Month: November 2022

From The LGBTQ+ Faculty/Staff Alliance, The LGBTQ+ Resources Center, and The Women and Gender Studies Center

LGBTQ sidwalk chalk drawing. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

To our LGBTQ+ Community at George Mason University,

This weekend, on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, a mass shooting occurred at LGBTQ nightclub Club Q in Colorado Springs. We mourn the loss of five individuals. We uplift hopes of healing for the twenty-five individuals injured. We hold all those affected by the ripples of emotional and spiritual trauma as a result of facing great loss and targeted violence.

We are all fighting. Every time we put on clothes that make us feel like ourselves, every time we experience love and connection, every heartbeat and every breath that solidifies that we are still here, still alive—we resist those that wish for us to assimilate, to change, to disappear. To fight, every day, every moment, is tiring. Exhausting. We find communities, we carve spaces, we gather to scream and laugh and cry and to remind ourselves and each other that we are here, we are alive, we are not alone. And to be faced, once again, with an act of violence and horror that destroys the spaces we have carved out for ourselves is a pain unlike any other. We are scared. We are hurt. We are tired.

We are not alone.

Community is our strength. Community is our healing. We hold each other in our grief, uplift each other in our joy. In our understanding of the complexities of identity, we find power in nuance, in our ability to link arms and carry all our victories and tragedies at once, a terrible and beautiful shape that no one person can wrap their arms around but as a group we can hold in firm and gentle embrace.

Resistance takes many forms. It is outrage, and protests, and letters to the governor against anti-Trans bills, and voting against politicians who seek to silence and destroy us. It is also joy, and healing, and laughing together around a shared meal, and allowing ourselves to cry.

We don’t know what comes next. We don’t know when the next strike against our rights or our safety will be. What we do know is that we will be here. In the LGBTQ+ Resources Center, the Women and Gender Studies Center, the LGBTQ+ Faculty Staff Alliance; in student, faculty, and staff government and organizations; in offices, classrooms, and residence halls on every campus; on Zoom and on Teams. We are here.

We are here, feeling the pain of this most recent tragedy that compounds our trauma, we are here.

We are here, the week after mourning over 375 (known) deaths of trans and non-binary siblings worldwide for International Transgender Day of Remembrance, we are here.

We are here, months after the rollback on the rights of queer, trans, non-binary, and questioning youth in Virginia schools, we are here.

We are here, years after the Pulse Massacre, we are here.

We are here, decades after HIV/AIDS’s decimation of our elders, we are here.

We are here, holding on to each other because it is an act of resistance to be ourselves.

We are here.

In solidarity, strength, and healing,

The LGBTQ+ Faculty/Staff Alliance

The LGBTQ+ Resources Center

The Women and Gender Studies Center

The programs and services offered by George Mason University are open to all who seek them. George Mason does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic national origin (including shared ancestry and/or ethnic characteristics), sex, disability, military status (including veteran status), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, pregnancy status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. After an initial review of its policies and practices, the university affirms its commitment to meet all federal mandates as articulated in federal law, as well as recent executive orders and federal agency directives.

Native American and Indigenous Alliance builds awareness and ‘family’ at Mason

Tragedies at UVA and University of Idaho

Fellow Patriots:

Today we are reeling from two tragedies at other universities – the overnight murders of three at the University of Virginia, and the apparent murders of four University of Idaho students.

We stand in solidarity and grief with our fellow students, faculty, and staff from UVA and Idaho. On behalf of a deeply saddened university community, I offer our collective condolences and support to both communities.

At UVA, we know that gun violence has once again invaded the sanctity of a university community, taking three lives and injuring two. The depths of these tragedies are always immeasurable, and they are compounded when they occur within a fellow university community so close to us.

I have reached out to my colleague and friend, UVA President James Ryan, to offer my condolences, support, and any assistance that his community might find helpful. Members of my team are reaching out to their counterparts with the same offer.

For the Mason community, I offer assurance that we are constantly working to prevent and, if necessary, respond quickly to such tragedies. We have the protection and support of campus, local, and regional law enforcement, emergency response protocols that we have practiced, and an array of support services readily available to those in need. If you have not already done so, please take a moment to register for Mason Alert, Active Threat Training ,and review our Active Threat Preparedness Resources.

