The Marvin Center, GW's student life hub.
The Cloyd Heck Marvin Center, colloquially known as the "Marvin Center," is the main student life center on the campus of the George Washington University. It is home to hundreds of student organizations, GW's J Street food court, and student support offices within the GW administration.
Location[]
The Marvin Center is located at 800 21st St., NW, central on GW's Foggy Bottom campus. It is across the street from Lisner Auditorium, the shops at 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, and Rice Hall, GW's main administrative building.
Student Life[]
The Marvin Center is GW's main student life center. The fourth floor is entirely devoted to student organization offices, and the first floor is mostly occupied by J Street, GW's primary dining hall. Some of the student offices within the Marvin Center are:
-Room 427, The Advocacy Center for Students, encompassing the Student Association, Residence Hall Association, Class Council, and the Marvin Center Governing Board
-Room 408, the Greek Life office
-Room 424, Program Board
The ground floor of the Marvin Center also contains seldom-used student conference rooms and study space. The most popular ground floor attraction are the studios for WRGW, GW's student-run radio station.
In addition, the fifth floor was recently converted into Colonial Crossroads, the administrative support center for student life. Colonial Crossroads includes the Center for Student Engagement, the Career Center, the Office for Study Abroad, the Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service, and the Office of Undergraduate Fellowships and Research.
Administrative Offices[]
The ground floor of the Marvin Center contains Colonial Central, which includes the Office of the Registrar, the GWorld Card Office, the Office of Student Financial Assistance, Student Parking Services and the Office of Military & Veteran Services. The ground floor also plays host to the GW Bookstore.
Naming controversy[]
Cloyd Heck Marvin, for whom the Marvin Center was named in 1970, was the university's longest-serving president from 1927-1959. He was known for his racist tendencies, not uncommon for the time, and his tenure at GW was marred by several controversies, including the dismissal of an atheist in 1956 and a general policy of segregation and disregard for the civil liberties of students. Marvin did oversee the admission of the first black student at GW in 1954.