(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) The Washington Post un-ironically published an article by a student of George Washington University, under the headline “George Washington University needs a new name,” the Daily Wire reported.
“Racism has always been a problem at GW. At the university’s founding in 1821, enrollment was restricted to White men,” wrote Caleb Francois, who is a senior at the university.
“In 1954, then-university president Marvin employed numerous efforts to preserve segregation, arguing for a ‘homogenous’ group of White students.
“Systemic racism and inequality [are] still present on campus,” he added.
The article opined that in order to combat systemic racism and white supremacy, “the school must be renamed, increase black enrollment, select a Black president and adopt a decolonized university curriculum.”
The spectre of critical race theory has visited George Washington University once before. The Cloyd Heck Marvin Center, which was named after the college’s longest serving president, was renamed to the University Student Center after claims that Marvin was a segregationist.
According to Francois, however, this was not enough. He also claimed that the Mount Vernon Campus for GWU is a harrowing reminder of slavery for black students.
“Just blocks from the main campus is the Mount Vernon Campus, named for George Washington’s former slave plantation,” Francois wrote.
“Every day, hundreds of black students walk on a campus named after an enslaver of men and study at a site named after dark parts of history.
“Such sites, among other locations and buildings, are touted as glorified mementos here at GW,” he added.
He continued with claims that the Winston Churchill Library is problematic and called the name, mascot and motto hypocritical.
“The hypocrisy of GW in not addressing these issues is an example of how Black voices and Black grievances go ignored and highlights the importance of strong Black leadership,” he said.
Francois did not mention that the newspaper in which this op-ed was published, the Washington Post, is also named after the storied founding father.
