Mariah Ortiz, who works in admissions with international students at the University of Washington, Bothell, slapped one of the most vigorous high-fives with Holly the Husky today during the school’s celebration of the UW’s 150th anniversary. There was also an anniversary event at the Seattle campus’ Red Square.

The Bothell event featured purple-and-gold cupcakes from Cupcake Royale, music and raffle prizes.

Ortiz did her graduate studies at UW-Bothell and praised the school’s small class sizes and one-on-one student-teacher involvement.

“Everyone knows each other, you can see it’s a very friendly environment; we’re kind of like a community or a family here,” she said.

Chancellor Kenyon S. Chan noted that UW-Bothell, which is in its 21st year of existence, is proud to be part of the UW’s 150 tradition of academia.

“We’re also prepared that UW-Bothell, in the next 150 years, will continue to be a center of innovation and creativity for this state, so it’s an exciting time for us to set that in stone once in a while,” he said.

Senior Freddie Hensen, UW-Bothell student body president and environmental science and policy studies major, added: “I spent a quarter at the Seattle campus and decided I wanted a little bit more of a community feel, so I came to Bothell and started studying ecology, and kind of fell in love with the campus.”