George Washington University

GLORY TO OUR MARTYRS displayed on a building at George Washington University in reference to the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas.

George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GW is one of six universities in the United States with a congressional charter.

GW is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very High Research Activity." It is a member of the Association of American Universities. The university offers degree programs in seventy-one disciplines, enrolling around 11,500 undergraduate and 15,000 graduate students. The school's athletic teams, the George Washington Revolutionaries, play in the NCAA Division I Atlantic 10 Conference. GW also annually hosts numerous political events, including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund's Annual Meetings.

The university's alumni, faculty, and affiliates include 16 foreign heads of state or government, 28 United States senators, 27 United States governors, 18 U.S. Cabinet members, five Nobel laureates, two Olympic medalists, two Academy Award winners, and a Golden Globe winner. GW has over 1,100 active alumni in the U.S. Foreign Service and is one of the largest feeder schools for the diplomatic corps.

On 15 June 2022 GWU announced it would retire a long-standing nickname of the university and attendees, colonials. The nickname had been in use since 1926.

In May 2023 it was announced that the new nickname would be revolutionaries.

On 7 October 2023 various pro-Hamas messages were displayce on a building at the University. The university has disavowed any connection to the protect stating:

"The statements made by these individuals in no way reflect the views of the university,"

There have been calls for the students responsible for the messages to be expelled.