From the day I walked on campus, GW Men’s Rowing has changed and saved the course of my life. Joining the team as a walk on, the team gave me a family in the wake of my father’s passing prior to my freshman year. The team has taught me determination in pursuing the same goal that I believe can’t be replicated elsewhere, there is no bond forged like the one in which you are pushing to make the same boat cross the finish line with your brothers. We have created lifelong memories, broken records, and made history; GW Men’s Rowing has continued to ascend the ranks from a scrappy club to a nationally ranked program. I know I will never forget beating Cornell for the first time in program history in direct competition, and I can’t let go the dream of making more history.

There is no program I have ever been a part of that is as tight knit as the GW men’s rowing team, held together by the most caring and thoughtful coaching staff imaginable. We are held accountable to achieve greatness in the classroom and on the water, bringing no less than 100% effort day in and day out.

It’s not too much to say that I learned more about myself on the Potomac rowing for GW than I did in the classroom. While the intellectual life on campus was excellent, the “life skills” of delaying gratification, community-building, and persistence were learned on the river. These are the ones that impact my life to this day.

Rowing has made me the person I am today. I use the skills I learned in rowing every day of my life, and I remember GW fondly because of my experience with the rowing program here. Not having GW rowing would make me not really remember GW at all.

The elder members on the team made feel welcome and at home. They showed me what an amazing experience it is to be a rower at GW and I wanted to be a part of this surging movement and help the team’s standing. I felt that this team was passed down to me in a very meaningful way from day 1 and should continue to be inherited by the younger generation for years to come. Rowing for GW helped me grow as a person, a teammate, and as an athlete. I would not have had the opportunity to come to GW without being recruited by this team.

Being at GW, I was able to find a diamond in the rough Archaeology program that allowed me to create a professional fraternity for archaeologists (first one ever), participates in an archaeological excavation, and join GW-TV Unstoppable sports program. GW Men’s Rowing created a structure that focused my interests within academics eventually leading me to pursue a master’s in London and hopefully a Ph.D. On the water, I have been honored to be a part of the most successful boats in GW Men’s Rowing history. I owe a debt of thanks to my teammates both older and younger than me on the team. They shaped me into the person I am today. I would rather be saying “I was a part of some of the best GW Men’s Rowing history thus far” because everything I have done is for the future generation of the men and women on this team. This team maximizes the potential of all its student-athletes as a group and individually which is shown through the yearly increases in the national rank of the team.

GW rowing has provided me with a lot of things I expected coming into the sport: competitive drive, work ethic, and great connections. What it gave me that wasn't expected is far more intangible - family, brotherhood, being a part of something larger than myself. I came to GW in 2013 with one goal in mind: build the team and produce results. I am proud of the legacy I left, and could not imagine my life without the team. The values I learned from the team stay with me every day and have allowed me to be who I am today. It is one of the most important aspects of my life even 4 years after graduating and would be a shame to see all the work we put in to build the team simply crumble because of some short sighted financial goals.

I have given every fiber of my being into this rowing program, athletic department, and this school—Every single generation of GW men’s rowers has since 1956. Whether it be a practice on the Potomac, an erg session in Smith Center, or the IRA National Championship race in California, representing The George Washington University was one of the greatest honors of my life. I am so proud of this school and I am grateful for the opportunity to be a student-athlete here. I humbly ask the Board of Trustees with all of my being that you continue to allow us to Raise High.

College is a formative time for everyone and I've changed as a person for the better over the past two years so much. GW Rowing is the reason behind that. Sharing the experience that is everyday is something that no other sport can replicate. The bond I have with all of teammates is something I have never found anywhere else.

In addition to being the most tight-knit mental and physical support group in my life, the team has taught me that excellence, dedication, and focus will lead to success. The skills that coach Gehrke teaches us are directly translatable to other facets of life, and serve as a guiding tools in decision making. The program not only impacts me, but those around me who dedicate themselves to supporting the brightest, most athletic, and most dedicated young men and women on campus. The influence of our team runs deeper in the world than one could imagine, with proud alumni coming up to me in the streets of Boston asking me how the program is doing. Like them, to day I die I will support this team with honor and pride. I will not let this culture die.

GWMR has given me connections in and outside of the rowing world, and has put me in touch with some of the best people I've ever met. Men's Rowing at George Washington was an opportunity to leave my hometown and be a part of something bigger than myself and contribute not only to the team, but to the culture of the whole university. It has taught me how to work on a team, be accountable, and how to win in a highly competitive field through hard work and grit. GWMR has provided countless memories and valuable life experiences that should not be taken away from future students.

