After receiving thousands of name suggestions from the George Washington University community, GW has released the 10 moniker options that will be shared for feedback:
Ambassadors, Blue Fog, Catalysts, Fireworks, Independents, Monumentals, Revolutionaries, Sentinels, Squad and Truth.
These options were formed based on the guiding principles and feedback from multiple focus groups and input from the Moniker Advisory Committee, which consists of representation from students, faculty, staff and alumni. Popular suggestions such as Patriots, Eagles or Capitals were not considered for the 10 moniker options as the rights to those names are held by other professional organizations and/or academic institutions.
As part of the ongoing community engagement efforts to develop the new moniker, GW is launching “Moniker Madness,” a series of activities that will give students, faculty, staff and alumni opportunities to provide multiple rounds of feedback on the moniker options and help narrow down the list further. The first round, which kicks off Thursday, February 16 and runs through March 6, is called “First Impressions” and will include several community engagement activities that will allow the GW community to weigh in on the 10 options. The activities include:
- 15-minute online survey: A random sample of the GW community will be invited to participate in an online survey about their perceptions of GW and various moniker options.
- Online rating activity: The rest of the GW community will be invited to participate in a brief online activity giving their initial impressions of the 10 moniker options, rating each on positivity scale.
- March 4 men’s basketball game: At the nationally televised men’s basketball game on March 4, which tips off against VCU at 4:30 p.m. at the Charles E. Smith Center, GW community members will be able to participate in an in-person activity during the game to show support for their preferred moniker option.
After evaluating all the feedback from the “First Impressions” round of activities, GW will narrow the options further and then launch a new round for community feedback. As the university continues this deliberate and thoughtful process for developing the new moniker, it looks forward to engaging the GW community in many other ways over the next several months.
“As we kick-off ‘Moniker Madness,’ input from the GW community will play a critical and valuable role in the development of a new moniker,” said Vice President for Communications and Marketing Ellen Moran. “We invite all students, faculty, staff and alumni to remain engaged in this process so the new moniker is representative of the collective feedback from the university community.”
