George Washington University The George Washington University ( GW , GWU , or George Washington ) is a private , coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington , D . C . in the United States . The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on February 9 , 1821 as The Columbian College in the District of Columbia . History . Founding and early history . Baptist missionary and leading minister Luther Rice raised funds to purchase a site for a college to educate citizens in Washington , D . C . A large building was constructed on College Hill , which is now known as Meridian Hill , and on February 9 , 1821 , President James Monroe approved the congressional charter creating the non - denominational " Columbian College in the District of Columbia " . The first commencement in 1824 was considered an important event for the young city of Washington , D . C . . In attendance were President Monroe , John C . Calhoun , Henry Clay , Marquis de Lafayette , and other dignitaries . During the Civil War , most students left to join the Confederacy and the college ' s buildings were used as a hospital and barracks . Walt Whitman was among many of the volunteers to work on the campus . Following the war , in 1873 , Columbian College became the Columbian University and moved to an urban downtown location centered on 15th and H streets , NW . In 1904 , Columbian University changed its name to " The George Washington University " in an agreement with the George Washington Memorial Association to build a campus building in honor of the first U . S . president . Neither the university nor the association were able to raise enough money for the proposed building near the National Mall , however , but the institution retained the name . The university relocated its principal operations to the D . C . neighborhood of Foggy Bottom in 1912 . The George Washington University , like much of Washington , D . C . , traces many of its origins back to the Freemasons . The Bible that the presidents of the university use to swear an oath on upon inauguration is the Bible of Freemason George Washington . Freemasonry symbols are prominently displayed throughout the campus including the foundation stones of many of the university buildings . Expansion . The majority of the present infrastructure and financial stability at GW is due to the tenures of Presidents Cloyd Heck Marvin , Lloyd Hartman Elliott , and Stephen Joel Trachtenberg . In the 1930s , the University was a major center for theoretical physics . The cosmologist George Gamow produced critical work on the Big Bang theory at GW in the 1930s and 1940s . In one of the most important moments in the 20th century , Niels Bohr announced that Otto Hahn had successfully split the atom on January 26 , 1939 at the Fifth Washington Conference on theoretical physics in the Hall of Government . According to campus folklore , during the Vietnam War era , Thurston Hall , an undergraduate dormitory housing 875 students was a staging ground for Student Anti - War Demonstrations ( at 1900 F Street NW , the building is 3 blocks from the White House ) . In 1996 , the university purchased the Mount Vernon College for Women in the city ' s Palisades neighborhood that became the school ' s coeducational Mount Vernon Campus . The campus was first utilized in 1997 for women only , but became co - educational in a matter of years . The Mount Vernon campus is now totally integrated into the GW community , serving as a complement to the Foggy Bottom campus . In December 2006 , the university named Johns Hopkins University provost Steven Knapp its next president . He began his presidency on August 1 , 2007 . Campuses . Foggy Bottom . The main GW campus consists of in historic Foggy Bottom and is located a few blocks from the White House , the World Bank , International Monetary Fund , State Department and the National Mall . Barring a few outlying buildings , the boundaries of campus are delineated by ( running clockwise from Washington Circle ) Pennsylvania Avenue , 19th Street , E Street , Virginia Avenue , 24th Street , and New Hampshire Avenue . The University owns much of the property in Foggy Bottom and leases it to various tenants , including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund . Other nearby institutions include the Harry S . Truman Building ( Department of State headquarters ) , John F . Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts , United States Institute of Peace , Watergate complex , and the embassies of Saudi Arabia , Mexico , Spain , Uruguay , and Bosnia and Herzegovina . The University Yard is the main open space and historic heart of the university . Along with George Washington ' s main library , Gelman Library , they constitute the hub of the main campus . The seven - story Gelman Library building contains over two million volumes and is constructed in the Brutalist architectural style of the 1970s . It features a concrete façade punctuated by windows that are divided by projecting vertical slabs . For most of the year , parts of the library are open 24 hours a day , seven days per week for use by students , faculty and staff . The seventh floor of the library includes the Special Collections Research Center , National Security Archives ( NSA ) , Global Resources Center , and Kiev Library . The NSA is a research institution that publishes declassified U . S . government files concerning selected topics of American foreign policy . It was a National Security Archive Freedom of Information Act request that eventually made the Central Intelligence Agency ' s so - called " Family Jewels " public . Close to the library is Lisner Auditorium and a large open area between them is known as Kogan Plaza . Southeast of the plaza and located near Monroe Hall and Hall of Government is the Monroe Court , a landscaped area with a large fountain . The Foggy Bottom – GWU Washington Metro station is located at the intersection of 23rd and I Streets NW due south of Washington Circle , and provides access to the Orange and Blue lines . The University Hospital is located next to the Metro station entrance . The Foggy Bottom campus contains most of the residential dormitories in which GW students live . The most notable include : Ivory Tower , Thurston Hall , Madison Hall , Potomac House , Fulbright Hall , Mitchell Hall , Crawford Hall , Schenley Hall , Munson Hall , Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis Hall , Phillip Amsterdam Hall , The West End and the newest residence , South Hall , among others . In late 2007 , construction began on a large mixed - use residential , office and retail development located on the site of the old GW Hospital ( Square 54 ) and just east of the Foggy Bottom - GWU Metrorail station . It was the second - largest undeveloped lot in the District of Columbia at the time of initial construction activity . Mount Vernon . In 1999 , the university acquired the Mount Vernon College for Women . The GW Virginia Science and Technology Campus . The George Washington University also operates a research and graduate campus in Ashburn , Virginia ( near Dulles International Airport ) . The university also operates several other graduate satellite education centers . These include the Alexandria Graduate Education Center in Alexandria , the Graduate Education Center in Arlington , and the Hampton Roads Center in Newport News . The Virginia Science and Technology Campus hosts more than a dozen research centers , labs , and institutes including the National Crash Analysis Center . Organization . University . The George Washington University is governed by a Board of Trustees and the president who are in charge of managing the institution as a whole and providing a vision for the future . The current Chairman of the Board is W . Russell Ramsey . Ramsey is a business entrepreneur who is known as the co - founder of Friedman , Billings , Ramsey Group , a top investment bank in the United States . He is currently the chairman , CEO , and CIO of Ramsey Asset Management . Other Trustees include : Randy L . Levine , president of the New York Yankees , and actress Kerry Washington . There is no student representative on the board . The current President is Steven Knapp , who was the provost at Johns Hopkins University before being chosen by the Board of Trustees in 2007 . Knapp is the sixteenth president of the university . In the " Chronicle of Higher Education " survey of college presidents ' salaries for 2007 - 08 , then - President Stephen Trachtenberg topped the nation with a compensation of $ 3 . 7 million . Schools and colleges . GW is organized into ten schools and colleges , each with a different dean and organization . The Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration is a graduate school in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences . The Trachtenberg School offers Master of Public Policy , Master of Public Administration , and PhD degrees in Public Policy and Public Administration . The school works in partnership with the Elliott School of International Affairs , The School of Public Health and Health Services , and The Graduate School of Education & Human Development to offer a variety of concentrations for its graduates . For Public Affairs Schools , it is ranked 12th nationwide by US News & World Report , and 10th in Public Management Administration . The School of Media and Public Affairs ( SMPA ) , which , although run separately , belongs to the Columbian College of Arts in Sciences . It offers two undergraduate degrees , Journalism and Mass Communication and Political Communication and a master ' s degree in Media and Public Affairs . It is housed in the same building as the Graduate School of Political Management . The Public Affairs Project at GWU , part of SMPA , is responsible for the creation and production of the PBS special , Planet Forward . [ School of Media and Public Affairs ( SMPA ) is one of the few schools in the country , and GWU was the first , to offer a Bachelor ' s Degree in political communication . The program boasts a faculty of retired and current professionals - including CNN correspondents , journalists , political analysts , and campaign professionals . The School of Medicine and Health Sciences ( SMHS ) or simply the George Washington School of Medicine , was founded in 1824 due to the need for doctors in the District of Columbia . In 1981 , the Medical Center became the center of the national spotlight when President Ronald Reagan was rushed to the emergency room after an attempted assassination . The emergency room area was later renamed the Ronald Reagan Institute of Emergency Medicine , and other politicians , such as former Vice President Dick Cheney , come to GW for routine and emergency procedures . Cheney and wife Lynne Cheney then helped to start the Richard B . and Lynne V . Cheney Cardiovascular Institute in 2006 . Others include former First Lady Laura Bush who was treated for a pinched nerve a few years ago . An associate school in the university is the School of Public Health and Health Services ( SPHHS ) . < ref name = " smhs / sphhs " > < / ref > The George Washington University Law School was established in 1826 and is the oldest law school in the District of Columbia . Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas , William Strong , David J . Brewer , Willis Van Devanter and John Marshall Harlan were among those who served on its faculty . Chief Justice John Roberts , Justice Sonia Sotomayor , Justice Samuel Alito , and Justice Antonin Scalia presided over its moot court in 2006 , 2007 , and 2009 , respectively . The Graduate School of Education & Human Development ( GSEHD ) officially started in 1909 . The school is composed of three distinct academic departments , and it is one of the largest schools within GW . U . S . News & World Report rated the graduate program in the top 20 , and was 5th overall in total research expenditures . The School of Engineering and Applied Science ( SEAS ) was founded on October 1 , 1884 as the Corcoran Scientific School of Columbian University . The school separated from the Columbian College in 1962 and was one of the first to accept women for degree candidacy in engineering and has awarded the most engineering doctoral degrees to women in the country . The bazooka was invented at the SEAS in 1942 . The Elliott School of International Affairs ( ESIA ) was founded in 1898 as the School of Comparative Jurisprudence and Diplomacy . Under President Lloyd Elliott , the school separated from Columbian College . On September 3 , 2005 , alumnus Colin Powell opened a new complex for this school at 1957 E Street NW in front of the Department of State . , its undergraduate program was ranked 9th by " Foreign Policy " magazine . The George Washington School of Business was established in 1928 with a $ 1 million gift by The Supreme Council of Scottish Rite Freemasonry Southern Jurisdiction . On February 6 , 2006 , the Chairman and CEO of FedEx , Frederick W . Smith , opened a new complex for the school called Duquès Hall . During the Trachtenberg Presidency , the university created several professional schools . Some schools founded during his era were the College of Professional Studies , and the Graduate School of Political Management . Academics . Admission . GW received 21 , 135 applications and admitted 6 , 655 students for the class of 2014 , or approximately 31 . 5 % of applicants . Students at GW participate in a variety of educational opportunities . There are 9 , 700 full - time undergraduates studying in 87 majors with 1 , 500 in business , 500 in engineering , 2 , 000 in international affairs , 700 in communications and media , 800 in sciences and math , 2 , 900 in social sciences , and 1 , 300 in arts , languages , and humanities . Nearly 900 students participate in GW ' s Study Abroad Programs each semester in 50 countries . Additionally , about 125 entering students each fall join the University Honors Program community of 500 students . The George Washington University has been ranked by The Princeton Review in the Top 10 for the following categories : Data misreporting and US News unranking . On November 8 , 2012 , university officials announced that they had misreported admissions data on their student body for over a decade . Specifically , it overstated the number of students who had graduated from high school in the top ten percent of their classes by twenty percentage points . Consequently , " U . S . News & World Report " removed the school from its rankings . It had been ranked in a three - way tie for the 51st position among national universities but following revelation of the misreporting " U . S . News " altered the GW entry to read " George Washington University has changed from being a ranked