Because of GWMR, I have been able to explore who I am as a person while getting to be a part of history at GW. My best friends in college we’re all rowers, and my best memories we’re all directly or indirectly related to rowing. Even as my life after college has not gone the way I planned, I found solace in parting the lessons I learned with GWMR to the next generation of rowers.

GWMR has provided me a new life. A life where if it wasn’t for GWMR I would be stuck in my hometown of just 400 people, attending a local college with a fraction of the opportunities that GW provides me. My life would likely look a lot different now — even decades from now — if it wasn’t for the chance GWMR took on me and their everlasting support. Through the substantial family tragedy I have experienced, my rowing family at GW has provided me a backbone. A program in which its foundation relies on self-discipline, perseverance, and camaraderie. Such a foundation, I know, that will last long beyond my time at GW. GWMR has taught me to take responsibility of my life and has engrained in me that through hard work and determination.. success will follow. With the program gaining momentum, it allows the GW family to grow internationally and change lives like it did mine.

The George Washington Men’s Rowing Team has given me the opportunity to be a part of something bigger than myself. It has allowed me to represent, not just the team or the athletic department, but the entire GW community; we train, we race, we compete for everyone, from the leaders of this institution who support us to the students we call our friends. I committed to GW Men’s Rowing, a rising varsity program, because it gave me a chance, an opportunity, to be a part of something that has never happened before: to raise our program to one of the top 10 collegiate programs in the country, to make history. We have the chance to be recognized internationally as a top program, a program that not only helps foster the development of an individual’s rowing career, but one that provides a platform for achievement beyond the boat so that when the young men and women of GWMR graduate GW, they are equipped with the tools and experience they need to start the next chapter of their life. I am most proud of the direction the team is headed in just the short time under our new head coach. I know that under his leadership, we will make history.

GW Mens Rowing has changed the course of my life forever. The people I have met and been coached by will be close to me for the rest of my years. I felt extremely proud to be putting GW on the map against elite Ivy League schools. This decision is taking away that opportunity for GW to be on the world stage.

The GW Men’s Rowing team is a lifestyle that I look forward to being a part of at every moment of the day, a lifestyle that I committed to when I was recruited . I had never toured the school or had been to DC before I came on my official visit; I moved in last august with the mindset that I was here for rowing. The only thing that brought me to GW and DC was this team, and it is these men that now keep me here. Interacting with my teammates everyday has taught me how to be a leader in each aspect of my life outside of being a coxswain, and they have trained me how to continually improve my skills through constant constructive criticism. In addition, diligent organization is required to stay on top of my obligations with the rigorous training schedule. But above all this, the relationships created between me and my teammates are deeper than any friendship I’ve made thus far, and what I am most proud of as a member of this team.C

GW Men’s Rowing was the most valuable aspect of my GW experience. The work ethic required exceeded any of my classes. GWMR gave me the exposure and confidence to compete against the best in the world, both on the racecourse and in the workplace.

Rowing was the single most valuable part of my education at GW. It taught me more about myself and what I can become than any of my education inside the classroom.

It is hard to overstate how much rowing at GW has impacted my life. GW allowed me to fulfill a dream of competing at a varsity collegiate level when I walked onto the team as a 5'9, 140 lb, rising junior. Every morning since that first meeting in August 2012, I have felt the camaraderie, passion, and daily dedication that rowing brings out in me and all those I have rowed with over the years from GW and beyond. Cutting Rowing is not just the end of a sport at GW, it is the end of one of the few possibilities left to those of us who didn't find their fit as a teenager and were searching for something beyond themselves when they walked onto GW's campus for the first time.

I learned a lot about chemistry at GW. I learned a lot about journalism. But what I learned the most from was my four years on the rowing team. Leadership. Focus. Assertiveness. Teamwork. Goals. Sportsmanship. Attention to detail. Interpersonal relations. Self-esteem. Dealing with adversity. Determination. Rowing was the best part of college for me. And rowing became a lifelong sport for me, which I have now participated in for 38 years. I can’t imagine what my life would look like if I had not encountered rowing at GW, but I am sure that my professional and personal lives would be far less successful and happy.

When you eliminate a team like GWMR, you aren’t just losing a rowing team. You are ridding genuine, good humans from your collective.

Day in and day out, this team gets up at the crack of dawn to go and practice in the most miserable of conditions, all to peruse a goal that doesn’t even seem tangible as it is so far away: IRAs, our NATIONAL, final race in June.

