George Washington University

The George Washington University
Motto	Deus Nobis Fiducia (God in our trust)[1]
Established	February 9, 1821
Type	Private
Endowment	$1.011 billion[2]
Chairman	W. Russell Ramsey
President	Steven Knapp
Provost	Steven R. Lerman
Faculty	2,062
Students	24,531
Undergraduates	10,813
Postgraduates	13,718
Location	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Campus	Urban — Foggy Bottom; Suburban — Mount Vernon; Rural — Ashburn
Colors	Buff and Blue
Nickname	Colonials
Mascot	George, the Colonial
Website	www.gwu.edu

The George Washington University (GW, GWU, or George Washington) is a private, coeducational comprehensive research university located in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on February 9, 1821 as The Columbian College in the District of Columbia. It is the largest university in the nation's capital. It is renowned for its programs in international affairs, political science, law, and medicine.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Founding and early history 1.2 Expansion 2 Campuses 2.1 Foggy Bottom 2.2 Mount Vernon 2.3 The GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus 3 Organization 3.1 University 3.2 Schools and colleges 4 Academics 4.1 Admission 4.2 Tuition 4.3 Research 5 Student life 5.1 Student organizations and government 5.1.1 Controversies 5.2 Environmental sustainability 5.3 Greek life 6 Athletics and spirit programs 6.1 Men's basketball 6.2 Football 6.3 Spirit programs 6.4 Club sports 7 Notable alumni, faculty, and degrees 7.1 Notable alumni 7.2 Notable faculty 7.3 Notable honorary degrees 8 Notes 9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Founding and early history

The first American president George Washington had long argued for the creation of a university in the District of Columbia. In his will, he bequeathed fifty shares of the Potomac Company to support such an institution. He wrote, "I give and bequeath in perpetuity the fifty shares which I hold in the Potomac Company (under the aforesaid Acts of the Legislature of Virginia) towards the endowment of a University to be established within the limits of the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the General Government, if that Government should incline to extend a fostering hand towards it."^[3] The shares turned out not to be worth very much,^[4] but Washington's idea for a university continued.

Baptist missionary and leading minister Luther Rice raised funds to purchase a site for a college to educate citizens in Washington, D.C. A large building was constructed on College Hill, which is now known as Meridian Hill, and on February 9, 1821, President James Monroe approved the congressional charter creating the non-denominational Columbian College in the District of Columbia. The first commencement in 1824 was considered an important event for the young city of Washington, D.C.. In attendance were President Monroe, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Marquis de Lafayette, and other dignitaries. During the Civil War, most students left to join the Confederacy and the college's buildings were used as a hospital and barracks. Walt Whitman was among many of the volunteers to work on the campus. After the Civil War in 1873, Columbian College became the Columbian University and moved to an urban downtown location centered on 15th and H streets, NW. In 1904, Columbian University changed its name to The George Washington University in an agreement with the George Washington Memorial Association. The university relocated its principal operations to Foggy Bottom in 1912.^[5]

The George Washington University, like much of Washington, D.C., traces many of its origins back to the Freemasons. The Bible that the presidents of the university use to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington. Freemasonry symbols are prominently displayed throughout the campus including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings. The Freemasons feel a special bond in helping the school throughout its history financially.^[6]

[edit] Expansion

The majority of the present infrastructure and financial stability at GW is due to the tenures of Presidents Cloyd Heck Marvin, Lloyd Hartman Elliott, and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. In the 1930s, the University was the center for theoretical physics. The cosmologist George Gamow produced critical work on the Big Bang Theory at GW in the 1930s and 1940s. In one of the most important moments in the 20th century, Niels Bohr announced that Otto Hahn had successfully split the atom on January 26, 1939 at the Fifth Washington Conference on theoretical physics in the Hall of Government.^[7] During the Vietnam War era, Thurston Hall, an undergraduate dormitory housing 875 students was (according to campus folklore) a staging ground for Student Anti-War Demonstrations (at 1900 F Street NW, the building is 3 blocks from the White House). In 1996, the university purchased the Mount Vernon College for Women in the city's Palisades neighborhood that became the school's coeducational Mount Vernon Campus. The campus was first utilized in 1997 for women only, but became co-educational in a matter of years. The Mount Vernon campus is now totally integrated into the GW community, serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus. In December 2006, the university named Johns Hopkins University provost Steven Knapp its next president. He began his presidency on August 1, 2007.^[8]

