The Mason Spirit

About 13 years ago, I was getting ready to give a talk on activities at Mason. I was meeting with then-vice president of university relations Helen Ackerman, MA English ’86, and we were talking about what universities do. What we came up with was the old faithful, that is, teaching, research, and service, and we…

Continue Reading Sometimes a Great Typo

Searching for a photo of the King shaking hands with Richard Nixon? Or perhaps a snapshot of Nixon playing the dulcimer is more to your liking? Then look no further than George Mason University. Likely unknown to most of Mason’s political junkies is that Fenwick Library has a treasure trove of original photographs of the…

Continue Reading Worth a Look: Nixon, Sammy, and the King

Two eyes and a mouth illuminated by a melted candle just don’t cut it at Mason alum Noel Dickover’s Centreville, Virginia, home. How about a pumpkin carved to resemble R2-D2? Or, say, SpongeBob? Leaving the typical jack-o-lanterns to us amateurs, Dickover, BA ’90, is a much-heralded artist when it comes to transforming plain, old lifeless pumpkins…

Continue Reading Alum Making ‘Gourd’-geous Pieces of Art Out of Pumpkins

Just as a sculptor needs his hands, a broadcaster needs his face. So when Lee Thomas, BA Speech Communication ’91, found patches of white on his scalp, he was understandably concerned. Thomas was subsequently diagnosed with vitiligo, a chronic condition that affects the skin’s melanin, the pigment that determines the color of your skin, hair,…

Continue Reading Lee Thomas: A Voice for Those in Hiding

Hey, Mason resident students! Your room could be featured in an upcoming issue of the Mason Spirit, the magazine for the George Mason University community that goes out to 140,000 Mason alumni, donors, faculty, staff, and friends. The editorial staff of the Spirit is looking to show off the residential population at Mason by running a six-page spread…

Continue Reading Show Us Your Crib and You Could Win!

While Lisa McCarty, BFA ’05, would certainly love to pull out a victory, just being in the running is already paying off. “I’m getting more hits on my website and more inquiries about my work,” says this photo-based artist. McCarty, a graphic designer working in D.C., is among a small group of artists talented enough to…

Continue Reading Vote, Vote, Vote! Mason Alum Among Final 10 in Post Artists Contest

Move over President Obama, Real Housewives of DC, and Beltway traffic. The biggest news in Washington is always the trials and tribulations of the Redskins. And fans of sports radio know one reporter who is always on top of the latest injury, heartbreaking loss, or Dan Synder sighting is Mason’s very own Grant Paulsen. Paulsen, a senior…

Continue Reading From Letterman to the ‘Skins, Senior Is Climbing Broadcasting Ranks

From aggressive drivers and playground bullies to Tiger Woods and his well-documented dalliances, Mason adjunct professor Leslie Morton says enough is enough when it comes to people behaving badly. “That sort of behavior has not only been tolerated but it has now become acceptable,” she says. “[Civility] has become a lost art.” In a first…

Continue Reading New Civility Class Reminds Students to Mind their Ps and Qs

Hey Mason alum, if you haven’t been on the Fairfax Campus, say, since Bush II was still in his first term in office, then you may want to bring along a map next time you pay your old stumping grounds a visit. The campus has nearly twice the buildings it had when I last took…

Continue Reading Mason, You Look All Grown Up

If one bride ain’t enough, Jack, then you better make it three. This Saturday, Mason law school graduate, Katie Kunkel, JD ’09, will share a wedding with two other brides she has something very much in common with: They all have the same parents. In a move spurred on mostly by economics (you can almost hear dad…

Continue Reading Here Come the Bride(s)! Alum, Two Sisters to Share Wedding Altar