Related | Sunday, Sept 21. Officials: senior administration never discussed hippo phase-out. Administrators rebuffed reports this week that the University was phasing out its unofficial hippo mascot, saying it was never discussed by the senior administration and that the bookstore stopped ordering hippo apparel because of a “misunderstanding.” Continue reading…

Original post. From our staff editorial this morning: “Hippos in D.C. should be careful. In August, the National Zoo announced it was getting rid of Happy the hippo, and now another District hippo is threatened.”

The Hippo may no longer frolic in Foggy Bottom. The beloved unofficial mascot, first installed in 1996 by President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, is being phased out from University events and apparel in the bookstore. The licensing and trademark program, headed by Associate Vice President Helen Cannaday Saulny, is phasing the mascot out to achieve “better brand recognition in the national collegiate market as GW,” according to John Och, the University coordinator for licensing and trademarks.

What do you think? Does the Hippo mean something to you, or is it a necessary change for GW? Don’t care at all?

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