George Washington University

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{{Infobox_University |image = Image:GWU.jpg |name = The George Washington University |motto = Deus Nobis Fiducia |established = 1821 |type = Private |president = Stephen Joel Trachtenberg |city = Washington |state = District of Columbia |country = USA |undergrad = 10,030 |postgrad = 9,551 |staff = 4,501 |endowment = US$823 million |campus = Urban (Foggy Bottom), (Mount Vernon) |free_label = Athletics |free = 18 Division I sports teams |mascot = Colonial (official), the Hippo (unofficial) |website= www.gwu.edu |}} Image:GWU bust.jpeg The George Washington University (GWU) is a private university in Washington, D.C., founded in 1821 as The Columbian College.

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History

George Washington had long argued for the creation of a university in the District of Columbia and, in his will, even bequeathed fifty shares of the Potomac Company to it. "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."[1]

Aware of Washington's wishes, a group of men, led by Luther Rice, a Baptist minister, later raised funds to purchase a site for a college to educate missionaries and the clergy. A large building was constructed on what is now Meridian Hill, and on February 9 1821, President James Monroe approved the Congressional charter creating The Columbian College. President Monroe, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, the Marquis de Lafayette and other dignitaries attended the College's first commencement exercises in 1824.

The name of the institution was changed to Columbian University in 1873 and to The George Washington University in 1904. The university became one of the first institutions in the United States to grant a Ph.D. in 1888.

Since the 1970s, GWU, under the leadership of presidents Lloyd Hartman Elliott and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, has become a major undergraduate and graduate institution. It has grown immensely in recent years and is at present the largest private landowner in the District of Columbia, and second largest overall (behind the federal government).

In June 1999, the university purchased the Mount Vernon College for Women near Georgetown, which became the George Washington University Mount Vernon Campus.

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Academics

G.W.U. has a distinguished record in the fields of engineering, political science, business, international affairs, and computer science on the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition to courses on its main campus, G.W.U. teaches a large number of graduate courses in these fields in the suburbs of Washington (in Maryland and Virginia).

It is a common statement on campus that G.W.U. is also the largest private university in the state of Virginia (since larger schools like the University of Virginia are state-operated).

G.W.U. is also one of a small percentage of private universities to have a distinguished medical school and its own hospital. G.W.U. also has a notable law school (something that is more common than a medical school), and other programs that tie in with its location in the nation's capital.

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Organization

The university is made up of a number of colleges that have different disciplines within them.

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Campus

The university has three campuses: The main campus in Foggy Bottom, the Mount Vernon campus in northern Washington, D.C., and the Virginia campus in Ashburn, Virginia. The university also owns land and buildings around the Foggy Bottom campus that are not used for academic purposes; these include the mall at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave, and the land under the International Monetary Fund building.

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Foggy Bottom Campus

This is the main campus, occupying 43 acres (170,000 m²) and over one hundred buildings on fourteen city blocks, plus portions of other blocks.

The major and notable buildings are:

  • Libraries: Melvin Gelman Library, Jacob Burns Law Library and Paul Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
  • Medical: The George Washington University Hospital serves the university and the entire region. This is typically where presidents in need of urgent medical help are taken, as was President Ronald Reagan after a failed assassination attempt in 1981. More recently, Vice President Richard Cheney has been taken to The George Washington University Hospital on multiple occasions. The current hospital is across the street from the lot of the old hospital, which was torn down in 2003-2004.
  • Academic
    • 814 20th St, formerly the Union Methodist Episcopal Church, cornerstone laid 1854, making it the oldest building in the university.
    • The Academic Center, a complex of three buildings, Phillips Hall, Rome Hall and Smith Hall of Art, and home to the computer center.
    • Corcoran Hall, built in 1924 as the first building built for GWU on the Foggy Bottom campus, is the birthplace of the bazooka. This is the center of the sciences at GW.
    • 1957 E St., completed in 2003 as the new home to the Elliott School of International Affairs, as well as lecture halls and dormitory rooms. GW Alum Gen. Colin Powell visited GW to officially open this building.
    • Tompkins Hall, home of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS).
    • Media & Public Affairs Building, which houses the Luther W. Brady Art Gallery and the Jack Morton Auditorium, where CNN's Crossfire was broadcast until June 3rd, 2005; it now hosts CNN's On The Story which tapes weekly on Friday evenings and airs the following Saturday.
    • Duques Hall, opened in January 2006 for classes and officially on February 8 2006, is the home to the GW Business School and features a model trading floor and state of the art class rooms.
  • Mixed Use
    • Cloyd Heck Marvin Center, the central building of the university and home to the J Street food court (there is no J St in Washington, so the name was open) the Cafritz Conference Center and the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, as well as classrooms, studios, and offices for the Department of Theatre and Dance. The fifth floor houses The Hippodrome, an area for students to relax and have fun. It includes the only public bowling alley in Washington, D.C.
    • The Grant School building, which houses School Without Walls during the day, is used for evening classes.
  • Activity
    • Lisner Auditorium, the main auditorium of the university and home to the Dimock Gallery of art. When built it was the largest in the city.
  • Athletic: The centerpiece is the Charles E. Smith Center, home of the Colonials and a fully equipped athletics center which occupies nearly an entire city block. There are also two tennis courts nearby, and the Lerner Health and Wellness Center.
  • Residences: There are 24 residence halls (not including Townhouses) on the Foggy Bottom campus, capable of housing over 6000 students.
  • Other Holdings: GWU is the largest private land owner in D.C. The university has many holdings in the area, either just the land or the buildings as well. Among these are the mall at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave, an office block at 2100 Pennsylvania Ave with many student-oriented services, The George Washington University Inn, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and several foreign embassies.
  • The University has announced its 20 year plan for the modernization of the Foggy Bottom Campus. The plan hinges on the redevelopment of the old George Washington University Hospital site, commonly known as Square 54.
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Mount Vernon Campus

