George Washington University’s new nickname is as bad as the old one

George Washington University is named after a slave owner. The school has decided to change its moniker for sports teams from the “Colonials” to the “Revolutionaries.”

Washington D.C. is yet again the epicenter of an old institution getting rid of a racist name for its team and opting for one that doesn’t make sense.

 “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,” George Washington University President Mark S. Wrighton said in a statement, as the name change will go into effect this upcoming school year.

For a school that has a reputation of being a place where “smart kids” go, was this the best they could do? 

Colonials was always problematic given that it resembles the actions of who the school was named after, as colonizers have a long history of being inhumanly cruel to Black people and Native Americans.

Merriam-Webster defines revolutionary as “one engaged in a revolution — an advocate or adherent of revolutionary doctrines.” People like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, The Black Panthers, Fred Hampton, Che Guevara, and Marcus Garvey are just a few who come to mind — and those are just the men. Being associated with George Washington and the school named after him doesn’t scream “revolution” in any way, especially for a place that’s majority white.

 Or, maybe the voters think like Elizabeth from Knoxville, Tennessee.