By Christopher Giang
This school’s identity crisis is finally coming to a close—but it won’t be ending in the way I expected.
Submission ideas for GW’s new moniker recently ended on January 31, as part of the university’s effort to retire the “Colonials.” Starting fresh was an easy and popular decision—I and many others in the community found the old name dated, awkward, and even offensive. But I was also confused to hear that the administration won’t consider the most obvious choice to replace it: “Hippos.”
Browsing moniker.gwu.edu, the website specifically established for the renaming process, reveals high expectations for this new name. Suggestions must meet established “guiding principles,” and embody some vague positive qualities that GW has laid down. “Tenacious,” “Electric,” and “Open,” the site gushes, describing its ideal match. The Hippo, it explains, is none of these things, and the name proved unpopular with student-athletes and other community members.
The hippo certainly isn’t an exciting or dynamic creature, and I understand why athletes would hesitate to identify with it. Yet it’s hard to ignore how the tubby, toothy animal has managed to resonate with GW students regardless. The image of the hippo has found its way onto student organization logos, school merchandise, and the collective memory of the thousands who pass the infamous statue every day. It isn’t pretty, but it’s ours. For this reason, I was surprised to learn that it was deemed a poor fit.
This isn’t to say students should be begging the higher-ups to reconsider, though—we can still use it even when the new moniker debuts. With the submission period over, we should expect a shortlist of chosen favorites for us to look through later this month. If not the Hippos, “Revolutionaries” or “Revs” would be my pick, but I’m also excited to see what others have thought of.
My only real hope is that what gets chosen won’t be boring. Nothing would disappoint me more than a name that sparks nothing but indifference, rather than something that could amuse, inspire, or even challenge us. Just look at the DMV’s own Washington Commanders, another much-needed renaming that seemed to elicit a solid “meh” at best. With all that said, let’s hope for an attention-grabbing moniker, at the very least.
