University Life

Month: February 2020

Mason Nation gathers for Homecoming 2020

George Mason Homecoming Opener. Colin Jost of SNL Photo By Ian Shiff/Creative Services/George Mason University

Mason Nation showed up in force to celebrate Homecoming 2020. Festivities included decorating contests, an arts festival, beer and wine tastings, two tailgates, and men’s and women’s basketball games.

Photographers Ron Aira, Ian Shiff, Sean Hickey and John Boal captured it all

See the Photo Gallery

Patriots make professional strides at the Spring Career Fair

Career Fair in Dewberry Hall on the Fairfax Campus. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University

For George Mason University alumna Di Chen, MS Data Analytics Engineering ’19, the Spring Career Fair was familiar territory. Chen, who got her job last year at the fair, returned to represent her employer Software AG. She said she was happy to help pass on the success she had at last year’s event.

Read More about the Spring Career Fair

Richmond mayor to discuss Virginia’s racist history at Freedom and Learning Forum

Mason's Freedom and Learning Forum: A Conversation about the Power of Symbols, Statues, and Race

Richmond Mayor Levar M. Stoney, community activist Martha Rollins and former Charlottesville Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy will speak on March 2 about confronting Virginia’s racist history during George Mason University’s Freedom and Learning Forum.

Stoney, Rollins and Bellamy will discuss the role of historical symbols, such as Confederate monuments, as Virginia attempts to engage with its history, address the wounds of racism and construct an accurate narrative of its past.

Read More about Freedom and Learning Forum

Gregory Washington named George Mason University’s 8th president

Gregory Washington was named 8th president of George Mason University on Feb. 24, 2020. Photo provided by University of California-Irvine.

The George Mason University Board of Visitors on Monday announced the selection of Dr. Gregory Washington as the university’s eighth president.

Washington is the dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at University of California, Irvine. He will join the university on July 1, 2020.

Read More about Dr. Gregory Washington

Homecoming 2020: Show your Patriot Pride 

students in green and gold at a basketball game
The week of Homecoming events and festivities culminates with a tailgate and the men’s basketball game against St. Joseph’s University on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 4:30 p.m. in EagleBank Arena. Find out more about what’s happening.  Photo by Ron Aira.

Sojourner Truth Lecturer Marilyn Mobley speaks of interconnectedness, collaborative approaches

African and African American Studies Program and Women and Gender Studies Program presents the 20th annual Sojourner Truth Lecture by Marilyn Mobley, PhD, founder of Mason's African and African Studies Program: "An Intersectional Mixtape: Lessons Learned from a Black Woman Scholar in the Academy." And in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Women and Gender Studies Program. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University

Marilyn Mobley was close friends with Toni Morrison, so it was particularly fitting for her to give the Sojourner Truth Lecture at George Mason University on Feb. 18, which would have been Morrison’s 89th birthday.

Mobley, a Toni Morrison scholar and former president of the Toni Morrison Society, was close to the late Nobel Prize-winning author and told the audience in Harris Theater that each year she would send Morrison orchids and call her on her birthday. Mobley said that although she is still grieving the loss of her friend, she took solace in the fact that Morrison “was now dancing with the ancestors.”

Read More about the Sojourner Truth Lecture

Mason lauded for programs that make transferring easier, more accessible for students

Students walking outside of the HUB student center. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

George Mason University, Virginia’s largest and most diverse public research institution, has been recognized by the American Talent Initiative (ATI) for being an exemplar in moving beyond traditional pipelines in order to close equity gaps in bachelor’s degree attainment in Virginia and meet the workforce demands in its region.

Read more about transfer programs at Mason

Sibs & Kids Weekend: Saturday highlights

photobooth at sibs and kids

Is your Mason student considering attending Sibs & Kids Weekend? Of course they are! Below is information about the weekend, including who can attend and how to register.

Sibs & Kids Weekend at a glance
Sibs & Kids Weekend is a two-day event designed to provide Mason students with an opportunity to connect with their siblings, cousins, neighbors and friends. Fun activities and events will be held throughout the weekend that allow for siblings and kids to experience life as a Mason Patriot!

Read more about Sibs & Kids Weekend

Sojourner Truth Lecture marks 20 years

Marilyn Mobley photo

The 2020 Sojourner Truth Lecture will also be a celebration. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the lecture, as well as the 30th anniversary of the creation of Women and Gender Studies Program (WGST) at George Mason University, one of the organizers of the event.

The lecture was started 20 years ago as a collaboration between what was then the Women’s Studies Program and the African American Studies Program, now the African and African American Studies Program. According to Mason School of Integrative Studies professor Wendi Manuel-Scott, the two programs cosponsored the annual event, which bridges Black History Month in February and Woman’s History Month in March.

Read More about the Sojourner Truth Lecture

At MLK Evening of Reflection, a call to be heroes for each other

Photo illustration by Hannah Harmison/Office of Communications and Marketing.

The first order of business at the MLK Evening of Reflection in George Mason University’s Hub Ballroom on Jan. 29, was the showing of a clip from “King in the Wilderness,” a documentary on the private life of Martin Luther King Jr.

The clip put forth the questions to be answered by the event’s speakers: How can we work together to create a more perfect world? And how can we humanize activism and our activist heroes?

Read more about Evening of Reflection