“Square 77” is boring. “Superdorm” smacks of college excess. So what should we call GW’s newest residence hall?
The University asked that question to the entire community Saturday, announcing a residence hall naming contest that will allow anyone to submit a name that highlights “the history of the university, the Foggy Bottom and Mount Vernon campuses and President George Washington himself.”
The contest to name the $130 million residence hall ends March 24, when a panel of GW faculty, staff, students, alumni and parents will pick five finalists. There will be a week of online voting to determine the winner.
The building, to house sophomores and juniors with more affinity living options, will open in 2016.
Of course, colleges prefer to secure big donations to name residence halls and academic buildings. But GW hasn’t had much success in that over the years.
The University just has 10 gifts that top $10 million in its history, and its largest ever is $25 million – gifts dwarfed by those at competitor universities like Georgetown. Administrators are determined to turn around by launching a likely $1 billion campaign this year.
GW’s entire team of vice presidents also released a video announcing the contest:
Residence Hall Naming Contest from The George Washington University on Vimeo.
