University sights in Washington, DC
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Howard University
The Shaw neighborhood is as defined by Howard University as Georgetown is by her titular school. Founded in 1867, this remains the nation’s most prestigious traditionally African American institute of higher education. Distinguished alumni include the late Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (who enrolled after he was turned away from the University of Maryland’s then all-white law school), Ralph Bunche, Nobel laureate Toni Morrison and former New York City mayor David Dinkins. Today Howard enrolls around 12,000 students in 18 schools. There are campus tours (202-806-2755) and a friendly Welcome Center (1739 7th St NW). The surrounding streets are largely filled w…
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B
George Washington University
The university that shares the District’s namesake spreads all throughout the streets of Foggy Bottom. Known as ‘G-dub’ or ‘GW’, this school has been a bedrock of Washington identity since its founding in 1821. Besides shaping much of the American political landscape, GW has shaped the capital itself, buying-up townhouses on such a scale that it is now the city’s second-biggest landowner after the federal government. Plenty of famous alumni have studied here: Edgar Hoover, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Colin Powell, Brian Williams, Haddaway (you know, the guy who sang ‘What Is Love?’). The school is spread over several blocks between F, 20th and 24th Sts and Pennsylvania Av…
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C
Gallaudet University
The first university for deaf and hard-of-hearing students in the world occupies a lovely manicured campus of bucolic green and Gothic accents north of Capitol Hill. Notable buildings include College Hall, an antique vision in brownstone, and Chapel Hall, a gorgeous Gothic structure that screams academia. Fun fact: the American football huddle was invented here when the Bisons (the school team) noticed other teams were trying to interpret their sign language while they plotted their plays. If you speak sign language, note that Gallaudet is a bilingual institution where English sign language and ASL are both practiced. Union Station is the closest Metro station, but it’s a…
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