WASHINGTON ―The George Washington University Department of Slavic Languages and Literature announced in a recent newsletter that one of its students has come forward claiming to be none other than Anastasia Romanov herself.

Until the time of the announcement the student, now claiming to be heiress to the Russian throne, a junior in the Columbian College, had gone by the name of Elizabeth Gelbstein.

The announcement has caused a considerable uproar and indeed it feels as if few on campus are unwilling to weigh in on the subject. The GW Ax had the opportunity to speak with several members of the GW community on the goings on.

“I don’t see what the commotion’s all about,” said Harry “Doubting” Thomas, a sophomore in the Duquès School of Business. “It ain’t really her and that’s that. What are we even talking about this for? Didn’t we find Jimmy Hoffa buried under Super-Dorm a couple weeks ago or something? Why doesn’t anyone talk about that?”

Not all however, are such dour, cynical skeptics. Marrion Cordweilde, a senior pre-law student and hardline monarchist, had a more open frame of mind.

“Personally it makes me glad to think that we could have real royalty on campus here, even if it’s not our own.” She went on to remind reporters that, “no evidence has been presented against Miss. Gelbstein’s case.”

One of Gelbstein’s close friends and peers, Melody Kole, gave the Ax an exclusive inside view into what might really be going on.

“What I think people are forgetting here is that Lizzy [Gelbstein] is a double major in sociology too,” Kole told an Ax reporter, “this could really just be yet another bold and daring social experiment.”

We at the Ax prefer sensation to truth, and advise our readers to take Kole’s words with a grain of salt.

Upon making the announcement Gelbstein was rushed to the Washington Seniors’ Wellness Center, as, should her claims be true, she has reached the age of 104.

Gelbstein has not yet elaborated upon how she came to be a college student in the United States nearly a century after she was supposedly murdered in Yekaterinburg, though the Ax will continue to give updates should further details on this story become available.

The Kremlin has announced that it would be sending a team of historians and genealogists to investigate the case.

Meanwhile, a rumor is now circulating that the Textile Museum has purchased the contents of Gelbstein’s dresser and had begun planning for an upcoming exhibit of the Grand Dutchess’s finery.