There really is no sane way of explaining why they do this, and the only way to understand it is to be one of those lucky few. You see, to row at the collegiate level, especially here at GW, you need a special type of grit. The type of grit that allows you to practice undisturbed, at the highest level, if you cannot feel your hands or feet due to the cold, or whether you have to adapt a session because another team takes priority over your practice space, or the fact that you don’t even have a dedicated practice space to begin with. You need the type of grit that cannot be found anywhere else but in unique, special people. GW oarsmen and oarswomen have that, and if the team were to go, it would be a tragic loss to the GW community as a whole.

Personally, I have learned a lot from this team. Sure, I’ve adapted my stroke to a higher level, and I have gained fitness since joining GWMR... but I’ve learned much more past that. I’ve found out, on a personal basis, how to care for someone who needs it. Whether it be by stocking food at the GW store for food insecure students, or by talking to a teammate or friend that just seems a bit ‘off.’ There is an incredibly long list that I could write about these sort of things, but then we’d run out space. All you need to know, whoever you are reading this, is that GWMR represents the university, the students who attend it, and the athletic department, to the highest standard.

I will tell you now, the skills I have learned, as well as earned, while being on GWMR have prepared me for a post graduate life more than any classroom ever could. Cutting our team will put the athletic department, the university, and president LeBlanc, in a human debt far more costly than any financial burden could possibly achieve. It will he looked upon in a negative light forever, and those who made the deduction will carry the guilt in their hands.

GW Men’s Rowing has not only provided the opportunity to grow as a student and a leader, but as an athlete that can compete at the national and international stage. Although, I am most proud of the familial relationships I’ve built with the men and women that, as former Head Coach Mark Davis pitched in my recruitment, I will invite to my wedding one day. Training day in and day out on the Potomac River in the shadow of the national memorials for a race that lasts just under 6 minutes is a dumbfounding experience unique to GW and unique to rowing, and one I am forever grateful to have.

In the words of the late Colonial, Nick Upton, "It's all of us, or none of us." The staff and team of the GW Men's Rowing Program have exhibited the universal values of those words since my first interaction with them. The exceptional men that comprise this community have set the foundations for every athletic, academic, personal, and career success I have had since I attended The George Washington University. The GW Men's Rowing program's commitment to growth, achievement, and community espouses the cores values of the true Colonial spirit; the courage to fail in the unending search for excellence, integrity and respect in both words and actions, and the dedication to others despite overwhelming challenges. By choosing to remove GW Men's Rowing the university loses its true Colonials and erodes the bedrock of what it means to Raise High.

I transferred from USCG Academy to GWU (Fall '84) after spending several years working for the defense contractor, Vitro Inc., in Silver Spring, MD. I needed to complete roughly two years of education to obtain my BSEE from GWU. I completed my degree in two years, attending GWU full time for two full semesters at my expense and part time for two semesters at the company's expense. Money was very tight. During those two years, I lived out of the back of my Toyota pick up truck with a cap, sleeping bag and two drawer filing cabinet. I was a walk on for the mens rowing team and obtained free day parking at the boathouse; my primary motivation for joining the rowing team. GWMR team offered much more than free parking, it provided the much needed sense of inclusion and community needed when attending a university located in a major urban environment. GWU has no traditional campus and the mens rowing team provided that sense of community to a fairly diverse group of young men. The shared effort (pain) of rowing quickly forms social bonds, enhances personal responsibility and integrity needed for long term success. Thirty three years later, I have my own Concept 2 rowing machine, because GWMR instilled the need to maintain personal fitness. Rowing builds character, teaches one to continually test physical and mental limits, rely on your teammates and push for excellence in all things. The elimination of GWMR will deprive future leaders and fathers a critical experience needed for a successful personal and professional life.

GW Men's Rowing has been one of the largest beneficial factors on my life. I can talk ad nauseam about how it made me a stronger person, made my college experience better than the average student's, created lifelong friendships, or instilled a strong work ethic that I still benefit from to this day. All of this is true (and was provided to me without an athletic scholarship to boot), however the biggest impact GW Rowing has given me is opportunity and structure.

In high school, I was not the strongest student. I had very average grades and test scores, and did not really care much about school. Through rowing, I was given an opportunity to go to a prestigious school like GW, which would never have been afforded to me otherwise.

My first semester at GW, I didn't do well in school (~2.8 GPA). When we received our grades back, I knew that I was one of the lowest GPAs in my class. I had all of the resources in the world to do better, and knew that I had to compete with my other teammates both on the water and in the classroom. Our coaches made the point to acknowledge the athletes that did well that semester, and challenged those who didn't to do better.

