On October 25, 1949, the Associated Students Memorial Union Building opened with enthusiastic reception from students. Classes were shorted by 10 minutes to allow students to attend the ceremony. Designed to foster student interaction and host campus events, the original building featured a main lounge with hometown newspapers, a modern sound system, a trophy room, and a terrace deck. The second floor housed an inviting activities center with student organization offices, a large fireplace, and a mural by Ernest Norling depicting student life at the university from 1861 to 1926.

Three years after its initial grand opening, in 1952, the South Wing was added. This included a ballroom, games room, another deck, expanded food service, and a barbershop, doubling the size of the HUB to a total 165,534 square feet.

Just one year later, in 1953, the University Book Store set up shop on the HUB ground floor to service the population of students that attended evening classes on campus. It remains in the building to this day.

A pivotal shift in the building’s management was implemented in 1962, as the university addressed some administrative issues remaining from when the building first opened in 1949. The athletic department was completely separated from ASUW, business operations became the responsibility of a HUB Manager, and a new ASUW Activities Manager position was created to advise ASUW.

At this time, ASUW was designated as the primary student programming organization on campus, and in 1970, the Student Activities Office was established to advise and support student programming. In 1965, the Husky Den food court was added as another key service that remains instrumental to the culture and function of the HUB today.

The University of Washington has always maintained a deeply committed population of students involved in current events. The HUB has played host to a series of prominent public figures and political movements that have shaped the nation.

During a decade of civil unrest and rising tensions across the country, activists advocating for democracy, racial justice, and the end of the Vietnam draft were sponsored by university organizations, like the Philosophy department, and utilized the HUB to accommodate gatherings of up to 4,000 guests.

Notable guests throughout the decade included Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the HUB Evergreen Dining Room in 1961; Black Panther party members, including Karen Cleaver and George Murray in 1968; and Jerry Rubin of the Chicago Seven in 1970.

Many pivotal moments in United States history have been reflected on campus through student demonstrations. The HUB found itself in a crossfire during a strike by Filipino-American grape pickers in California in September 1965, who then asked for support of the United Farm Workers Association. There would be a merger of the two organizations and a call for a boycott of table grapes began. Various student groups lobbied for university action, either for or against, the sale of grapes harvested by exploited farm workers. In response to the boycott, the HUB removed grapes from its food offerings following a 23% decline in sales in 1969.

25 years after the building's completion, the HUB celebrated its 25th birthday with a series of musical performances, 1940s films, 1949 haircut prices provided by the HUB barbershop, free cake, and 5¢ coffee.

By 1977, the final structural addition of the Husky Union Building came to a close. The completed addition included expanded food and dining services on the ground floor, a second ballroom, and the sub-basement offices for various RSOs on campus.

Thousands of students flock to HUB Lawn every year to witness the incredible talent that ASUW Arts & Entertainment is able to secure for Fall Fling and the Spring Show. The precedent of world-famous acts performing on campus dates well back to '80s, where the Husky Union Building housed shows for household names, including Tina Turner, Modern English, The Ramones, and Nirvana, just to name a few. Despite ongoing rumors, Nirvana was not banned from the Husky Union Building following their 1989 performance. It is unknown where this urban legend started, but they performed again in 1990.

As the '90s drew to a close, the Husky Union Building celebrated its golden birthday at the tail end of the second millennium. While the world was rocked with news of Bill Clinton’s extramarital affair and subsequent impeachment, Cher was topping the charts with “Believe,” and emojis being invented in Japan, UW students commemorated the anniversary through a sock hop dance, free cake, and t-shirts.

While minor improvements had been made in the years following the HUB's last structural addition in 1977, discussions began to address the shortcomings of the building in 2005. Limitations included limited and inflexible meeting spaces, poor natural and artificial light, difficulty in finding services and amenities, and antiquated infrastructure.

Following funding approval in 2006, a Master Plan Committee of 16 students, 2 faculty members, and 2 staff members conceptualized four key goals for a renovation: create a welcoming space, open the building, connect the building to campus, and build community.

After years of discussion and planning, the HUB closed its doors in June of 2010 with an action plan to address these goals.

On September 10, 2012, the HUB reopened its doors and debuted its new look and expanded offerings.

Some of the most crucial improvements included ADA accessibility across all five floors, centralized ground floor offices for several building services, two new atria that allowed for natural light, more footpaths leading to the building and connecting the HUB to other areas of campus, and informal lounge seating to encourage connection.

Today, the HUB houses its own internal staff, as well as providing new spaces for student services like the Q Center, Welcome Center, Commuter and Transfer Commons, Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and Student Veteran Life.

With a keen eye for budding talent, ASUW Arts & Entertainment continued to bring forth some of the largest names in the music industry to HUB Lawn in its annual Fall Fling and Spring Show performances. In the 2010s, Grammy award-winning and nominated artists including SZA (2015), Macklemore (2011), and Omar Apollo (2019), just to name a few.

The HUB was developed to be a community space for students to gather on campus and socialize. What the students of 1949 could not have anticipated was the need for a space to accommodate 39 state-of-the-art computers for a competitive online gaming arena. True to its original mission, the HUB launched the University of Washington Esports program in 2019 to unify a traditionally remote subset of students. In an age of rapidly expanding and changing digital environments, the Esports Arena is a testament to the commitment of the HUB to adapt to student needs and wishes throughout the years.

Like all major institutions, the COVID-19 pandemic deeply affected the HUB and its on-site attendance. As the living room of campus, students and staff worked together to find innovative ways to engage the campus population — albeit digitally.

The HUB utilized the Student Resource Center to launch the RCast Video Podcast, interviewing various student organizations, while ASUW A+E did a series of online programming with visual artists, comedians, and musicians, including household names like Phoebe Bridgers.

Regularly scheduled programming, like the annual alumni event, Home for the Holidays, moved online while students eagerly awaited the return of in-person activations on campus.