[edit] Campuses

[edit] Foggy Bottom

The main GW campus consists of 43-acres in historic Foggy Bottom and is located a few blocks from the White House and the National Mall. Barring a few outlying buildings, the boundaries of campus are delineated by Pennsylvania Avenue, 19th Street, E Street, and Virginia Avenue. The University owns much of the property in Foggy Bottom and leases it to various tenants, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Other nearby institutions include the Harry S. Truman Building (Department of State headquarters), John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, United States Institute of Peace, Watergate complex, and the embassies of Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The university has a significant presence in the area. Signs indicating the relative location of various university buildings can be found on almost every street corner. The student union (the Marvin Center), several residence halls, the Media and Public Affairs building, Academic Center and other major academic buildings are located within a three-block radius of University Yard (the original quadrangle on campus).

The nearby area surrounding George Washington's main library, Gelman Library, forms the hub of the campus. The seven-story library building contains over two million volumes and is constructed in the Brutalist architectural style of the 1970s. It features a concrete façade punctuated by windows that are divided by projecting vertical slabs. For most of the year, parts of the library are open 24 hours day, seven days per week for use by students, faculty and staff. The library's upper level is home to the National Security Archive, a research institution that publishes declassified U.S. government files concerning selected topics of American foreign policy. It was a National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act request that eventually made the Central Intelligence Agency's so-called "Family Jewels" public.^[9]

Adjacent to the library is Lisner Auditorium and a large open area known as Kogan Plaza. Close to the plaza and located near Monroe Hall and Hall of Government is the Monroe Court, a landscaped area with a large fountain. The Foggy Bottom–GWU Washington Metro station is located at the intersection of 23rd and I Streets NW due south of Washington Circle, and provides access to the Orange and Blue lines. The University Hospital is located next to the Metro station entrance.^[10][11][12]

The Foggy Bottom campus contains most of the residential dormitories in which GW students live. The most notable include: Ivory Tower, Thurston Hall, Madison Hall, Potomac Hall, Fulbright Hall, Mitchell Hall, Schenley Hall, Munson Hall, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall, Amsterdam Hall, The West End and the newest residence, South Hall, among others.

In late 2007, construction began on a large mixed-use residential, office and retail development located on the site of the old GW Hospital (Square 54) and just east of the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metrorail station. It was the second-largest undeveloped lot in the District of Columbia at the time of initial construction activity.^[13]

[edit] Mount Vernon

In 1999, the university acquired the 23-acre Mount Vernon College for Women and renamed it The George Washington University - Mount Vernon Campus.^[14]

Nicknamed "The Vern," students at this campus are the neighbors of the Embassy of Germany in Washington in the Foxhall area. The campus is served by a 24-hour shuttle service known as the "Vern Express." Although its dormitories are fully co-educational, the campus' legacy as a former women's college has been retained with the Elizabeth Somers Women's Leadership Program, a residential-academic program for first-year female undergraduate students. The Mount Vernon campus also hosts the university's outdoor varsity sports.^{[citation needed]}

The Mount Vernon campus is being heavily promoted by the university to attract more students. Exclusive events such as the Fountain Fling provide an incentive for students to explore and use the facilities on campus. The Mount Vernon Campus also offers special services such as free DVD rentals and better catering services. The university is also developing the campus to house more freshmen as they have started a new housing project in the summer of 2008 to house an additional 287 students.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus

The George Washington University also operates a research and graduate campus in Ashburn, Virginia (near Dulles International Airport) and several other graduate satellite education centers including the Alexandria Graduate Education Center in Alexandria, the Graduate Education Center in Arlington, and the Hampton Roads Center in Newport News. The Virginia Science and Technology Campus campus hosts more than a dozen research centers, labs, and institutes including the National Crash Analysis Center.^[15]

[edit] Organization

[edit] University

The George Washington University is governed by a Board of Trustees and the president who are in charge of managing the institution as a whole and providing a vision for the future.^[16] The current Chairman of the Board is W. Russell Ramsey. Ramsey is a business entrepreneur who is known as the co-founder of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, a top investment bank in the United States. He is currently the chairman, CEO, and CIO of Ramsey Asset Management.^[17] The current President is Steven Knapp who was the provost at Johns Hopkins University before being chosen by the Board of Trustees in 2007. Knapp is the sixteenth president of the university.^[8] There is currently no student representative on the Board, a perennially contentious issue in Student Association elections. In 2004 students voted in support of representation onto the Board of Trustees.^{[citation needed]}

In the Chronicle of Higher Education survey of college presidents' salaries for 2007-08, then-President Stephen Trachtenberg topped the nation with a compensation of $3.7 million.^[18]

[edit] Schools and colleges

GW is organized into twelve schools and colleges, each with a different dean and organization.

