University of Washington Tacoma

University of Washington Tacoma University of Washington (Tacoma's Version) 💜
Rooted in purpose. Powered by community. Turning knowledge into impact from The City of Destiny.

UW Tacoma is a four-year public university located in Tacoma, Washington, USA.

09/16/2026

3rd Thursday is this week, which means FREE museum admission across Downtown Tacoma 😍

This Thursday (Sept. 17th), enjoy complimentary entry at:
🔥 Museum of Glass | 5–8pm
🎨 Tacoma Art Museum | 5–8pm
🏛️ Washington State History Museum | 3–8pm
⚓️ Foss Waterway Seaport | 4–8pm
🪁 Children's Museum of Tacoma | 10am-5pm (Always donation-based)

Make a night out of it! ✨ Some restaurants + bars within walking distance include:

🌮 Indita Mia
🥖 Sliced Tacoma
🥡 Indochine
🍕 Mikey's Public House
🍣 THEKOI Sushi & Sake
🍓 Lune Cafe
🇮🇹 Abella Pizzeria
🍔 Nate Jackson’s Super Funny Comedy Club
🐟 Just Poké Tacoma

📸 Danny Crelling

09/16/2026

🌎🎉 Tonight, Mayor Anders Ibsen and the Tacoma City Council proclaimed September 15–October 15, 2026, as Hispanic and Latine Heritage Month in Tacoma!

This year’s theme, “Unidos, Somos Más – Together, We are More,” celebrates the unity, resilience, collective strength, and shared cultural roots of Hispanic and Latine communities.

Hispanic and Latine communities have helped shape Tacoma through generations of cultural, educational, civic, and community contributions. We invite everyone to join us in celebrating the rich histories, traditions, cultures, and people who continue to enrich our city.

📸Linda Cerna, Contract/Program Auditor, Community and Economic Development; Jaedin Axe, SBA Case Manager, Mi Centro - Tacoma, WA; Yadira Morales, Strategic Program Manager, Mi Centro; Antonio Gomez, Latinx Unidos of the South Sound - LUSS; Anaid Yerena, Latinx Unidos of South Sound; Amanda Figueroa, Associate Vice Chancellor for Social Mobility, University of Washington Tacoma

In Cusco, Peru, the altitude is more likely to throw off your groove than the llamas. 🏔️🦙 And that's exactly what a stud...
09/15/2026

In Cusco, Peru, the altitude is more likely to throw off your groove than the llamas. 🏔️🦙

And that's exactly what a study abroad experience should be: one that challenges your assumptions and pushes you outside your comfort zone (because that's where the growth happens). 💜

Served up with a side of sunshine and Spanish-language immersion, Tacoma Huskies took to the Andes Mountains for over five weeks in July to improve their fluency and experience a side of Cusco outsiders rarely see. 🇵🇪

Daily coursework included classes on conversational Spanish, culture and grammar, punctuated with field trips and independent study.

At the end of the day, students would retreat to their homestay with a Peruvian family for further immersion, experiencing the difference between being part of a culture and merely observing it from the outside.

Ask students about the highlight of their trip, and opinions will vary. 🗣️

Obvious answers include the famous cuisine, ruins of the mighty Inca Empire or the region's rich history of domesticating llamas at high altitude.

For Taylor Kaffenberger, a third-year education major, the journey to Machu Picchu was the peak of her trip to Peru (no pun intended). The second-best part was getting to know the local fauna. 🦙🌼😎 See the picture above for proof!

Yared Delgado — a rising senior studying business finance — will miss the traditional Peruvian dish of Sopa de Quinua: a one-pot soup with vegetables, broth, braised quinoa and spices.

Liv Hanson, who studies psychology, will always remember Cusco for the small-town feeling of care and community:

"Everyone should study abroad," she said. "It's so important to see how life is lived outside of our bubble. In the U.S., I've become so accustomed to living fast and looking for the next big thing to do. My time in Peru taught me how to slow down. And as a psych major, it warmed my heart to see such a strong sense of community in Cusco."

09/11/2026

Celestina spent her summer quarter on campus studying death and, in the process, learned how to live. 💜

As a fourth-year psychology major at UW Tacoma, Celestina is no stranger to how the mind works. 🧠

What's harder to understand is how the grieving mind works.

As a student in THLTH 480: Death and American Society, Celestina came face-to-face with her feelings all summer long, finding new meaning in her grandmother's recent passing. The timing made it personal, with the class coming to an end on Nana's birthday.

Somewhere along the way, summer quarter became a lesson in grief, gratitude and being alive. ☀️✨

🐚🐟 From glowing skin and adhesive suction discs to impact-resistant armor, marine creatures offer a host of strange evol...
09/11/2026

🐚🐟 From glowing skin and adhesive suction discs to impact-resistant armor, marine creatures offer a host of strange evolutionary mysteries hiding beneath the waters of the Salish Sea.

