A College Had to Change Its ‘George Washington Signature’ Logo Because Nobody Reads Cursive Anymore

America’s longest-standing universities are enriched by their storied histories. Take Washington College, a liberal arts college in Chesterton, MD.

Founded in 1782, Washington College was first funded by none other than George Washington himself. One of the oldest colleges in the U.S., the school always used George Washington’s signature as its logo.

But not anymore. Washington College has rebranded to remove one of our founding fathers’ penmanship from its logo because… well, Gen Z can’t read cursive writing. 

No, seriously. 

“Because cursive writing is no longer taught universally in K-12 education, the script—especially this highly stylized version—was difficult to read and not immediately recognizable for many prospective students,” said Brian Steer, the college’s VP of marketing and communication, in a press release. “This was counterproductive when it came to name recognition and identity.”

The old logo also featured a typed-out “Washington College” in a red bar under the signature, but apparently, when the logo was shrunk down, it became illegible as the only thing people could see was Washington’s scribbly letters. 

It’s a funny rationale, to be honest. It also, sadly, makes sense. My generation is probably the last one to truly go through any education in cursive writing, and even then, it was hardly a focus. Nowadays, cursive isn’t even a thought on people’s minds besides the thing we do when signing documents. 

There are a lot of schools across the country that incorporate some type of cursive in their logos, so it’ll be interesting to see if this modernization becomes a trend or it’s just a one-off. 

Either way, R.I.P. to George Washington’s 18th-century signature. At least you had a good run.