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AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Officials name senior vice president, chief of staff
By Fiona Riley, Assistant News Editor • March 26, 2024

LeBlanc ‘reviewing’ multiple name change requests as two committees begin work

The+LGBTQIA%2B+Health+and+Advocacy+Conference+will+educate+students+about+advocacy+and+health+issues+related+to+the+community.+
File Photo by Alexander Welling | Senior Staff Photographer
The LGBTQIA+ Health and Advocacy Conference will educate students about advocacy and health issues related to the community.

University President Thomas LeBlanc’s “current focus” for name change requests are the work of committees examining the Marvin Center’s namesake and the Colonials moniker.

University spokesperson Crystal Nosal said LeBlanc’s office is currently “reviewing” multiple requests for name changes to other GW buildings as the two committees begin their work. LeBlanc acknowledged receipt of petitions to change the names of Fulbright Hall, Madison Hall, The Churchill Center, Monroe Hall of Government and Francis Scott Key Hall on July 20, according to the president’s office website.

Five student organizations launched a petition in July to request officials change the name of the additional buildings. Petitions must receive at least 500 signatures from students, faculty, staff or alumni for LeBlanc to review the request unless he waives the signature requirement.

“Committees reviewing the Marvin Center name and the Colonials moniker have been launched, and those committees are presently hard at work,” Nosal said in an email. “Those committees have been given the latitude to develop their own timetable for their work and to identify the ways they will engage the campus community.”

In late July, LeBlanc announced the formation of two University-wide committees to examine the Colonials moniker and Marvin Center name in accordance with a newly adopted framework for name changes passed by the Board of Trustees this summer.

Nosal said the committees will hold listening sessions to solicit feedback from the University community in addition to an online feedback form. The Special Committee on the Marvin Center Name announced three virtual town halls on Sept. 15, 17 and 22, according to an email sent to the University community Wednesday.

“When committees determine that their work is complete, they will make their recommendations to the president, and then he will present those recommendations to the Board of Trustees for consideration,” Nosal said.

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