George Washington University has decided that its “Colonials” nickname is no longer a “source of pride” or unifying.
In a statement on Wednesday, Grace Speight, the chair of the George Washington University Board of Trustees, said, “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.”
“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,” she added.
Meanwhile, Mark S. Wrighton, the university’s president said, “While some may disagree with the outcome, this process has determined that changing the moniker is the right decision for our university.”
The review of the moniker began in earnest in July 2020 as some companies chose to change their names due to concerns that they were insensitive, following the death of George Floyd.
An article on the university’s website laid out some of the key findings from the report on changing the nickname.
It argued that “changing names should be rare,” but “the Colonials moniker does not adequately match the values of GW and can no longer serve its purpose as a name that unifies the community.”
“While Colonials became GW’s moniker in 1926, the special committee determined that the moniker arose casually and haphazardly, lacking thoughtful university-wide consideration,” it stated.
Additionally, the committee “identified a significant difference in connotation for the term Colonial.” For those in favor of the term, it “refers to those who lived in the American colonies, especially those who fought for independence and democracy.”
By contrast, for those opposed to it, the phrase “means colonizers who stole land and resources from indigenous groups, killed or exiled Native peoples and introduced slavery into the colonies.”
“These are perspectives that cannot be easily harmonized,” it added.
Taking steps to ensure that students and other university employees feel welcome and like their voices and concerns matter is a good thing.
But as Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) wrote sarcastically on Twitter, “Well, that will do it.”
Well, that will do it. https://t.co/JjbFhyTsWa
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) June 15, 2022
This is a nickname.
As the report found, the original moniker “arose casually.” It probably wasn’t meant to signal that people who go to the college are going to embark on missions and become the new conquistadors — or that conquering lands and enslaving other people is somehow a good thing.
Will it make the college look better? For some people, the college will look better. For others, it will just look silly and “woke.”
Will it promote unity? In this age, when many Americans feel the need to take a strong stance on every single issue, probably not.
In the grand scheme of life, does this issue really matter? No, there are definitely more important things to debate and fight over.
