A new satirical X account is putting GW’s political influence in the spotlight, one buff-and-blue post at a time.
STOP GWU started its operations last month, posting graphics featuring politicians and candidates that currently attend or have graduated from the University to track their “invasive influence in American politics,” and encourage people not to vote for them. The first-year political communications major running the account, who The Hatchet granted anonymity to discuss his work freely, said the account was born out of a “parody venture” to poke fun at the overtly political campus culture at GW.
He said GW’s reputation as a politically active campus inspired the idea, pointing to the visibility of politics both on campus and online. The Princeton Review ranked GW No. 6 on its 2026 list of most politically active student bodies, reinforcing that perception. Plus, over 200 congressional staff members and 13 elected congressional officials are GW alumni, ranging from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Johnny Olszewski (D-MD), two people the account has posted about. The account also warns followers against GW alumni running for congress, like Nate Morris, a Republican running for a Senate seat in Kentucky, and Graham Platner, a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine.
A post from alum Patrick Burland about a fictional “Stop GWU PAC” influencing midterm elections prompted him to launch the account in late March, he said. Class of 2020 alum Kat Abughazaleh ran for a seat in Illinois’ ninth congressional district and lost in the democratic primary in March to Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, with 25.9 percent of the vote. He added that the post helped translate an existing joke about GW’s political reach into a format he could build on.
“I have seen it online and also in the GW culture of being known for sometimes overly performative in politics and not in a negative way, of course, but seeing it be posted online,” he said.
The student said he modeled the account after TrackerPAC, which runs projects like TrackAIPAC and TrackOilPAC to monitor political donations from lobbying groups. He said those accounts can be “vicious” toward candidates, and he wanted STOP GWU to take a more comedic approach while also poking fun at both Democrat and Republicans in attempt to treat all GW-affiliated politicians equally with the same sense of sarcasm.
The student said TrackAIPAC reached out to him on his second day of running the account because they felt STOP GWU was encroaching on their brand, despite it being a parody account. He said they asked him to change the logo due to its perceived similarity to theirs, which he said he’s since rebranded to a more “revolutionary” design featuring a magnifying glass topped with a tricorn hat.
The account amassed more than 1,600 followers in under two weeks, quickly gaining traction online. Its posts have also drawn responses from alums turned politicians, including Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), who replied, “you found me,” to a post highlighting his GW connection.
“I was somewhat surprised just the acknowledgement,” he said. “It did get larger than I thought it would in such a short time.”
The account also told followers not to vote for Jayden Speed, a current GW senior running to represent Nebraska’s second legislative district, instead endorsing his primary opponent, Caitlin Knutson, a Creighton University graduate. Speed declined to comment on the matter while campaigning in Nebraska.
Aside from interactions with politicians themselves, the student said he has also had positive engagement with current GW students on the account, noting that politics are deeply embedded in campus culture given students’ frequent internships on Capitol Hill and proximity to the White House, which makes the humor especially relatable.
“I haven’t seen any negative responses from the average reply, the average person will follow and like,” he said.
The account caught the attention of FOX Live Zone on March 30 — a segment on the local channel featuring local stories — and discussed the account, saying that it was “bizarre” and that GW alumni can be known as “obnoxious” and “overly political.”
“Obviously this account is run by some disgruntled somebody that possibly never got a date in college and is mad at other politics or lost a political debate,” one host said.
A political communications major himself, the student said he hopes to go into grassroots organizing and work in campaigns in his future, building “social capital” in political circles at the local and state levels, though he is unsure if he’ll run for office.
“That’s the thousand-dollar question,” he said.
