The George Washington University board of trustees announced Wednesday that it will eventually no longer use the “Colonials” moniker as a nickname and cited the “division among the community about the moniker” as the reason. The nickname has been criticized for glorifying colonialism.
“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,” board chair Grace Speights said in the release.