Pull together

From innovators to aviators to Olympic champions, UW students and community have long come together at the ASUW Shell House to do great things. The 1936 Olympic team trained here, and their triumph reminds us how our collective strength is greater than the sum of individual efforts. Their story is the story of our region — a place where, despite challenges and hardships, we continue to change the world together.

Join us in advancing this legacy into the future by supporting the ASUW Shell House, Washington Rowing and scholarships for youth from around our state who have the opportunity to achieve great things.

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The Boys in the Boat

Hand colored photograph of the ASUW Shell House from 1931

The bestselling book by Daniel James Brown is now a motion picture adaption about to be released. Learn more about the Boys of ’36 and watch the trailer of the upcoming film.

Quotes about the Shellhouse

“This building is about much more than the past — it is about the present and the future. It’s a place for the people who live here to meet and to accomplish great things the way the ‘Boys in the Boat’ did.”

Brad Smith

“Buildings, like people, have stories to tell. In these fractured times, we all crave examples of people pulling together for some kind of common goal. And that is really what this story is all about.”

Daniel James Brown

Since time immemorial, the Shell House has been a place to unite and accomplish together. The location was central to the culture and survival of the Coast Salish people. For WWI aviators, it was a place for learning and becoming a team before joining the war effort. It was the workshop site for legendary boat-builder George Pocock and the birthplace of the UW Rowing Program. And for Joe Rantz — a member of the 1936 Olympic-gold-winning UW team that inspired Daniel James Brown’s “The Boys in the Boat” — it was the first real home he had ever known.

Now it’s our turn to join in and ensure that this site can continue supporting the growth of our student life and the broader community — securing a future where they’ll continue to do great things.