My second semester, I wound up taking several classes with my teammates. Instead of goofing off in class, we kept each other accountable. If one of us missed class, we would poke fun of him for missing it. We became competitive with each other to do the best in class. We studied together in Study Hall, and supported those that took longer to understand the concepts. After practices on our walks to breakfast we would quiz each other before tests, and we would help those that struggled the most.

Through this type of support and competition, I was able to turn my college career around. Because of my teammates and coaches supporting me, I graduated cum laude with a double major and a minor. After graduation I was able to get a wonderful job in the field in the field of renewable energy.
Without GW Men's Rowing, I would never have been given the opportunities that I have been provided. I wouldn't have gone to such a prestigious school and I certainly would not have been able to work in the field that I do today.

As very few athletes are on scholarship (many of whom wouldn't have gone to GW in the first place), many of the trips are paid for out of pocket, and much of the equipment is paid for by one of the most active alumni associations GW has, the amount of money the university will save is negligible compared to the amount of opportunities, friendships, support, and impact that the 60 year old program provided over the years.

The elimination of GWMR will impact the relationship hundreds of alumni have with GW. GWMR is the main connection to the school many of us have and to sever this may be to do the same to future support of the University from not only the grads of 1956 to 2020 but the hundreds who will not be with us in the future. This is not just a few guys on the river but rather a community that is significant. I hope GW will reconsider before walking away from us.

As a “Talent Transfer” recruit to GW rowing, I was an experienced athlete having earned high school varsity letters in Basketball, Swimming and Cross Country, but I had never rowed before. I came from a comfortable suburban life and hadn’t yet faced any significant life challenges.

Rowing is a tough sport, a painful sport in-fact. To do well, rowers must compartmentalize the pain and focus on the task at hand, moving the boat to the finish line as fast as possible.

The outstanding coaching and leadership development provided by the GW rowing program, helped our team to develop that compartmentalization ability by creating such a tough team-oriented bond that no one was willing to let pain, no matter how great, hold us from reaching our collective goal. After every race, each of us learned more about what each of us were capable of both individually and as a part of a team. As we accomplished more and more together, our confidence and bond got stronger and stronger.

Fast forward to life after GW Rowing: Many of my friendships are still connected to rowing, the pastor who presided over my wedding, my best man and one of my groomsmen were all rowers. My wedding reception was held at the Minnesota Boat Club. Not a week goes by without me speaking with at least a half dozen guys I used to row with back at GW and beyond. When faced with life challenges, like a family member’s cancer, loss of a job, death of my parents, the ability to compartmentalize and “keep rowing” helped get me though it all and I thank GW Rowing for instilling that ability in me!

At the U.S. Naval Academy, the boxing coach once told a group of plebe recruits they would work harder, be more committed, and better conditioned than any other athletes on campus - “well, except for the crew team,” he admitted. The next day, this recruit went out for the crew team and two years later joined the GW team as a transfer. Rowing builds alumni with discipline, toughness, loyalty and character. A rowing program is an investment in a university’s capital stock, now and future.

The GW Rowing team gave me a second chance after an unsuccessful freshman year at another institution. As a transfer to GW, I found a warm and welcoming community that taught me the importance of hard work, the joy of achieving shared goals, the benefit of giving back to a broader community, and a group of people that became lifelong friends.

Even though more than a quarter of a century has passed since I rowed for GW, the program continues to shape my life and that of my children. This might be because rowing for GW (not Georgetown) challenged me in ways that taught me about myself and what I could become with dedication - a promise that I still strive for. But, rather, it is more than me; it’s the people in GW Rowing who I had the honor of sharing the experience with, the later generations of GW oarsmen with whom I have a fellowship, and the lifelong friends (including my wife who rowed at GW) who I have shared literally life and death. GW Rowing is part of who I am so the university’s decision either to break that covenant or preserve it will impact my life by forever tarnishing my relationship with the institution or inspiring me with courage to fight for what is important.

My connection to GW today is solely due to the lasting friendships made with teammates from my time as a student-athlete on the Men's Varsity Rowing Team. Since graduating from GW in 1993, I've enjoyed the strong comradery of the GW Rowing Alumni community. Through the support of the University and its loyal rowing alumni, it has been great to see the program develop into one that is competitive at the highest level in the nation. I am saddened that GW feels it must bring its 60+ years of men's rowing tradition to an end.