GW Alumnus Endows Stained-glass University Crest

 

The University Club of Denver is known throughout Colorado for its collection of stained-glass university crest windows. Thanks to William Mutch, GWSB MPA ’96, GW’s insignia is now part of the tradition.

A member of the club since 1999, Mutch says that as more university crests were added over the years, he realized the club’s collection wasn’t complete.

“I noticed, among all the stained-glass windows in the club, a missing piece was our GW seal,” William says.

In December, William endowed a buff and blue crest to the club at a small cocktail party surrounded by family members including his wife, Megan, and fellow club members.

The GW crest joins a collection of more than 100 stained-glass crests from members’ alma maters. The colored windows are displayed in the club’s College Room, which was designed in 1923, and is touted as the largest collection of stained glass in a single structure west of the Mississippi.

“The College Room is a beautiful place with a historic English club tradition,” says William. “It’s great to see GW with the other colleges and join this great tradition.”

Before attending GW, William earned his bachelor’s degree in his home state of Montana. It wasn’t till a job brought him eastward to the nation’s capital that William decided he wanted to further his education.

“When I was in Washington, I was really impressed with GW’s public administration program. It was clear that more education about federal policy would be an important enhancement for my career and an incredible experience,” says William.

“Once I was working in the Washington government relations environment, it was important to me to be able to attend GW, and it is a place that holds special memories for me,” he says.

He recalls sitting down in his first class—Constitutional Law—at the School of Business. The professor, Jill Kasle, was an attorney who helped break up the Bell monopoly in the 1980s.

“Hearing her background, you could tell everyone in the class was thinking, ‘Wow, this is a professor who came out of the real world,’” William says. “That continued with pretty much every professor I met through the program. One was a senior official from the Department of Defense. Now that’s pretty unique.”

William spent five years in D.C. working for Colorado members of congress and as a lobbyist before his career led him back west. He is now principal of Mutch Government Relations, a political consulting firm in Colorado Springs.

And though he’s no longer in D.C., William says he’s becoming active with the GW Denver Alumni Network soon.

“It’s a smaller [group of alumni] than in other cities,” he says, “but I’m looking forward to getting more involved and connecting with other GW alumni soon.” —Sophie Ota

 

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