This wooded campus is located on 23 acres (93,000 m²) in northwest Washington, D.C., and was purchased by GWU in 1999. It was exclusively a woman's college, but since the acquisition it is now co-ed, though it still has a large emphasis on women's academics and athletics. The Eckles Memorial Library serves this campus, and there are NCAA Division 1 fields for women's softball, women's and men's soccer, and women's and men's lacrosse. There are six residence halls on this campus.

GW is planning on building another large residence hall on the campus that will house another 500 students.

The Halls are:

  • Clark
  • Cole
  • Hensley
  • Merriweather
  • Pelham
  • Somers
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Virginia Campuses

Located in Loudoun County, Virginia, this campus consists of a single large building sitting in a 90 acre (360,000 m²) plot, and is mostly used for graduate research. Another campus is in Newport News, Virginia.

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Students and faculty

There were 10,394 undergraduate (not including Non-Degree Students) and 12,634 graduate students enrolled for the Fall 2005 academic semester. In 2001, there were 1,508 full-time and 2,725 part-time members of the faculty.

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Student government

The Student Association (SA) is the official undergraduate and graduate student government of The George Washington University. The SA is fashioned after the federal government with three co-equal branches of government. The President and Executive Vice President, however, are separately and popularly elected. The Senate is divided by the schools of the University, including but not limited to the GW Law and Medical Schools. Historically, SA presidents have fared well in the political arena. Former SA president Edward "Skip" Gnehm was the Ambassador to Kuwait during the Gulf War and received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award and two Presidential Meritorious Service Awards. Former SA president John David Morris (1989-1990) currently serves as a city councilman in Peoria, Illinois, and Al Park (1994-1995) is a New Mexico state representative and possible candidate for New Mexico Attorney General. Famed actor Alec Baldwin once ran for SA President as a sophomore and narrowly lost. After his defeat, he transferred to NYU to pursue an acting career.

The current SA President is Audai Shakour and Executive Vice President is Morgan Corr. The incoming President is Lamar Thorpe and incoming Executive Vice President is Josh Lasky.

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Clubs and traditions

There are over three hundred and fifty student organizations at the University, including organizations of common interest or political activism, ethnic organizations, and Greek organizations. It is also home to one of the first virtual student organizations in the United States named ETLSO. The Educational Technology and Leadership Student Organization (ETLSO) caters to the needs of distance education students.

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Poitical and International Organizations

The George Washington University is home to one of the nation's largest and one of the most active chapters of the College Democrats of America, with an approximate membership of 1500 undergraduate students. With over 430 members, the GW College Republicans are an active campus organization, and were named the Best Chapter of 2005 by the College Republican National Committee.

The International Affairs Society (IAS) is another one of the largest student organizations, with over 350 dues paying members. IAS activities range from hosting speakers and panels on current events, visiting area institutions such as foreign Embassys, Model United Nations participation, many social events, and hosting and organizing MUN conferences for secondary students. Separately from the IAS, Delta Phi Epsilon, a foreign service fraternity, has recenty been rechartered at GWU.

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Greek-Letter Organizations

There are 12 recognized fraternities on campus, including Alpha Epsilon Pi, Beta Theta Pi, Kappa Sigma, Lambda Chi Alpha, Phi Kappa Psi, Phi Sigma Kappa, Pi Kappa Alpha, Pi Kappa Phi, Sigma Nu, Sigma Phi Epsilon, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Theta Delta Chi. Sigma Chi was approved for recolonization in 2006. There are also a number of unrecognized fraternities, including Sigma Alpha Epsilon, Sigma Alpha Mu (also called SAMMY on campus), Alpha Pi Epsilon (or "Apes," formerly [[Zeta Beta Tau) There are 8 Panhellenic sororities on campus, including Alpha Delta Pi, Alpha Epsilon Phi, Alpha Phi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Sigma Sigma, Sigma Delta Tau, and Sigma Kappa. Pi Beta Phi was approved for colonization by the Panhellenic Association in 2006.

Theta Tau, the USA's oldest and foremost engineering fraternity is active on campus, as is the national honor fraternity Phi Sigma Pi.

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Other Organizations

Intramural sports are also very popular in addition to the NCAA Division I varsity teams.

GWU is home to an active student theater community. Student theater organizations include Generic Theatre Company, 14th Grade Players, and Forbidden Planet Productions, and receSs.

