George Washington University announces new nickname for sports teams

WASHINGTON D.C. — George Washington University announced its new nickname Wednesday for its athletic teams.

>>RELATED: George Washington University to replace controversial ‘Colonials’ moniker

The school said the new nickname will be the “Revolutionaries” replacing the retired “Colonials.”

Known as “Colonials,” the university’s sports teams were the source of controversy when students said the name had a negative connotation regarding violence toward Native Americans and other colonized people.

GW alumnus Chuck Todd, the host of NBC’s Meet the Press, introduced the name in a breaking news-style video broadcast on social media.

“This is an exciting day for the George Washington University Revolutionaries,” said Jack Wrighton, school president. “I am very grateful for the active engagement of our community throughout the development of the new moniker. This process was truly driven by our students, faculty, staff and alumni, and the result is a moniker that broadly reflects our community—and our distinguished and distinguishable GW spirit.”

The university had 47,000 points of feedback and 8,000 moniker suggestions and narrowed it down to four finalists: Revolutionaries, Blue Fog, Ambassadors, and Sentinels.

George 1 will remain the university’s mascot and also participated in the announcement Wednesday.

The change will take effect in the upcoming 2023-24 academic year.

©2023 Cox Media Group