keithgreene wrote:

How smug do you have to be to call people "soft" who may think there could be a better school nickname than Colonials?  lmao

That's literally not who I called soft if you were to properly read my message before sneak dissing me. It's soft that anyone thinks Colonials is an offensive term. Baby powder soft. This isn't the Redakins. This isn't Aunt Jemimah. This is literally what GW was in his day. But don't worry the way things are going you'll see the GW part go too.

What goes well with George Washington? Hemp growers, Lions, Tigers, Surveyors? Yes, a mascot running around looking like a joint sounds good. Drinking some vodka helps clear the mind.  I'm with Free, Skittles, Alum and the others who think a name change is  unjustified.   

keithgreene wrote:

Skittles wrote:

keithgreene wrote:

How smug do you have to be to call people "soft" who may think there could be a better school nickname than Colonials?  lmao

That's literally not who I called soft if you were to properly read my message before sneak dissing me. It's soft that anyone thinks Colonials is an offensive term. Baby powder soft. This isn't the Redakins. This isn't Aunt Jemimah. This is literally what GW was in his day. But don't worry the way things are going you'll see the GW part go too.

I'm not sneak-dissing you - I use my real name when I post!  And I am not offended by the nickname Colonials; I'm just thinking maybe we could have a better one.

Sneak dissing is not directly addressing someone when making a counter point which is what you did. Let's not start that The Dude bullshit here please. I don't care what name you use or if it's your name or whatever. I'm Skittles none of you need to know me personally and that's all there is to it. Would love the list of better names you got. Please don't say hippos lmao

keithgreene wrote:

Skittles wrote:

keithgreene wrote:

I'm not sneak-dissing you - I use my real name when I post!  And I am not offended by the nickname Colonials; I'm just thinking maybe we could have a better one.

Sneak dissing is not directly addressing someone when making a counter point which is what you did. Let's not start that The Dude bullshit here please. I don't care what name you use or if it's your name or whatever. I'm Skittles none of you need to know me personally and that's all there is to it. Would love the list of better names you got. Please don't say hippos lmao

I have no desire to find out your identity, so no worries.  I told you and the Board that I liked the name the George Washington Carvers.  I thinks it's pretty clever and we could do a lot with a logo, branding.

So take away the president identity entirely? Yeah no.

Skittles wrote:

Lol the Peanut as the mascot will really strike fear and make oponents tremble. Hope Skippy can sponser us. Erasing our founding father from the school cause some dipshit college kid majoring in social justice, who's rich parents and lack of any melanin whatsoever really helps them connect to the issues today, feels icky about the term colonial is fantastic. We beat racism guys! Woo hoo. Hope James Madison University is on watch. Heard that guy was a meanie!

So earlier I said that I thought the conflation of colonials and colonists make progressives look bad. 

But when the response is to use social justice  as a pejorative, it’s even worse.  I can’t stand the idea of being on the same side of an issue as a people who mock the idea of social justice.

Free Quebec wrote:

Skittles wrote:

Lol the Peanut as the mascot will really strike fear and make oponents tremble. Hope Skippy can sponser us. Erasing our founding father from the school cause some dipshit college kid majoring in social justice, who's rich parents and lack of any melanin whatsoever really helps them connect to the issues today, feels icky about the term colonial is fantastic. We beat racism guys! Woo hoo. Hope James Madison University is on watch. Heard that guy was a meanie!

So earlier I said that I thought the conflation of colonials and colonists make progressives look bad. 

But when the response is to use social justice  as a pejorative, it’s even worse.  I can’t stand the idea of being on the same side of an issue as a people who mock the idea of social justice.

Mocking the degree not the idea. It's a very specific type of personality I'm mocking.

Free Quebec wrote:

Skittles wrote:

Free Quebec wrote:

So earlier I said that I thought the conflation of colonials and colonists make progressives look bad. 

But when the response is to use social justice  as a pejorative, it’s even worse.  I can’t stand the idea of being on the same side of an issue as a people who mock the idea of social justice.

Mocking the degree not the idea. It's a very specific type of personality I'm mocking.

There is no degree, therefore you are in fact mocking the concept.

Absolutely is a degree. Maybe not at gw but it exists. Enjoy your GW hippos bro I'm a Colonials fan

I see students are trying to make changes all over the place, i.e. "Elite universities urged to end legacy preferences" etc. But, as everyone knows, these "students" many times never graduate and if they did, will never give a dime back to the University. They will just disappear. Get your sheepskin and then you have a right to make changes that will impact alumni and the University.

I am not sure I buy this statement in its entirety.  Personally, I think there's a lot to be said for empowering (to some extent) young adults as they are finding their footing in this world to participate in helping to make certain types of decisions.  Shouldn't the college experience entail building confidence and sharpening the decision making skills of young adults who seek out these opportunities?  Mock assignments in the classroom are all well and good but doesn't a real-world dilemma with lasting ramifications offer a more meaningful challenge?

That said, there are potential problems.  When students feel entitled to make decisions on a college campus merely because they are students, that's a problem.  When students reach a verdict or pick a side based solely on what appears to be the politically correct thing to do, closing their minds to learning why their politically correct thing to do might be misguided, inaccurate, or otherwise shows a lack of fully comprehending a situation, that too is a problem.  When those with more experience are advising based on an irrational concern for offending, as in "if Colonials offends even one person out there, it should be changed", without delving more into WHY anyone would be offended and whether this reason is valid or is more of an overreaction to of all things, a conflated term, then this is also a problem.  The differences between "Colonial" and "colonization" has been discussed enough here.  Changing a nickname because people are offended by something that actually is not that nickname seems ridiculous to me.

So no, I would not change Colonials.  But, I also would not remove student input on important subjects simply because they are young adults who have not graduated yet either.    

here is another article on it:
https://www.gwhatchet.com/2022/02/14/how-the-colonials-moniker-is-losing-visibility-on-campus/