Sports & Recreation
Varsity, club and intramural sports are a traditional aspect of student life at GW, with more than 4,000 participants each year. As a founding member of the Atlantic 10 Conference and competing in the NCAA Division I, GW's 22 men's and women's varsity teams have established a reputation for considerable success over the years. In club sports, ice-hockey, sailing, horseback riding, ultimate Frisbee, karate, racquetball and rugby are particularly popular among the 24 different sports currently offered. When it comes to intramurals, students can choose to participate in any of 13 different intramural sports leagues each semester.
The cornerstone of GW’s athletic life is the Theodore and Annette Lerner Family Health and Wellness Center. The Lerner Center is one of the largest health and fitness complexes affiliated with a private university. Our students keep fit and active, enjoying six floors of indoor athletic amenities. These include:
- Spacious locker rooms
- Steam and sauna rooms
- Three-lane indoor lap pool
- Equipment room
- Free weight room
- Hundred-station cardio-exercise area
- Multipurpose aerobic gym
- Warm-up and cool-down areas
- Six international squash courts
- Four racquetball courts
- Suspended three-lane indoor jogging track
- Four basketball courts
The Mount Vernon Campus has outdoor playing fields, an outdoor swimming pool, tennis courts and the Lloyd Gymnasium. Just blocks from our campuses, Rock Creek Park, the National Mall and the Potomac River feature a range of outdoor running trails, playing fields and water sport options.
Intramural Sports
Intramurals at GW range from a wide array of team sports (basketball, floor hockey, football, kickball, soccer, volleyball) to individual sports (bowling, racquetball, table tennis – even checkers).
The GW Experience
Students
All in the Family
Greg and Heather Hachenburg talk about their undergraduate experience at GW, one of many sibling pairs to share in the Colonials legacy.
Creating Next Generation Leaders
GW program helps female students connect with leading women across a variety of fields and develop their roles as future women in leadership.
Where the City is a Classroom
Freshman volunteers experience life beyond Foggy Bottom...
Faculty
Fighting Neglected Diseases
GW professor works to eradicate diseases that affect the health, education and economic development of the world's poorest people.
Building the Super Computer
Pioneering lab puts GW at the forefront of high-speed computing and offers GW students unprecedented access to science and skills of the future.
Blast From the Past
Students map an ancient—and dramatic—eruption as part of a geological research program in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Alumni
Giving Back to the District of Columbia
D.C. public health director calls GW education the foundation of his career.
GW Opens Doors
A chance encounter with a GW alumna helped give one GW undergraduate, an aspiring broadcast journalist from Texas, his big break.
The Legend Lives On
The $2 million bequest commitment caps a lifetime of philanthropy and service to GW, establishing the Elyse B. and Donald R. Lehman Endowed Professorship in Theoretical Physics.