Category: Official University Communications

Patriots:
We hope you are doing well and settling into your Spring semester.
This is a point in the semester when you may start feeling more academic pressure and have other stressors or worries weighing on you. Everyone feels sad or anxious at times, and sometimes these feelings can be hard to manage. We are writing today to make sure you know that you are not alone – that your community and George Mason University are here for you.

Your own community
It can be difficult to reach out for help when you feel down or lonely. However, social connection is vital to our health and well-being. There are many ways you can connect with other people:

• Reach out to supportive friends and families. You don’t have to have a long conversation: you can start with a short text message.
• Find your communities and engage with them. This may be a faith community or a group on campus. There are online communities and forums available where you can find connection and support (including Mason360, which is available to all students).
• Say hello. We sometimes underestimate the power of short social interactions but studies have shown that even brief conversations can positively affect our mood.
• Talk to a faculty or staff member. They can help you connect with any support you need.
• Try counseling or therapy. This is a powerful option – both for relieving loneliness and getting support.

Your Mason resources
Again – you are not alone. You are in a community with people who want to connect with you and want to help you.
Some resources that you might find useful include:
Patriots Thriving Together  – Your guide to thriving at Mason
Mason Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) – 703-993-2380
Student Support and Advocacy Center – SSAC Support Request
Crisis Text Line – Text HOME to 741741 to reach a crisis counselor
TimelyCare – Confidential virtual health and well-being for Mason students

We wish you the best this semester and hope you remember that you are not alone. Take good care of yourselves and each other, and do not hesitate to reach out when you need help.

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington
President

Rose Pascarell
Vice President for University Life

Fellow Patriots:

Today at Michigan State University three more are dead, five more are injured, eyewitnesses are deeply traumatized, another university community is in shock, and our nation is plunged back into mourning. We stand with Michigan State, mourn their losses as we would our own, and lend our support and prayers for the injured and the traumatized who are left behind.

So far in 2023, there have been more mass shootings in America than there have been days in the year. In the name of the Spartans who have been taken from us, we must recommit ourselves to ending this uniquely American, entirely preventable epidemic of gun violence. As hard as it to push back despair in this moment, we simply have to.

In fact, many George Mason University faculty have been working as part of an 18-university coalition from across the DC region to find non-legislative strategies that will reduce gun violence in America. You may recall that Mason and the University of Maryland led the formation of the 120 Initiative following another horrific and entirely preventable tragedy, the massacre of innocent school children in Uvalde, Texas. The initiative was named in memorial tribute to the average number of Americans we lose to gun violence each and every day.

On March 1, the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area will bring together faculty from universities throughout the DC area who study gun violence and related issues and who are part of the 120 Initiative. They have been at work for months presenting and debating promising strategies, and they will present their recommendations publicly for the first time.

Here is what should make every Mason Patriot especially proud: Mason has contributed the most faculty expertise and proposals of all participating universities. I am so proud of our faculty, who run the gamut of research areas and ideologies, for stepping up to contribute so passionately to this effort.

One day, we will find ways to end this type of violence in America, once and for all. But today it is clear that we have much work to do. So I end where I began, with our hearts aching for everyone at Michigan State University, and our minds set upon ending this scourge once and for all.

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington
President

Dear Colleagues, 

Welcome back! I hope you had a rejuvenating winter break and are as eager as I am for the spring semester. 

We’ve triumphed over nearly three years of tremendous challenges and have gradually resumed most of our usual activities. We’re seeing more students, faculty and staff in person – anyone who has tried to snag a parking garage charging station can attest to that. We’re Zooming less and meeting in-person more. We’re seeing more smiles and fewer masks (both are welcome sights!)  

I don’t exactly know what our new normal is, but I know one thing: It’s a lot like the old normal, because Mason students, faculty and staff are achieving at a high level.  

Let’s take a quick look back at a few highlights from the fall semester: 

• The university teamed with TimelyMD to improve student health by providing a 24-hour virtual extension of campus counseling center resources to improve student well-being. 
• The Board of Visitors approved our Strategic Direction document that shapes our priorities for the upcoming years. 
• We held our first Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence national conference at Mason Square, where construction on Fuse is under way. 
• Our faculty’s achievements continue to be celebrated. Ed Maibach, University Professor in the Department of Communication and the director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication, was elected to the National Academy of Medicine.  
• We established the university’s first employee dependent tuition benefit, through the Mason Virginia Promise, to assist our neediest families. 
• Attain Partners founder and CEO Greg Baroni and his wife, Camille, committed $10 million to the School of Business. 
• We launched Stop the Bleed training with our Active Threat emergency training to provide hands-on first aid practice and help our community be better prepared. 
• I was excited to make my first visit to Mason Korea, where the university signed agreements with NCSoft and Hanguk University of Foreign Studies for collaboration and research. 

This semester, you can look forward to: 

• Another base salary increase that took effect on Jan. 10 – in addition to the 5% salary increase last summer. (see note below)
• The Employee Health and Well-Being group within Safety, Emergency, & Enterprise Risk Management will offer faculty and staff an on-site clinic at the Fairfax Campus and offer expanded services such as in-office and virtual (telehealth) visits for minor, acute illness or injury, and wellness checks, while continuing to offer COVID testing and vaccinations. 
• We will officially celebrate the state’s first College of Public Health during National Public Health Week from April 3-9. 
• Alessandra Luchini, a professor in Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine, will receive a 2023 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. 
• Construction on our Life Sciences and Engineering Building on the Science and Technology Campus is under way. 
• We will launch a $1 billion – yes, billion – campaign to help fund our priorities and ensure the university’s future fiscal standing. 
• Our community has donated more than 4,000 pounds of food and hygiene items in the Patriot Pantry Challenge. Keep ‘em coming! Our students greatly appreciate your generosity. 

Everything we’re putting in place results in an enhanced academic and social environment for our students. That is something for which we all can feel proud. 

Let’s have a wonderful spring semester. Go, Patriots! 

Gregory Washington
President

Updated 1/25/2023:

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

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