school in the 2013 edition of Best Colleges to an unranked school , based on a data reporting error . " The accurate data would have lowered the school ' s rank . Kathryn Napper , the university ' s dean of admissions , declined interview requests about the event and announced her retirement on December 12 , 2012 . Tuition . At the George Washington University , tuition is guaranteed to remain at the freshman rate for up to ten continuous ( full - time ) semesters of attendance at the university . Tuition has risen 58 percent over the past seven years . Tuition for the 2009 - 2010 year was $ 41 , 610 , while the combined room and board is approximately $ 10 , 000 for incoming freshmen . Because of The George Washington University ' s fixed tuition rate , that tuition applies only to the Class of 2013 . Tuition for the 2011 - 2012 year is $ 42 , 860 , with combined room and board being $ 10 , 120 . The tuition rate only applies to the incoming Class of 2015 and will not increase for those students for up to 10 semesters . Student life . The university is located in downtown D . C . , near the Kennedy Center , embassies , and other cultural events . Students are known as highly politically active ; " Uni in the USA " stated that " politics at George Washington is about as progressive as it gets " . There are many student organizations at the university . GW has a Division I athletics program that includes men ' s baseball , basketball , cross country , golf , gymnastics , women ' s lacrosse , rowing , soccer , women ' s softball , squash , swimming , tennis , women ' s volleyball , and water polo . Colonials athletics teams compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference . While only a Division II program , the Men ' s and Women ' s Rugby Teams both compete in the Potomac Rugby Union and have had much recent success . Student organizations and government . Most student organizations are run through the George Washington University Student Association ( SA ) . The SA is fashioned after the federal government with an executive , legislative , and judicial branch . There are over 300 registered student organizations on campus . The largest student organization on campus claiming a membership approaching 2000 , the GW College Democrats have hosted speakers such as CNN contributor Donna Brazile and former DNC Chairman Howard Dean among many others . Likewise , the GW College Republicans , one of the largest CR chapters in the nation , have been visited by politicians like John Ashcroft former Florida Governor Jeb Bush and former President George W . Bush . The International Affairs Society ( IAS ) runs the university ' s award - winning Model United Nations team , in addition to hosting yearly high school and middle school Model UN conferences on campus . There are also several a cappella performance groups on campus . Sons of Pitch , GW ' s premier male a cappella group , has been around since 2003 , and the co - ed GW Troubadours , which are involved with GW ' s music department , have been a presence on campus since the mid - 1950s . Furthermore , the premier female group on GW ' s campus is the GW Pitches , founded in 1996 . All the groups are extremely committed to charity work , with the Troubadours holding an annual philanthropic concert in the fall entitled " Acappellapalooza , " and the Sons of Pitch holding one in the spring named " The United States of A - Cappella . " In the case of the former , groups from GWU are drawn for a concert , in the latter , groups from around the nation . To date , the Sons of Pitch have raised upwards of $ 10 , 000 for various charitable causes . In addition to the three premier groups , several niche groups exist as well . The Voice gospel choir , a group that sings gospel music , and the GW Vibes , a co - ed group focusing on soulful , current music . Each year , the groups duke it out at the Battle of the A - Cappella groups , one of the biggest student events on GW ' s campus . There are chapters of many varied academic groups at the University . The local chapter of the Society of Physics Students was at one time under the auspices of world - renowned scientists like George Gamow , Ralph Asher Alpher , Mario Schoenberg and Edward Teller , who have all taught at the university . The Enosinian Society , founded in 1822 , is one of the university ' s oldest student organizations . Invited speakers included Daniel Webster . There are three major news sources on campus : the twice - weekly newspaper The " GW Hatchet " , The GW Patriot , which publishes articles online daily and in a monthly newsmagazine , and the online - only radio station , WRGW . Another student group , the Emergency Medical Response Group ( EMeRG ) provides an all volunteer 24 / 7 ambulance service for the campus and the Foggy Bottom / West End community at no cost . EMeRG has been active on campus since 1994 and has advanced from bike response into a two ambulance system that is sanctioned by the District of Columbia Department of Health and DC Fire and EMS ( DCFEMS ) . EMeRG also plays an active role in special events in around the DC area including the Marine Corps Marathon , National Marathon , Cherry Blossom Race , Commencement , Inauguration , and other events in Downtown DC and on the National Mall . Controversies . The Program Board had , in years past , scheduled an X - rated film to show as part of their semester series . The film was usually partnered with a discussion of the First Amendment or a seminar on the sociological underpinnings of pornography . One year in the mid - 1990s , " Porn Night " garnered national press coverage along with an ensuing protest . The film shown that night was " John Wayne Bobbitt Uncut " . The organized protest brought together College Republicans with College Democrats , Christians , Jews and Muslims and a bevy of diverse student organizations to speak out against pornography . A number of university administrators appeared that night to show their support of the students ' right to assemble - on one hand to view the movie and on the other to protest using student fees to show the film in the first place . A number of posters in October 2007 surfaced at GW satirizing the " Islamofascism Awareness Week , " which was assumed to have been from the GW Young American ' s Foundation . On October 9 , The Daily Colonial reported that the posters were not the work of the YAF , but rather an attempt to discredit the YAF for their involvement in promoting the Islamo - Fascism Awareness Week . Later that day , seven students advocating against alleged racism inherent in Islamo - Fascism Awareness Week emailed their statement of responsibility regarding the posters to the GW Hatchet . While YAF and other conservative groups demanded that the students be expelled , the university ' s judicial services found the students in violation of only GW ' s postering policy and the students were put on disciplinary probation and fined $ 25 for the satirical fliers . In January 2009 , a member of the GW College Democrats desecrated GW Young America ' s Foundation crucifixes that were being stored in the College Republicans ' office after a pro - life event . The controversy , exposed by Pat Dollard and the GW Patriot , resulted in disciplinary action against a member of the College Democrats . Medical school accreditation probation . In 2008 the George Washington University Medical School was put on probation by its accrediting institution , the Liaison Committee on Medical Education , which cited a number of issues . Although GW declined to publish the entire list , among these were an outdated system of managing its curriculum , high levels of student debt , and inadequate study and lounge space for its students . A Washington Post article uncovered other , more serious , problems . These included possible conflicts of interest involving certain medical school administrators and Universal Health Services , the private corporation that owns and operates GW ' s teaching hospital . The medical school implemented a plan to rectify these problems . The LCME lifted the medical school ' s probation in February 2010 . Subsequently , the two top GW medical school administrators resigned over alleged conflicts of interest . Environmental sustainability . GWU received a B on the College Sustainability Report Card for 2010 , an improvement over the University ' s 2009 grade of C + . The school is reaching for a higher rating by updating facilities with energy efficient technologies . Some students have criticized GW ' s recent initiatives as specifically designed as answers to questions on sustainability reports . GW keeps the lights on in all academic buildings , even when there are no classes and overnight . In addition , only 1 of 106 University Police Department ' s vehicles is a hybrid and GW does not count the 13 Mount Vernon Campus Express buses toward its sustainability totals . Greek life . GW has a Greek community of over 2200 students ( just under 22 percent of the undergraduate population ) . There are 17 recognized men ' s social fraternity chapters on campus , including Alpha Epsilon Pi , Beta Theta Pi , Delta Tau Delta , Kappa Alpha Order , Kappa Sigma , Lambda Chi Alpha , Phi Kappa Psi , Phi Sigma Kappa , Pi Kappa Alpha , Pi Kappa Phi , Sigma Chi , Sigma Nu , Sigma Alpha Epsilon , Sigma Phi Epsilon , Tau Kappa Epsilon , Theta Delta Chi , and Zeta Beta Tau . There are 11 Panhellenic sororities on campus , including Alpha Delta Pi , Alpha Epsilon Phi , Alpha Phi , Chi Omega , Delta Gamma , Kappa Delta , Kappa Kappa Gamma , Pi Beta Phi , Sigma Delta Tau , Sigma Kappa , and Phi Sigma Sigma . Seven National Pan - Hellenic Council ( NPHC ) fraternities and sororities exist on campus : Alpha Phi Alpha , Alpha Kappa Alpha , Delta Sigma Theta , Kappa Alpha Psi , Omega Psi Phi , Zeta Phi Beta , and Phi