George Washington University Announces It Will Retire ‘Colonials’ Moniker

The nickname has been criticized for glorifying colonialism.

The George Washington University board of trustees announced Wednesday that it will eventually no longer use the “Colonials” moniker as a nickname and cited the “division among the community about the moniker” as the reason. The nickname has been criticized for glorifying colonialism.

“The board recognizes the significance of changing the university’s moniker, and we made this decision only after a thoughtful and deliberate process that followed the renaming framework and special committee recommendation that considered the varying perspectives of our students, faculty, staff, alumni and athletics community,” board chair Grace Speights said in the release. “A moniker must unify our community, draw people together and serve as a source of pride. We look forward to the next steps in an inclusive process to identify a moniker that fulfills this aspiration.” 

The nickname will continue to be used until a new moniker is introduced, which is estimated to be by the 2023-24 academic year. 

“We have a great opportunity to conduct an inclusive process that will determine how we as a community want to come together around a unifying moniker and showcase ourselves as a distinguished and distinguishable university,” president Mark S. Wrighton said in the release. “I am very excited for our next steps together.”

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