholarship fund grew to $246,395. An economics professor, David is the founder and director of the Center for Economic Education at Western and has served in this role for 30 years. Western is grateful to the Nelsons and to the donors who came together for this scholarship.
Among the increase in donors, the cross country and track and field teams had 308 donors, volleyball had 174 and women’s soccer had 126.
Learn more about Give Day at wwugiveday.wwu.edu.