Beta Sigma . Culturally - based Greek Organizations include : Iota Nu Delta , Kappa Phi Lambda , Lambda Pi Chi , Lambda Upsilon Lambda , Mu Sigma Upsilon , Pi Delta Psi , Sigma Lambda Upsilon , and Sigma Psi Zeta . Other Greek - life exist on campus in the form of multicultural , professional , community - serviced based and honor groups : Alpha Kappa Psi , Delta Sigma Pi , Phi Beta Kappa , Omicron Delta Kappa , Tau Beta Pi , Phi Alpha Delta , Delta Phi Epsilon , Theta Tau , Phi Sigma Pi , Alpha Chi Sigma , Alpha Phi Omega , Sigma Iota Rho , Sigma Pi Sigma , Alpha Omega Epsilon , Xi Delta Pi , and Epsilon Sigma Alpha . Athletics and spirit programs . George Washington University is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and most of its teams play at the NCAA Division I level . All indoor sports play at the Smith Center on the Foggy Bottom campus . The outdoor events are held at the Mount Vernon campus Athletic Complex . The university ' s colors are buff and blue ( buff being a color similar to tan , but sometimes represented as gold or yellow ) . The colors were taken from George Washington ' s uniform in the Revolutionary War . The teams have achieved great successes in recent years including a first round victory in the Men ' s NCAA Division I Soccer Tournament in 2004 . The men ' s and women ' s varsity crew team rows out of Thompson ' s Boat Center on the Potomac River and competes in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges . In the 2008 - 2009 season , the men ' s crew team placed an all - time high national ranking of 12th in the country . The sailing team competes in the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association and in gymnastics in the East Atlantic Gymnastics League . In 2007 the GW Men ' s Water Polo team placed third at Eastern Championships , and was ranked 14th in the nation . Men ' s basketball . Mike Jarvis coached GW in the 1990s , and led the team to the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1993 , where they were beaten by the Fab Five University of Michigan team ( which later vacated its wins due to NCAA rule violations ) . Jarvis also coached former Colonials head coach Karl Hobbs in high school . Former NBA player Yinka Dare also played at George Washington for two years before being drafted in the first round by the New Jersey Nets . Under former head coach Karl Hobbs , GW ' s basketball team returned to the national stage in 2004 after defeating No . 9 Michigan State and No . 12 Maryland in back to back games to win the 2004 BB & T Classic . That year , the men ' s basketball team went on to win the Atlantic 10 West Title and the Atlantic 10 Tournament Title , earning an automatic bid to the 2005 NCAA Tournament . The team received a # 12 seed , losing to # 5 seed Georgia Tech in the first round . The team began the 2005 – 06 season ranked 21st in the Associated Press poll , reaching as high as sixth in the polls , and after some tournament success they closed out the year ranked 19th in the nation . They had a record of 26 - 2 going into the 2006 NCAA Tournament . The 2005 - 06 team achieved the school ' s highest ranking in the last 50 years , peaking at # 6 in the nation , had been one of the team ' s best ever , and received an # 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament . In the tournament , they came back from an 18 - point second - half deficit to defeat # 9 seed UNC - Wilmington , but lost to Duke University , the top overall seed , in the second round . While only one Colonial from the 2005 - 06 team was drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft , J . R . Pinnock , two other Colonials from that team have played in the NBA . Pops Mensah - Bonsu played for the Dallas Mavericks , Houston Rockets , San Antonio Spurs and currently plays for the Toronto Raptors and Mike Hall played for the Washington Wizards . The 2006 - 07 basketball season was considered by many to be a rebuilding year for the Colonials after graduating their entire starting front court and losing Pinnock to the NBA . Coach Karl Hobbs and Senior guard Carl Elliott managed to lead the team to a 23 - 8 record , winning the 2007 Atlantic 10 Tournament in Atlantic City , New Jersey , once again earning an auto - bid to the NCAA Men ' s Division I Basketball Championship . The Colonials were placed as a # 11 seed lost to # 6 seed Vanderbilt University in Sacramento , CA 77 - 44 . Hobbs , a former player and coach under Jim Calhoun at the University of Connecticut coached the Colonials for 10 years . Known for his animated sideline personality Hobbs had been considered one of the up - and - coming coaches in the NCAA . On April 25 , 2011 the University released Hobbs from his contractual obligations , forcing him to resign as men ' s basketball coach The Colonials are currently coached by Mike Lonergan . Football . The school sponsored intercollegiate football from 1881 to 1966 . The team