Undergraduate & Graduate Schools of The George Washington University
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences	School of Media and Public Affairs	School of Business	Elliott School of International Affairs	School of Public Health and Health Services	School of Engineering and Applied Science

Graduate Schools of The George Washington University
George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management	Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration	George Washington University Medical School	George Washington University Law School	Graduate School of Education & Human Development

The Columbian College of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) is the oldest and largest college in the university. It was founded in 1821; at the beginning of the university's history, there was no distinction between this college and the university. The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), and the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration (SPPPA) belong to this college, although they are run separately. The Columbian College was among the first American institutions to grant a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), in 1888.^[19] The Columbian College is notable for its academic diversity.^[19] Nonetheless, the student body lacks ethnic diversity in line with the general public. While blacks constitute 55% of the population of the District of Columbia, and 12.1% of the nation as a whole, they constitute only 2.3% of the undergraduate population.^[20]

The School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA), which, although run separately, belongs to the Columbian College of Arts in Sciences. It offers two undergraduate degrees, Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Communication and a master's degree in Media and Public Affairs. It is housed in the same building as the Graduate School of Political Management. The Public Affairs Project at GWU, part of SMPA, is responsible for the creation and production of the PBS special, Planet Forward. [School of Media and Public Affairs (SMPA) is one of the few schools in the country, and GWU was the first, to offer a Bachelor's Degree in political communication. The program boasts a faculty of retired and current professionals- including CNN correspondents, journalists, political analysts, and campaign professionals.

The School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) or simply the George Washington School of Medicine, was founded in 1824 due to the need for doctors in the District of Columbia.^[21] In 1981, the Medical Center became the center of the national spotlight when President Ronald Reagan was rushed to the emergency room after an attempted assassination. The emergency room area was later renamed the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine, and other politicians, such as former Vice President Dick Cheney, come to GW for routine and emergency procedures.^[22] Cheney and wife Lynne Cheney then helped to start the Richard B. and Lynne V. Cheney Cardiovascular Institute in 2006. Others include former First Lady Laura Bush who was treated for a pinched nerve a few years ago. An associate school in the university is the School of Public Health and Health Services (SPHHS).^[23]

George Washington University Law School was established in 1826 and is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia.^[24] Supreme Court Justices William Strong, David J. Brewer, and John Marshall Harlan were among those who served on its faculty. Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Antonin Scalia presided over its moot court in 2006, 2007, and 2009, respectively.^[25]

The Graduate School of Education & Human Development (GSEHD) officially started in 1909. The school is composed of three distinct academic departments, and it is one of the largest schools within GW. U.S. News & World Report rated the graduate program in the top 20, and was 5th overall in total research expenditures.^[26]

The School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) was founded on October 1, 1884 as the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University. The school separated from the Columbian College in 1962 and was one of the first to accept women for degree candidacy in engineering and has awarded the most engineering doctoral degrees to women in the country.^[27] The bazooka was invented at the SEAS in 1942.^[28]

The Elliott School of International Affairs (ESIA) was founded in 1898 as the School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplomacy. Under President Lloyd Elliott, the school separated from Columbian College. On September 3, 2005, alumnus Colin Powell opened a new complex for this school at 1957 E Street NW in front of the Department of State.^[29]

The George Washington School of Business was established in 1928 with a $1 million gift by the Masonic Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite for the Southern Jurisdiction.^[30] The part-time MBA program or "Professional MBA," is a flexible format program and is currently ranked 26th in the nation by US News and World Report.

On February 6, 2006, the Chairman and CEO of FedEx, Frederick Smith, opened a new complex for the school called Duquès Hall.^[31]

The School of Business is located in the Ric & Dawn Duquès Hall, named after graduate Ric Duques.

