Well, if the school really does drop the Colonials, there needs to be a new name. Previously we wrote about the process for finding a new "moniker" as GW loves to call it -- hire a search firm, make a committee with students, faculty, alumni etc., and do lots of outreach. That's good. They also asked for feedback at moniker.gwu.edu which you absolutely should provide.
So, what names should GW pick? First, my three current favorites:
Revolutionaries. Sounds cool, still related to George Washington, the Revolutionary War, and our history. George Washington was a revolutionary, the idea of the USA was revolutionary, GW could say the university is revolutionary, etc. Plus it could be shortened to Revs which also sounds good. Let's go Revs! Raise High Revs, and so on. This one is my top pick right now.
Continentals. References the army, is unusual, similar to Colonials. Fans could be the Continental Army. Cons is less ideal for a short name though.
Federals. References DC the federal city and our government's federal structure, and the and Feds would also be good as a short name.
And some other ideas. Leave yours in the comments!
NOT HIPPOS. Under no circumstance should it be Hippos. The hippo thing was invented by former University Pres. Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, who was in charge from 1988 to 2007. Apparently he liked hippos, so people started giving him hippo stuff, and then he bought the hippo statue at 21st and H and made up the fake "river horse" legend. It's bogus and has no connection to the university or George Washington, and was invented by a university president was universally disliked and who sucks. SJT led to GW having the highest tuition in the country during his time as president, ignored students, and continues to be a bozo: for example, a few years ago he said women would not get date raped if they drank less. Let's not continue his legacy. Plus we're not a minor league baseball team, we don't need a goofy name.
Something Continental Army-related. One of the arguments that GW used in their statement is that Colonials wasn't really used in the Revolutionary War days and that George Washington was explicitly trying to not be a colonial. Fair enough. But there are many other options that relate to GW as commander in chief, the war, the army, etc. A few ideas I like are the aforementioned Revolutionaries and Continentals, plus things like Presidents, Commanders-in-Chief (bit long) and so on. Could also be more generic war-related like Cannons, Fighters, etc. Others that might be good but probably wouldn't work would be Army or Cavalry (since singular names are rare in the NCAA), Patriots (taken), and Generals (the team that always loses to the Harlem Globetrotters.) There are also George Washington-related ones like Hatchets, Cherry Trees, and so on, but those don't really excite me.
Something DC-related. GW loves to talk about its presence in downtown DC, the old "Something Happens Here" slogan, being blocks from the White House, near the power in Washington, etc. Lots of options: Federals, Diplomats (Dips would be a cool short version), Monuments, Columbias or Columbians, Districts, Potomacs, etc. Nationals wouldn't work (taken), same with Capitals, anything Congress-related would be unpopular, and Statesmen is gendered.
Hounds. This was a great idea from alum JJ Gottschalk on Twitter: George Washington had a lot of dogs, especially hounds, at Mt. Vernon, and apparently he is the father of the American foxhound. Plus there are no hound mascots in D1 (aside from Loyola Greyhounds), and the mascot could be an actual real dog! That would be awesome. People love live dog mascots, they are always getting press coverage, getting on TV, etc. And who would be opposed to a lovable pooch running around campus? Could be great for marketing, merchandise, and so on too. Though arguably "Hounds" might not sound too inspiring or frightening.
A throwback name. Before GW was the Colonials (and even after) there were a lot of other nicknames the teams were given by the press and others. For example, the old football teams were called the Hatchetites for about 30 years until 1928, as well as the Buff and Blue (which sounds kind of cool.) The GW Library has an article about other old nicknames, a lot of which were related to the coach at the time's name. The team also played in the Tin Tabernacle gym where the University Yard is now, but not sure that would make a good game.
Some other animal? Animal nicknames are popular, but not sure what it could be. Eagles is taken by those nerds in Tenleytown. Maybe some kind of horse name because George liked horses a lot and the Continental Army used them, like Stallions, Steeds, Colts, or some native animal to the DC area. George also had bison on his farm, but that's also taken by Howard U.
Joke names. Let's have some fun. Interns, Rams (the A-10 needs more Rams), Wonks, Red Lions, Real Estate Agents, Haddaways (famous alum, you know), the Georges Washington, Foggy Bottoms, Froggy Bottoms, Whole Foods, Vern Shuttles, Distillers (GW made whiskey), Clay Travises (sadly also an alum), Jumbo Slices, and so on.
And finally: Commanders. Lol jk.
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