played home games at Griffith Stadium and RFK Stadium . In 1966 , the football program was discontinued due to a number of factors , including the team ' s lack of success , programs like Virginia and Maryland getting better , and less interest in driving into the city to see a game . Spirit programs . The Colonials mascot is named George , and is portrayed by a student wearing an outfit inspired by a uniform worn by General Washington . In 2012 , George took 1st place at the National Cheerleaders Association Mascot Competition and is the University ' s first national champion . The sports teams are called the Colonials , which was chosen by the student body in 1924 . Another version of the GW mascot is an inflatable Colonial figure known as " Big George . " . The spirit program also includes the Colonial Brass , directed by Professor Benno Fritz . The official fight song is " Hail to the Buff and Blue " , composed in 1924 by student Eugene F . Sweeney and re - written in 1989 by Patrick M . Jones . The song is tolled twice - daily by bells atop Corcoran Hall , at 12 : 15pm and 6 : 00pm . Club sports . The university also has various club sports , which are not varsity sports , but compete against other colleges . Examples include : basketball , volleyball , ice hockey , fencing , lacrosse , rugby , soccer , cricket , tennis , ultimate frisbee , cricket and others . The GW Club Sports Council was founded in 2010 to act as a lobbying body between Club Sports at GW , and the administration . Notable alumni , faculty , and degrees . Notable alumni . George Washington alumni include many current and past political figures . Six alumni currently serve in the United States Senate and ten in the House of Representatives . These include Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor . Alumni have been governors of eighteen states and one territory , including current US Senator and former Governor of Virginia , Mark Warner , as well as former Governor of Guam , Frank Freyer . Other renowned figures of the higher echelons of the United States government include Senator J . William Fulbright , former Secretary of State Colin Powell , former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Peter Pace , former FBI Director J . Edgar Hoover , former CIA Director Allen Dulles and his brother , former Secretary of State , John Foster Dulles . In addition , the current Mayor of the District of Columbia , Vincent Gray , is a GWU alumnus . Other notable alumni and former students include HH Prince Talal Arslan , Anwar al - Awlaki , Ralph Asher Alpher , Red Auerbach , Alec Baldwin , Dana Bash , Chris Burnham , Larry Craig , Preston Cloud , Jack Edmonds , Philip Emeagwali , Jason Filardi , John Flaherty , Ina Garten , Todd B . Hawley , Erica Hayden , Harold Hersey , David Holt ( politician ) , L . Ron Hubbard , S . M . Krishna , Lee Kun - hee , Roy Lee , Theodore N . Lerner , Randy Levine , Gerardo I . Lopez , Carl Lutz , David McConnell , T . J . Miller , Darla Moore , Jared Moskowitz . former First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis , Gregg Ritchie , Leslie Sanchez , Chuck Todd , Margaret Truman , Kerry Washington , Scott Wolf , Irvin Yalom , and Rachel Zoe . Notable faculty . Notable faculty include : George Gamow ( 1934 – 1954 ) , physicist and cosmologist ; Edward Teller ( 1935 – 1941 ) , nuclear physicist and father of the hydrogen bomb ; Seyyed Hossein Nasr , founder and first president of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy ; Peter Caws , University Professor of Philosophy ; Edward " Skip " Gnehm , former U . S . Ambassador to Jordan , Kuwait and Australia ; Marcus Raskin , former member of the national security counsel under President Kennedy and founder of the Institute for Policy Studies ; Abba Eban , former Israeli Deputy Prime Minister , Minister of Education & Culture and Minister of Foreign Affairs ; John Logsdon , member of Columbia Accident Investigation Board , NASA Advisory Council ; Frank Sesno , CNN former Washington , DC Bureau Chief and Special Correspondent ; James Carafano , Heritage Foundation national security and homeland security expert ; Leon Fuerth , former national security adviser to Vice President Al Gore ; James Rosenau , political theorist and former president of the International Studies Association ; Steven V . Roberts , American journalist , writer and political commentator and former senior writer at " U . S . News & World Report " ; Dr . Nancy E . Gary , former dean of Albany Medical College , Executive Vice President of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and Dean of its F . Edward Hébert School of Medicine , Roy Richard Grinker , anthropologist specializing in autism and North - South Korean relations , and Edward P . Jones , who won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2004 , Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé ( MBA ) , president of Togo since 2005 .