During the Trachtenberg Presidency, the university created several professional schools. Some schools founded during his era were the College of Professional Studies,^[32] and the Graduate School of Political Management.^[33]

[edit] Academics

[edit] Admission

GW received more than 21,135 applications and admitted 6,655 students for the class of 2014, or approximately 31.5% of applicants.^[34] GW Law is ranked 20th in the country.^[35]

Students at GW participate in a variety of educational opportunities. There are 9,700 full-time undergraduates studying in 87 majors with 1,500 in business, 500 in engineering, 2,000 in international affairs, 700 in communications and media, 800 in sciences and math, 2,900 in social sciences, and 1,300 in arts, languages, and humanities. Nearly 900 students participate in GW's Study Abroad Programs each semester in 50 countries.^[36] Additionally, about 125 entering students each fall join the University Honors Program community of 500 students.

The George Washington University has been ranked by The Princeton Review in the Top 10 for the following categories:^[37]

• Most Politically Active
• Dorms Like Palaces
• Great College Towns
• Best in the Northeast

In discussing the University's U.S. News national university ranking, which is currently ranked at 51st in the nation, President Trachtenberg explained why its ranking was inconsequential: "I sometimes help my wife cook, and I stand there and watch, and she looks at a recipe in a book, and she says, ‘Hmm, three pinches of salt, I think that’s going to be too salty,’ and she only puts two pinches in," he said. "You can’t go by what some magazine tells you life is supposed to be about."^[38] However, U.S. News data and research director Bob Morse has claimed that, although the University may publicly downplay its status, it privately lobbied the magazine to expand its rankings beyond 150 schools. “The idea that they didn’t care about the rankings—they might not care to actually publicize it, but they cared enough to encourage us to do the rankings the way we are printing them now,” Morse said. “Their position was, ‘We’d rather let people know we are listed 8th.’ I’m sure they thought that would be helpful to them.”^[38]

Demographics of student body^[39][40]

	Undergraduate	Graduate	U.S.
Black	6.9%	9.3%	12.8%
Asian	10.2%	8.9%	4.4%
White	58.0%	54.7%	66.7%
Hispanic	6.6%	4.2%	15.1%
Unspecified	12.5%	12.1%	N/A
Native American	0.3%	0.7%	1.0%
International student	5.4%	10.0%	N/A
Men	44.4%	45.1%	N/A
Women	55.6%	54.9%	N/A

[edit] Tuition

At the George Washington University, tuition is guaranteed to remain at the freshman rate for up to ten continuous (full time) semesters of attendance at the university. Tuition has risen 58 percent over the past seven years.^[41] Tuition for the 2009-2010 year is $41,610^[42], while the combined room and board is approximately $10,000 for incoming freshmen.^[43][44] The tuition rate only applies to the incoming Class of 2013 and will not increase for those students for up to 10 semesters. Although GW is the third most expensive school in the United States of America,^[45] it also gives the most need-based financial aid.^[46]

[edit] Research

There are major research institutions that many students utilize like the Library of Congress, the National Institutes of Health, the Carnegie Institute, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and the National Geographic Society. Many think tanks nearby provide students with every opportunity to participate in research projects with professors and advisors.^[47]

[edit] Student life

The university is located in downtown D.C., near the Kennedy Center, embassies, and other cultural events. There are many student organizations at the University. GW has a Division I athletics program that includes men's baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, women's lacrosse, rowing, soccer, women's softball, squash, swimming & diving, tennis, women's volleyball, and water polo.^[48] Colonials athletics teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. While only a Division II program, the Men's and Women's Rugby Teams both compete in the Potomac Rugby Union and have had much recent success.^[49]

GW has a NROTC program on campus.