By studying those adaptations, researchers at UW's Friday Harbor Labs are uncovering evolutionary history and finding inspiration for new technologies, from medical devices to underwater drones.

By approaching biological questions through a physics and mechanical engineering framework, scientists can translate the survival mechanisms of living things into groundbreaking technology.

Cassandra Donatelli — associate professor and comparative biomechanist at UW Tacoma who has spent many summers doing research at Friday Harbor — can attest to the value of examining natural systems for inspiration and innovation:

“Living things have evolved to solve complex problems in the oceans, up in the trees, underground and everywhere in between. As humans try to explore new areas, it’s useful for us to look to nature for inspiration on how to exist and move through these environments.”

Read the article from UW Magazine: magazine.washington.edu/feature/at-the-uws-friday-harbor-labs-scientists-learn-from-mysterious-sea-creatures

Do you hear the distant drums? 🥁It means Convocation (and the first day of classes!) are just around the corner. 💜🎉 If i...
09/03/2026

Do you hear the distant drums? 🥁

It means Convocation (and the first day of classes!) are just around the corner. 💜🎉

If it's your first quarter on campus, here's what to expect:

Convocation is a lively annual affair that kicks off the new academic year with a pep rally-meets-street fair along the Prairie Line Trail. 🚂

Meet us under the turning fall leaves for food trucks, music, tabling and Tacoma spirit. 🌮🍔🍂

It's all happening at noon on Wednesday, September 30 — the first day of fall quarter instruction — in the heart of our historic downtown campus.

Mark your calendars, Tacoma Huskies, and bring all things purple, gold and bold; We've got a new school year to celebrate!

Learn more and make plans: tacoma.uw.edu/convocation 🐾

In the fight against Husky hunger, not all heroes wear capes. 🦸‍♂️🐾 The Apple Cup is just around the corner, and we're s...
08/31/2026

In the fight against Husky hunger, not all heroes wear capes. 🦸‍♂️🐾

The Apple Cup is just around the corner, and we're serving up some friendly competition from beyond the field:

From Cougs to Dawgs, help us fill our pantries this fall! 🍎🏈

The 2026 Apple Cup Food Pantry Challenge brings together alumni, students, faculty, staff, fans and community members to help address student food insecurity across both of our campus communities.

The school with the most individual donors takes home bragging rights, but the real winners are students receiving access to nutritious food and essential resources.

Every gift, no matter the size, counts toward UW's total. 💜

The challenge is on now through September 6! Join us to benefit The Pantry at UWT. 🍌🍝🍗🍓🥗

Make your gift today: together.uw.edu/i/uw/campaign/apple-cup-food-pantry-challenge-2026

Bill Philip, known as “Mr. Tacoma,” founder of Columbia Bank and namesake of our William Philip Hall, has died at age 99...
08/28/2026

Bill Philip, known as “Mr. Tacoma,” founder of Columbia Bank and namesake of our William Philip Hall, has died at age 99.

Philip was a steadfast supporter of UW Tacoma from the beginning and was among the first to promote establishing the campus in Tacoma's downtown district.

In an interview, Philip mentioned that he began efforts to establish UW Tacoma after learning that Washington State University was considering Grit City as a possible site for their next campus.

When a friend called to give him the scoop, Philip replied, "Over my dead body."

After hanging up, he immediately dialed UW President William Gerberding to set plans in motion for a Tacoma branch of the University of Washington.

Philip even leveraged the possibility of a potential WSU campus to get the UW Board of Regents in his corner.

In 2007, UW Tacoma dedicated a 21,000-square-foot assembly hall at 1914 Pacific Avenue, naming it William Philip Hall in his honor.

From Chancellor Sheila Edwards Lange:

"Bill Philip was a tireless champion of the University of Washington Tacoma and the South Sound community. He was among the first to recognize the potential of a UW campus situated in the heart of downtown and the transformative impact UW Tacoma could have on students and the region."

Learn more about Bill and his legacy in T-Town: https://bizj.us/1qqlqc

08/27/2026

‘Mr. Tacoma’ remembered for bringing UWT, Columbia Bank to life in city

08/24/2026

80-degree take: PNW summers don't need optimizing. ☀

And besides — there's 5,059 ways to summer (one for every Tacoma Husky). 💜🐾

With senior year in her sights, there was a moment when Natalie Stacy, a fourth-year Tacoma Husky majoring in business administration, wondered whether she was squandering her summer by not tacking on 12 credits on top of her retail job and internship. 📚👀

Turns out, she had a lot to learn from stepping back to catch her breath.

Between cannonballs, pickleball and chasing waterfalls, Natalie prioritized filling her cup this summer, literally and metaphorically. 🍹

Not that she was ever standing still; her summer break balanced lake hangs with healthy habits, clocking in and creating content during her internship with the marketing team at UW Tacoma.

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