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Impact (Private Support, Volunteers)

WSU motorcycle license plate
Summer 2024

License to Coug

It’s one of the ways to say “Go Cougs!” without saying “Go Cougs!”

It’s also a means of supporting students through scholarships, recognizing fellow Washington State University alumni and fans on the road, and showing Cougar pride.

More than 23,000 crimson Cougar license plates travel Washington roadways—more than double any other university in the state. (Take that, Huskies.)

One of the best things about that high number—besides outdoing the Dawgs—is $28 from each WSU license plate supports student scholarships. Last year, that meant more than $640,000.

To celebrate, Washington State Magazine asked holders of Coug license plates to share the stories behind and photos … » More …

Alumni News
Winter 2017

The #1 license plate

Driving around the state of Washington, Cougar license plates are impossible to miss. In fact, they are the number one specialty license plate on the road, dwarfing all others. What many do not know is that these crimson plates mean a lot more than just Cougar Pride; with $28 of each plate supporting WSU student scholarships, this program raised over $600,000 last year.

Since the WSU Alumni Association assumed responsibility for managing the license plate program and launching its cool crimson plate design, the program has exploded. Today, the Cougar plate is proudly displayed on nearly 23,000 vehicles (and counting!). The growth of this program … » More …

Andrew Stephenson
Winter 2017

Andrew Stephenson

What started as a summer teaching job for Andrew Stephenson evolved into plans to build a kindergarten for underprivileged children in Saint-Louis, Senegal.

Stephenson, a senior studying civil engineering at Washington State University, says he fell in love with the area and its people after he taught English there in 2011 through a British volunteering organization called Projects Abroad.

 

“I’ve never seen people so excited to learn,” Stephenson says.

The kindergarten project, Foundations for Senegal, began when Stephenson reached out to Fina Senghor, a native of Senegal and a Projects Abroad deputy director, in 2016 to see how he could help Saint-Louis.

Senghor … » More …