GW, By George!

“The George Washington University was established by an act of Congress in 1821. It was the last time Congress did anything at all.” 

It was one of the funniest opening lines of any college information session ever, and also among the most refreshing. We’ve often wondered why more colleges don’t start by sharing their origin stories, because they so often say something about what makes them different. Such is most definitely the case with GW.

Our first president believed the United States needed a university located in the nation’s capital. He saw value in bringing young people together from across the country because he thought it would help create a shared national identity. He also envisioned a training ground for virtuous individuals capable of governing the new republic, as an academy of civic leadership. 

This never quite happened. Washington earmarked some stock in his will to help realize his vision, but the paper turned out to be worthless. While Congress eventually established the school anyway, it was privately funded by Baptist ministers and originally called Columbian College. It was renamed in George Washington’s honor in 1914 when it became a university. 

If he could walk the 20 city blocks of the school’s main campus today, Gen’l Washington would no doubt feel his dream was realized beyond his wildest imagination. Not only is this institution uniquely situated in the political epicenter of the United States, but it is also a global research university that is home to 11,000 undergraduates from all 50 states and 140 countries.

He might also be tickled that the additional 25-acre green GW campus that sits about three miles away is known as Mount Vernon, or just “the Vern.” About 90 percent of freshmen live there and take shuttle vans that run about every 10 minutes. 

So, is GW a city or a green campus?  It is both – and neither. True, the main campus is mostly concrete, but the school does have an amazing quad, also known as the National Mall, where you can find a small chain of well-regarded museums known collectively as the Smithsonian, just a few blocks away. GW is the only university that holds its graduation ceremony on the Mall, near the foot of the Washington Monument.

Unlike other “city” schools, this one feels more like an exclusive neighborhood. So blended is GW into its neighborhood that the only way to know you’re off-campus is that the garbage cans no longer have the school’s logo on them. If you’re wondering about campus security, it might help to know that on patrol are not only DC and campus police, but also the Secret Service. 

The “Foggy Bottom” residential townhouses blend into the dormitories, classrooms, libraries, student union, and the largest event space in DC after the Kennedy Center (which is only about a ten-minute walk away). The State Department is literally on campus, as is the Interior Department, the IMF, and the World Bank. The White House is just four blocks away. The Capitol building is maybe a 15-minute Metro ride. 

Senators, Representatives, Cabinet officers, Supreme Court Justices, and news anchors are on campus so often that it barely causes a ripple when they arrive. It all adds up to what the admissions office likes to call the “Only at GW” experience. 

You probably know where we’re going with this. Given its proximity to so many incredible resources, the internship opportunities (which can lead directly to jobs) are off the charts here. About three-quarters of GW students complete at least one internship; our tour guide was on track to finish five. 

Some might dismiss GW because they’re not interested in politics, history, or government. A brief stop at the newly built, state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Hall is grounds for a recalculation. 

We stood mesmerized in the building’s atrium, looking through a plate-glass window, watching students clustered around small tables as their professor flashed problems on a jumbo screen. The ultra-modern, glass-fronted GW School of Business emitted a different but similarly cutting-edge vibe.

Then our tour guide told us about ACE, which is GW’s international business degree. ACE stands for America, China, Europe, and it’s a four-year bachelor’s degree in business designed to give students a truly global educational experience. Students earn three separate bachelor’s degrees, one from each partner institution: Luiss University in Rome, Renmin University of China in Beijing, and, of course, GW. Students finish with a degree from all three schools. This definitely wasn’t Gen’l Washington’s idea, but he’d certainly love it. 

At the end of our tour, a student asked what made GW different from other universities. We thought the answer was clear by then, but our tour guide’s answer is worth repeating. 

She said: “Some schools, cough Georgetown cough, focus on knowledge. Other schools, cough American cough, emphasize the experience. What makes GW different is that it centers on both knowledge and the experience.”

Is that true “only” at GW? We cannot tell a lie. Probably not. But somewhere, George Washington is smiling.