The GW Chess team/club was reconstituted in September of 2005 and now competes with other universities nationally. It is currently coached by Grandmaster Lubosh Kavalek, who is also an alumnus.

In 2003 the GW Gaming League was founded. The league has become quite popular, and has gained event sponsorship from such corporations as Electronic Arts, Universal Pictures, and Red Bull. It has even appeared in a Washington Post article.

The Daily Colonial http://www.dailycolonial.com is an online, student-run newspaper. Founded in 2004 it has received recognition across campus as a "Journalist's Newspaper" and has grown exponentially in readership and staff since its inception. Fueled completely by volunteer students it boasts a collection of staff writers that are truly committed to the cause of journalism and news reporting.

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The Hippo

Though the official mascot is the Colonial, since 1996 the placement of a bronze hippo in the center of campus has caused the Hippo to become a second mascot for many. There is also a secret society, founded by President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, called the Order of the Hippo. Little is known about the organization, whose rituals are shrouded in what has been described by some observers as "contrived secrecy"; hard evidence does indicate, however, that its members include not only high-ranking officials of the University administration but also several hand-picked members of the student and alumni populations. In spring 2005, the Order came under increased scrutiny and criticism in the student media after allegations surfaced concerning the Order's allowance of both hazing activities and usage of alcohol by underage members during Order functions and gatherings -- activities that violate the University's student code of conduct, and towards which the University administration itself has taken a zero-tolerance policy when dealing with fraternities, sororities, and other student social groups.

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School songs

The school fight song, titled "Buff and Blue" is as follows:

Hail to the buff! (buff!)
Hail to the blue! (blue!)
Hail to the buff and blue!
All our lives we'll be proud to say,
We hail from GW! (go big blue!)
Oh by George we're happy we can say,
We're GW here to show the way!
So raise high the buff! (buff!)
Raise high the blue! (blue!)
Loyal to GW!
(You bet we're!)
Loyal to GW! (fight!)

The school's Alma Mater as presently sung today was rewritten from its original version in 1970:

Hail Alma Mater,
To thy spirit guiding,
Knowledge thy closest friend
In its strength abiding,
Pledge we fidelity
Ne'er its place resigning,
Hail thee George Washington.
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Athletics

Image:Colonials.gif

GW has an extensive Division I 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.

The teams are called the Colonials and have achieved great successes in recent years including a first round victory in the Men's NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament in 2004 and basketball beating No. 9 Michigan State and No. 12 Maryland in back to back games to win the 2004 BB&T Classic. 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 began the 2005 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll, and is now ranked #14 in the AP poll, and #11 by ESPN. They had a record of 26-2 (16-0 in the A-10) going into the 2006 NCAA Tournament led by power forward Pops Mensah-Bonsu, Omar Williams, Danilo Pinnock, Mike Hall and Maureece Rice. Their only loss of the regular season came to North Carolina State and they also lost in the A-10 tournament to Temple, after completing a perfect regular season in the A-10. The 2005-2006 season has been the team's best ever, surpassing the start of the 1953-1954 season. Karl Hobbs, a former player and coach under Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut is in his fifth year as head coach. Hobbs is a fan favorite -- often receiving as much applause during his entrance to games as the athletes. Known for his outward shows of emotion during games that include stomping his foot and slamming his clipboard, Hobbs is considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the NCAA.

They received a #8 seed in the tournament in the NCAA Tournament and came back a from a large second half defecit to defeat #9 seed UNC-Wilmington, but then lost to Duke, the top overall seed in the tournament.

The official student supporters' group of the men's basketball team is called the Colonial Army. It is one of the largest student organizations on campus.

Colonials athletic teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

The university's colors are buff and blue (buff being a color similar to tan, but often represented as gold or yellow). The colors were taken from George Washington's uniform in the Revolutionary War.

GWU's football team won the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas in 1957. The school last competed in the sport in 1966 as a member of the Southern Conference.[2]

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Presidents

  • William Staughton (1821-1827)
  • Stephen Chapin (1828-1841)
  • Joel Smith Bacon (1843-1854)
  • Joseph Getchell Binney (1855-1858)
  • George Whitefield Samson (1859-1871)
  • James Clarke Welling (1871-1894)
  • Samuel Harrison Greene (1894-1895)
  • Benaiah L. Whitman (1895-1900)
  • Samuel Harrison Greene (1900-1902)
  • Charles Willis Needham (1902-1910)
  • Charles Herbert Stockton (1910-1918)
  • William Miller Collier (1918-1921)
  • Howard L. Hodgkins (1921-1923)
  • William Mather Lewis (1923-1927)
  • Cloyd Heck Marvin (1927-1959)
  • Oswald Symister Colclough (1959-1961)
  • Thomas Henry Carroll (1961-1964)
  • Lloyd Hartman Elliott (1965-1988)
  • Stephen Joel Trachtenberg (1988-2007) (announced his retirement as President in April 2006)
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Noted alumni

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Noted faculty

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External links

Template:Atlantic 10 Conference Template:Colleges and universities in the District of Columbiade:George Washington University nl:George Washington-universiteit ja:ジョージ・ワシントン大学

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