George Washington University, apparently embarrassed about its time-honored nickname “Colonials,” is planning on dumping it in 2023.
George Washington University, my alma mater, is removing the Colonials moniker because imbeciles at the university are afraid to tell idiot college kids and their woke allies, “No, you are all morons.” Enjoy: pic.twitter.com/BvfaLImHk6
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) June 15, 2022
Even though a survey of 7,300 students found them nearly evenly-split on the issue, with 44% finding the nickname offensive and 43% wanting to keep it, the university, chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, is seemingly capitulating to political correctness.
“Both the board and special committee ultimately determined that given the division among the community about the moniker, it can no longer serve its purpose as a name that unifies,” the university said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Yet the National Park Service has no problem using the term; with a section of their website dedicated to the history of “Colonials and Patriots.”
Officials of the university stressed the importance of “unity” as a reason for jettisoning the moniker; Board Chair Grace Speights said, “A moniker must unify our community, draw people together and serve as a source of pride.”
Christopher Alan Bracey, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, echoed, “Today, the moniker no longer does the work that a moniker should—namely, unifying the campus behind our academic and athletic institutional aspirations.”
“Not only do the sports teams use the name, but the university’s medical facility is the Colonial Health Center and meals and laundry are paid for in Colonial Cash,” The Daily Mail noted.
In November 2019, the board created Task Force on Naming; in July 2020 President Emeritus Thomas LeBlanc convened a Special Committee on the Colonials Moniker to recommend whether to ditch the nickname.
“The committee sought to understand the history of the term Colonial, how Colonials was initially selected for the moniker, the harm caused by the moniker and affinity for and prominence of the moniker within the GW community,” the university’s statement read.
They cited George Washington himself, claiming, “According to history experts, George Washington himself firmly rejected the term ‘colonial’ in the few times he used it.”
The statement continued, “Research also found that the term ‘Colonials’ was not used during the 1607-1776 Colonial Era, and it did not become popular until the Colonial Revival period of the late 19th and 20th centuries.”
“While Colonials became GW’s moniker in 1926, the special committee determined that the moniker arose casually and haphazardly, lacking thoughtful university-wide consideration,” the statement added. “For opponents, Colonials means colonizers who stole land and resources from indigenous groups, killed or exiled Native peoples and introduced slavery into the colonies.”