Today, UVA and Idaho face a tough road ahead to heal and regain the normalcy that has been taken from them. I ask everyone in Mason Nation to hold them in your hearts. Look for opportunities to support your friends or family who are connected to those communities.

Today, we are all Hoos in spirit.

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington

President

Meet the Mason Nation: Alissa Karton, University Life

Alissa D. Karton, Assistant to Vice President and Director of Special Projects, University Life. Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services/George Mason University

When Alissa Karton began working at Mason in 1996, the university looked like a very different place, with fewer residence halls, fewer students, and a reputation for being a commuter school. In her various roles with University Life, Karton has had an insider’s view to seeing Mason transform into what she calls “a university that is basically as big as a small town.”

Photo by Evan Cantwell/Creative Services

Career and Professional Development Week

Caring for our Mason Community

Dear fellow Patriots:

Our community, our nation, and our world have experienced a multitude of recent tragedies so far this fall semester, and I want to take a moment to share with the Mason community how we are responding to them. While we make an earnest effort to respond to a number of crises being experienced by all our students, when these crises involve significant loss of life or undue physical violence, we try to respond to the broader community.

From the ongoing war in Ukraine, to violence and protests in Iran, to the devastating hurricane in Florida, and to last week’s stampede that took more than 150 lives at a Halloween event in Seoul, Korea, all of these events – along with less-public incidents that leave individuals feeling attacked or marginalized – can overwhelm us.

Each tragic event brings trauma, anxiety, and disruption to various communities of interest within George Mason University. Collectively, they affect us all.

In moments like this, Mason responds to members of our community who are in crisis as a result. While we cannot prevent or fix these tragedies, we offer support and solace as each circumstance warrants.

Iran

Students, faculty, and staff members alike have reacted viscerally to the recent killing of an Iranian woman by state authorities for simply wearing her hijab in a way they deemed improper. The unrest throughout Iran has traumatized members of our own community, many of whom have family, friends, and other interests in Iran. They worry for their loved ones’ safety and for the future of their country. At a time like this, their country of origin can seem perilously far away, and their future can feel achingly in doubt.

Various Mason offices already have reached out to Iranian and Iranian-American students, faculty, and staff, to listen and explore how we can assist them. I will be joining a number of those meetings personally over the next couple of weeks to hear their concerns first-hand.

Korea

This weekend’s Halloween tragedy was especially tragic to Mason, as Mason Korea is located in a suburb of Seoul. Our first priority has been to confirm the safety of our own students, faculty, and staff, none of whom appear to have been involved in the event, thankfully. We are reaching out to both the Mason Korea community and those Mason family members here at our Northern Virginia campuses to offer our support as best we can. Outreach and support are ongoing.

Florida

When Hurricane Ian roared across central Florida, we knew a certain number of out-of-state students, faculty, and staff would surely be impacted, and we offered our assistance as needed. We understand that natural disasters like this can leave students without homes to return to, or their families without the necessary resources to continue supporting their studies. The disaster itself can create traumas that are best aided with mental health and wellbeing services, all of which are available to those affected by this or any disaster that affects them. We have been heartened by the warm reaction affected students have had to our support.

Ukraine

We continue to monitor events in Ukraine, where just this week a fresh round of missile attacks on civilian cities was unleashed. Students and faculty from Ukraine and Russia have come to Mason to participate in the experience enshrined in our motto, Freedom and Learning. And we are here to support them as we can, with wellbeing and financial assistance for those cut off from supportive families.

Mason is a Community

Mason is really like a small, cosmopolitan city, with a population larger than all but the 18 largest municipalities in Virginia. Our community is affected by nearly every major national or international event.

When tragedy hits, Mason is committed to responding, sometimes in public ways, but always in personal ways that do not necessarily draw wide attention. Our responders may be from University Life, the Provost’s Office, Human Resources, or the office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. To those in need, services offered are tailored to the circumstance, often privately, and usually including employment or academic accommodations, information and referral for emergency financial aid, mental health and well-being assistance, or direct dialogue with university leaders.

That’s what family does for its own, and as proud as we are at how different our diversity makes us, in the end we all belong to the same Mason family. Recent weeks have driven home just how much of a family the Mason community can and should be.

Fellow Patriots, stay well, stay safe, and take care of each other as you can.

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington

President

First-generation student seizes her opportunity

Jasmeen Linares, freshman majoring in applied computer science. Photo by: Cristian Torres/Strategic Communications/George Mason University