Effort at Second School to Remove “Colonials” as School Mascot

Some students at George Washington University are seeking to remove the “Colonials” mascot at George Washington University. There was recent successful effort to remove the “Colonials” as the mascot at the Community of Philadelphia. The reasoning at both school is that “Colonials” makes people think of colonization. From the George Washington University petition:

We, as students of the George Washington University, believe it is of great exigence that the University changes its official mascot. The use of “Colonials,” no matter how innocent the intention, is received as extremely offensive by not only students of the University, but the nation and world at large. The historically, negatively-charged figure of Colonials has too deep a connection to colonization and glorifies the act of systemic oppression. Alternative nickname recommendations are “Hippos,” “Revolutionaries”, or “Riverhorses.”

At both schools only 500 to 650 people signed the petition and that was enough to get the Community College of Philadelphia to change its name. The Community College of Philadelphia has just under 20,000 students and George Washington University as approximately 25,000 students. So basically no one cared.

If you are wondering what this article has to do with the local community, the Colonial School District’s mascot is the “Colonials.” We haven’t heard of an effort yet to change the name of the school district or the mascot.

We think the George Washington University should consider the “Hungry Hungry Hippos.” That would be cooler than just “Hippos.”