I was approached at Hoops Fest by someone who worked for the consulting firm and the way the question was framed to me was: Do you think the final choice should be put up to a vote or do you think the Board should just decide? 

I don't recall if they said any vote would be limited to current undergrads.
 

Last edited by GW0509 (10/13/2022 10:26 am)

Don't think things have changed enough that this stupid name will be a huge aid in recruiting.
Think about it.
What about PC'ers?

You know, I'm 50+ myself, but God you both sound old. The world evolves. Plenty of the colonists were terrible people who enslaved millions and decimated the native population. Those are, as the kids say, Big Facts. So yeah, we didn't worry much about that in our day, but they do and don't want to use the name. So sad ... let's face it, it was always a sucky name.

How about "GW...the University with the most bitter fanbase"?  Maybe have a lemon as a moniker since so many are so sour?

Skittles wrote:

Colonists and Colonials aren't the same thing. Let's start there

Yes, but the colonists did plenty of bad things themselves. That's what's getting lost here by many of the Olds.

Gwmayhem wrote:

Hatchet Man, but our nickname has never been The Colonists.  Or The Colonizers.  So if Colonials and Colonists are not the same thing, then what am I missing here?  Am open to a history lesson.

One thing is clear - GW should just disband its history department. They have failed miserably to teach the difference between a "Colonist" and a "Colonial" both definitionally and contextually. 

Gwmayhem - you don't need a history lesson. But some others surely do. Yikes!

And this isn't an issue between young and old, it's between those who favor bullshit virtue signaling and those that oppose it. That spans all ages on both sides.
 

Last edited by GWRising (10/13/2022 5:23 pm)

FWIW Here is part of one of a few emails  I wrote GW,

So, what is my point? Better to be the 10TH Wildcat or Bear than the first Hippo. Whatever is selected it needs a diminutive that in 1 syllable easily completes the cheer, Let's Go _____!

I am begging GW please do not over think this. GW is changing something some found hurtful or damaging. The reserve is NOT true. A new nickname will NOT bind people to the school more closely. It will be regarded as cool, ok, or ridiculous in an instant the way people judge other names or brands.

If the new moniker is something that must be explained, we have lost. How about this as a test, if another school picked the any of the names being contemplated would the reaction be, “What were they thinking?”

I’m going to bed early.

I hate Hippos or anything related to it as a name, but it would pretty well encapsulate stereotypical GW students. I mean, a rich guy went into an antique shop in New England while drunk and bought something. His wife didn't like it or want him to keep it. So he found a way to turn it into a tax write-off by donating it to the school. Then an elaborate story was created to pretend he wasn't just some rich, white drunk guy buying shit he didn't need. Rich people? Check! Tax loopholes? Check! People in New England? Check! Yep, that tracks.

The Colonials in the schools case mostly refers to both the time period when the revolution began as well as the colonies of our blossoming country. That is exclusively what it refers to. It was the colonial period. That's not the same thing as a focus on colonizing or the act of creating the original colonies. If "colonials" offends you I agree with the above sentiment of getting rid of the crusaders and cowboys and musketeers and every other Mascot related to troublesome history and activities. Hell, is the GW part next? Without him there's no THIS as we know it. But he had slaves. So where do you draw this line the "woke" culture has demanded of you?