[edit] Student organizations and government

Most student organizations are run through the Student Association (SA). The SA is fashioned after the federal government with an executive, legislative, and judicial branch.^[50] Some SA presidents have been successful after college, such as former SA president Edward "Skip" Gnehm, who was the Ambassador to Kuwait during the Gulf War and received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards. There are over 300 registered student organizations on campus. The largest student organization on campus claiming a membership approaching 2000, the GW College Democrats have hosted speakers such as CNN contributor Donna Brazile and former DNC Chairman Howard Dean among numerous others. Likewise, the GW College Republicans, one of the largest CR chapters in the nation, have been visited by politicians like John Ashcroft former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former President George W. Bush.^[51] The International Affairs Society (IAS) runs the university's award winning Model United Nation's team, in addition to hosting yearly high school and middle school Model UN conferences on campus. GW's Student Global AIDS Campaign (SGAC) is one of the most active chapters in the country^{[citation needed]} due to the high amount of AIDS cases in Washington, D.C.^[52] The GW Chapter of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, or GW STAND, was formed in 2003 and works with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Genocide Intervention Network on information about genocide in Darfur.^[53] The Global Language Group, or Global Languages, is a non-profit organization that offers over 150 free classes in 50 languages.

There are chapters of many varied academic groups at the University. The local chapter of the Society of Physics Students was at one time under the auspices of world-renowned scientists like George Gamow, Ralph Asher Alpher, Mario Schoenberg and Edward Teller, who have all taught at the university. The Enosinian Society, founded in 1822, is one of the university's oldest student organizations. Invited speakers included Daniel Webster.^[54]

There are multiple news sources on campus: the twice-weekly newspaper The GW Hatchet, founded in 1904, The GW Patriot, a journal of politics and campus culture noted for its blog and The Daily Colonial, an online newsmagazine founded in 2004. There is also an online only student-run radio station, WRGW, that is in its 79th year and campus television station GWTV broadcasts on campus cable channel 6 and on its website.

[edit] Controversies

The Program Board had, in years past, scheduled an X-rated film to show as part of their semester series. The film was usually partnered with a discussion of the First Amendment or a seminar on the sociological underpinnings of pornography. One year in the mid-1990s, "Porn Night" garnered national press coverage along with an ensuing protest. The film shown that night was John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut. The organized protest brought together College Republicans with College Democrats, Christians, Jews and Muslims and a bevy of diverse student organizations to speak out against pornography. A number of university administrators appeared that night to show their support of the students' right to assemble - on one hand to view the movie and on the other to protest using student fees to show the film in the first place.^[55]

A number of posters in October 2007 surfaced at GW satirizing the "Islamofascism Awareness Week," which was assumed to have been from the GW Young American's Foundation.^[56] On October 9, The Daily Colonial reported that the posters were not the work of the YAF, but rather an attempt to discredit the YAF for their involvement in promoting the Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week.^[57] Later that day, seven students advocating against alleged racism inherent in Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week emailed their statement of responsibility regarding the posters to the GW Hatchet.^[58] While YAF and other conservative groups demanded that the students be expelled, the university's judicial services found the students in violation of only GW's postering policy and the students were put on disciplinary probation and fined $25 for the satirical fliers.^[59]

In January 2009, a member of the GW College Democrats desecrated GW Young America's Foundation crucifixes that were being stored in the College Republicans' office after a pro-life event^[60]. The controversy, exposed by Pat Dollard and The GW Patriot, resulted in disciplinary action against a member of the College Democrats.

[edit] Environmental sustainability

GWU received a B on the College Sustainability Report Card for 2010, an improvement over the University's 2009 grade of C+. The school is reaching for a higher rating by updating facilities with energy efficient technologies.^[61][62]

Some students have criticized GW's recent initiatives as specifically designed as answers to questions on sustainability reports^[63]. GW keeps the lights on in all academic buildings, even when there are no classes and overnight. In addition, only 1 of 106 University Police Department's vehicles is a hybrid and GW does not count the 13 Mount Vernon Campus Express buses toward its sustainability totals.^[64]

[edit] Greek life

GW has a Greek community of over 2200 students (22 percent of the undergraduate population).^[65]

There are 16 recognized men's social fraternity chapters on campus, including Alpha Epsilon Pi, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Alpha Order, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Sigma Kappa, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Chi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon , Tau Kappa Epsilon, Theta Delta Chi, and Zeta Beta Tau.

There are 10 Panhellenic sororities on campus, including Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Pi Beta Phi, Sigma Delta Tau, Sigma Kappa, and Phi Sigma Sigma.

Six National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) fraternities and sororities exist on campus: Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Delta Sigma Theta, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, and Zeta Phi Beta.

