Sept. 21, 2004

Celebrating 100 Years in the Name of George

GW Gets Clone of Washington White Ash to Honor Anniversary of Name Change

By Greg Licamele

Amid the first day of classes, GW commemorated the 100th anniversary of The George Washington University name, which was changed from Columbian University on Sept. 1, 1904, by planting a six-foot clone of a circa-1785 white ash tree from George Washington’s estate at Mount Vernon. The University itself is 183 years old, created by an Act of Congress and named Columbian College in 1821.

University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg led the celebration at Kogan Plaza, along with trustees, faculty, staff, students and representatives from the District of Columbia government and the Mount Vernon Estate and Gardens.

“For 100 years now, GW has been growing and thriving — and now we have a tree that will grow and thrive with us for many years to come,” Trachtenberg said. “I hope that a century from today, the president of GW will look at a tree standing perhaps 70 or 80 feet tall and be able, in all truth, to compare the growth and health of the University to this thriving white ash tree.”

Lisa Moore, Mount Vernon Ladies Association vice regent, briefly recounted President George Washington’s love of trees and nature. She said that in 1785, he replanted hundreds of trees at his Mount Vernon Estate; only 13 of those trees remain today, from which this new GW tree is cloned.

“They are the only living witnesses to the life and times of George Washington,” Moore said.

Moore also said one of the projects Washington cared most about the was the establishment of a national university so Americans would not have to travel abroad. Unfortunately, she said, he was not able to convince the Congress to act. However, 21 years after his death in 1821, the idea was realized. And, in 1904, the University was renamed The George Washington University.

“What we’re really celebrating is progress, from one point in time in the past to the next point in time in the present,” said Anyah Dembling, a junior Elliott School of International Affairs major and executive vice president of the Student Association. “This tree will forever serve as a reminder of the progress of time and the struggles and achievements that occurred to bring it to this day.”

As the tree’s life begins at Kogan Plaza, grounds department manager Noel Gasparin said he will continue to work with Mount Vernon to care for the specimen. He said Mount Vernon already has assisted with the site selection and soil composition.

University officials supplemented the tree with samples of soil collected from GW’s campuses past and present — soil collected from the original university location, called College Hill, near 14th Street and Florida Avenue, NW; 15th and H streets, NW; the Virginia Campus in Loudoun County; and Mount Vernon Campus on Foxhall Road, NW.

“We, too, began as a sapling up on College Hill, and look how we’ve grown,” Trachtenberg said.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu