Waffle House hero raises $227K for victims Will GWU shake off ‘Colonials’ burden?
Students say that nickname is no longer appropriate
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A man being hailed as a hero for wrestling an assaultstyle rifle away from a gunman at a Tennessee Waffle House has raised more than a quarter of a million dollars for the victims.
James Shaw Jr., 29, was dining with a friend at the Nashville restaurant when a gunman wearing only a jacket opened fire outside with an AR-15 rifle and then stormed the Waffle House, police said. Four people were killed and four others, including Shaw, injured in the April 22 attack.
Shaw said Monday was overwhelmed by response.
Shaw set a funding campaign goal of $15,000 to offer modest financial support to the victims. As of Monday, he said, the campaign had received more than 6,000 donations totaling $227,000. he the
“To the thousands of people who have expressed their care, prayers and made financial donations, I can only respond by saying ‘Thank you,’ ” Shaw said in his statement. “Your gifts to the people who lost their lives and suffered injuries mean so much for all who were impacted by this terrible tragedy.”
The account will be closed Sunday. After that, Shaw said, the Nashville office of financial services firm UBS will distribute the money to the their families.
Meanwhile, the accused gunman will undergo an outpatient mental health evaluation. Travis Reinking, 29, is facing multiple charges, including four counts of criminal homicide and four counts of attempted criminal homicide.
He fled the scene of the Waffle House after Shaw wrested the AR-15 away from him and threw it over a counter, police said. Reinking was captured the next day following a massive manhunt that lasted more than 24 hours.
Reinking's public defender Monday asked that the suspect be given an outpatient mental health evaluation before proceeding with the court case. Judge Michael Mondelli granted the request.
Reinking was not in court. He is being held in the Metro Nashville Jail without bond.
The public defender did not speak to reporters afterward and has not returned an email from The Associated Press. A spokesman for prosecutors said a judge has issued a gag order in the case. victims and
Some students are asking to change a longtime nickname for George Washington University, arguing that Colonials is offensive because it is too evocative of colonization and oppression.
As alternatives, they suggested “Hippos.” Or “Riverhorses.”
Rachel Yakobashvili, a student, created the petition, which states, “We, as students, faculty, and staff of the George Washington University, believe it is of great exigence that the university changes the official nickname for its affiliates. The use of ‘Colonials,’ no matter how innocent the intention, is received as extremely offensive by not only affiliates of the university, but the nation and world at large. The historically, negatively charged figure of Colonials has too deep a connection to colonization and glorifies the act of systemic oppression.”
She and other students also created a petition on a website for the student association, which suggested “Revolutionaries” as another possible nickname.
By late last week, more than 200 students had added digital signatures. If 500 students sign on, the student association president will have to respond to the request.
The petitioners have not approached school officials with the issue.
GW Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights did not respond to a request for comment.
The GW Hatchet, the student newspaper, quoted sophomore Andrew Hesbacher as saying, “Colonialist, terrorist, murderer. In a lot of places that’s what colonials mean to people. Why would we continue to call ourselves that?”
When he was GW’s president, Stephen Trachtenberg bought a bronze sculpture of a hippopotamus in an antique store in 1996 and donated it to the school, which he felt needed more traditions. Some students rub its head or put coins in its mouth for good luck.
The Colonials nickname began in 1926, according to a university website.
An editorial in the GW Hatchet asked at that time, “What name could be more fitting? This, the school named after George Washington, and having as its colors the Continental Army buff and blue, the colors of Colonial America, should be entitled to bear the name of ‘Colonials’ if any school is so entitled.”
Since 1996, the GW Hippo has been an unofficial mascot, with a student at some games in an inflated hippo costume, according to the website about university nicknames.
“The mascot is an important part of campus life at GW,” said Peak Sen Chua, the outgoing student association president, a public health and political science major from Malaysia.
Still, there are strong feelings on both sides, he acknowledged.
Lindsay Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the university, said administrators have not discussed changing the mascot.