Other Greek-life exist on campus in the form of multicultural, professional, community-serviced based and honor groups: Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Kappa Psi, Delta Sigma Pi, Mu Sigma Upsilon, Order of Omega, Phi Beta Kappa, Omicron Delta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, Iota Nu Delta, Lambda Upsilon Lambda , Lambda Pi Chi, Phi Alpha Delta, Pi Delta Psi, Kappa Phi Lambda, Sigma Psi Zeta, Delta Phi Epsilon, Theta Tau,an Islamic-interest frat, Phi Sigma Pi, Alpha Chi Sigma, Alpha Phi Omega, Sigma Pi Sigma, Alpha Omega Epsilon, Xi Delta Pi,^[66] and Epsilon Sigma Alpha.

[edit] Athletics and spirit programs

George Washington University is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and most of its teams play at the NCAA Division I level. All indoor sports play at the Smith Center on the Foggy Bottom campus. The outdoor events are held at the Mount Vernon campus Athletic Complex. The university's colors are buff and blue (buff being a color similar to tan, but sometimes represented as gold or yellow). The colors were taken from George Washington's uniform in the Revolutionary War. The teams have achieved great successes in recent years including a first round victory in the Men's NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament in 2004. The sailing team competes in the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association and in gymnastics in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League. In 2007 the GW Men's Water Polo team placed third at Eastern Championships, and was ranked 14th in the nation.

[edit] Men's basketball

Mike Jarvis coached GW in the 1990s, and led the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1993, where they were beaten by the Fab Five University of Michigan team (which later vacated its wins due to NCAA rule violations). Jarvis also coached current Colonials Head Coach Karl Hobbs in high school. Former NBA player Yinka Dare also played at George Washington for two years before being drafted in the first round by the New Jersey Nets.

GW's basketball team returned to the national stage in 2004 after defeating No. 9 Michigan State and No. 12 Maryland in back to back games to win the 2004 BB&T Classic. That year, the men's basketball team went on to win the Atlantic 10 West Title and the Atlantic 10 Tournament Title (earning an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament. The team received a #12 seed, losing to #5 seed Georgia Tech in the first round.

The team began the 2005–06 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll, reaching as high as sixth in the polls, and after some tournament success they closed out the year ranked 19th in the nation. They had a record of 26-2 going into the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The 2005-06 team achieved the school's highest ranking in the last 50 years, peaking at #6 in the nation,^[67] had been one of the team's best ever, and received an #8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the tournament, they came back from an 18-point second-half deficit to defeat #9 seed UNC-Wilmington, but lost to Duke University, the top overall seed, in the second round.

While only one Colonial from the 2005-06 team was drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft, J. R. Pinnock, two other Colonials from that team have played in the NBA. Pops Mensah-Bonsu played for the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs and currently plays for the Toronto Raptors and Mike Hall played for the Washington Wizards.

The 2006-07 basketball season was considered by many^[68][69] to be a rebuilding year for the Colonials after graduating their entire starting front court and losing Pinnock to the NBA. Coach Karl Hobbs and Senior guard Carl Elliott managed to lead the team to a 23-8 record, winning the 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament in Atlantic City, NJ (once again earning an auto-bid to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. The Colonials were placed as a #11 seed lost to #6 seed Vanderbilt University in Sacramento, CA 77-44.^[70]

Hobbs, a former player and coach under Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut is in his sixth year as head coach. Known for his animated sideline personality^[71][72] Hobbs is considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the NCAA.^[73][74][75]

[edit] Football

The school sponsored intercollegiate football from 1881 to 1966. The team played home games at Griffith Stadium and RFK Stadium. Colonials football was discontinued to transfer resources to other sports and to focus on the construction of an on-campus fieldhouse for basketball.

[edit] Spirit programs

The Colonials mascot is named George, and is portrayed by a student wearing an outfit inspired by the uniform worn by General Washington.^[76] The sports teams are called the Colonials, which was chosen by the student body in 1924. Another version of the GW mascot is an inflatable Colonial figure known as "Big George."^[76].

The spirit program also includes the Colonial Brass, directed by Professor Benno Fritz.^[77]

The official fight song is Hail to the Buff and Blue, composed in 1924 by student Eugene F. Sweeney and re-written in 1989 by Patrick M. Jones.^[78] The song is tolled twice-daily by bells atop Corcoran Hall, at 12:15pm and 6:00pm.

[edit] Club sports

The university also has various club sports, which are not varsity sports, but compete against other colleges. Examples include: volleyball, ice hockey, fencing, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, cricket, squash, tennis, ultimate frisbee, and others.^[79]

[edit] Notable alumni, faculty, and degrees

[edit] Notable alumni

George Washington alumni include many current and past political figures. Six alumni currently serve in the United States Senate and ten in the House of Representatives. These include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor. Alumni have been governors of eighteen states, including current US Senator and former Governor of Virginia Mark Warner. Other renowned figures of the higher echelons of United States government include Senator J. William Fulbright, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace, former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and former Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.

Other notable alumni and former students include Anwar al-Awlaki, Ralph Asher Alpher, Red Auerbach, Alec Baldwin, Dana Bash, Courteney Cox Arquette, Larry Craig, Preston Cloud, Jack Edmonds, Jason Filardi, Ina Garten, Todd B. Hawley, Harold Hersey, L. Ron Hubbard, S.M. Krishna, Lee Kun-hee, Roy Lee, Theodore N. Lerner, Randy Levine, Gerardo I. Lopez, Carl Lutz, T.J. Miller, Darla Moore, former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, Leslie Sanchez, Chuck Todd, Margaret Truman, Kerry Washington, Baby M, David McConnell, Scott Wolf, Rachel Zoe, and Erica Hayden,.

[edit] Notable faculty

As the university is located within blocks of the State Department, White House, Department of the Interior, IMF, World Bank, and other Federal government buildings of significant importance, the university attracts many influential guest lecturers and visiting professors.^{[citation needed]} Notable faculty include: George Gamow (1934–1954), physicist and cosmologist; Edward Teller (1935–1941), nuclear physicist and father of the hydrogen bomb; Seyyed Hossein Nasr, founder and first president of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy; Edward "Skip" Gnehm, former U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Kuwait and Australia; Marcus Raskin, former member of the national security counsel under President Kennedy and founder of the Institute for Policy Studies; Abba Eban, former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Education & Culture and Minister of Foreign Affairs; John Logsdon, member of Columbia Accident Investigation Board, NASA Advisory Council; Frank Sesno, CNN Special Correspondent; James Carafano, Heritage Foundation national security and homeland security expert; Leon Fuerth, former national security adviser to Vice President Al Gore; James Rosenau, political theorist and former president of the International Studies Association; Chris Kojm, Deputy Director of the 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group as well as President of the 9/11 Discourse Project; Dr. Nancy E. Gary, former dean of Albany Medical College, Executive Vice President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Dean of its F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Roy Richard Grinker, anthropologist specializing in autism and North-South Korean relations, and Edward P. Jones, who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2004, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé (MBA), president of Togo since 2005. In addition to Herbert J. Davis - Executive Director, U.S.-Bangladesh Business Council; U.S. Chamber of Commerce.^[80]

[edit] Notable honorary degrees

The University has traditionally given honorary degrees to people who have made an influence in Washington like: J. Edgar Hoover (Doctor of Law, 1935), Harry S. Truman (1946), John Wesley Snyder (Treasury Secretary, Doctor of Law, 1947), Ulysses S. Grant III (Doctor of Law, 1956), John F. Kennedy (Doctor of Law, 1961), Hillary Rodham Clinton (Doctor of Public Service, 1994), Elizabeth Dole (Doctor of Public Service, 1995), William H. Rehnquist (Doctor of Law, 1996), Sandra Day O'Connor (Doctor of Law, 2003), Barbara Bush (Doctor of Public Service, 2006), George H.W. Bush (Doctor of Public Service, 2006), and Michelle Obama (Doctor of Public Service, 2010). Peace advocates and leaders of other nations who have influenced the world have also received this honor. These people include: King Mohammad V of Morocco (Doctor of Law, 1957) , Iranian Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (Doctor of Public Service, 1974), Ronald Reagan (1991), Roy Lichtenstein (Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, 1996), Yitzhak Rabin (Doctor of Public Service, 1996), Desmond Tutu (Doctor of Public Service, 1999), Andy Rooney (Doctor of Public Service, 2005), and South Korean president Lee Myung Bak (Doctor of Public Service, 2009).

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 38°54′03″N 77°02′50″W / 38.900750°N 77.047100°W / 38.900750; -77.047100

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