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Mason Spirit is published three times a year by the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations in conjunction with the Office of Communications and Marketing.
Letter from the President
A Great Public Education
By Cathy Cruise, MFA '93 on December 4, 2013
Ever since I arrived at George Mason University a year ago, I’ve been asked about my background—where I came from and how I got here. So for those of you who are curious, let me tell you a little bit about that. I was born and reared in the great city of Madrid, the second…
Love What You Are
By Mason Spirit contributor on April 16, 2013
I also love that Mason is an inclusive community, one that does not define itself by how many students it leaves out but by how many lives it helps transform every year. From a small teaching satellite campus, we’ve grown into a comprehensive, multicampus, metropolitan, research university serving more students than any of our peer institutions in Virginia. And in doing so, we have found ways to serve an incredibly diverse community composed of people not just from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds but with a wide variety of lifestyles and needs.
Being There
By Colleen Kearney Rich on May 8, 2012
Since I announced that I was stepping down as Mason’s president, people often ask me whether I am going to miss _______. They fill in this blank with a variety of things. I refuse, at least for now, to use the word “miss” because it implies sadness. I’m trying to celebrate everything I have done and what I am going to do. There is so much to celebrate and feel good about.
The Challenges of Going Global
By Mason Spirit contributor on October 25, 2011
With respect to all of Mason’s global activities, I think our China activities have been some of the most exciting and groundbreaking. The China 1+2+1 program has brought students to us from incredible institutions in China, students who contribute to campus life in ways we never imagined, and it has allowed us to meet the…
Wingman, Leader, Warrior
By Mason Spirit contributor on May 10, 2011
I spent eight years connected to the military: four in the Reserve Officer Training Corps in college and four on active duty as an Air Force officer. My first assignment as a new lieutenant was to get a master’s degree from Stanford University. The air force was building its computing capacity and had identified people…
Crossing Disciplines
By Colleen Kearney Rich on November 1, 2010
Interdisciplinary work, in the classroom and in the research laboratory, has always been a hallmark of George Mason University. We appreciate interdisciplinary endeavors and believe that breakthroughs most likely will come not from the core of a discipline but at the boundaries between the disciplines. Cutting-edge programs, such as our new degrees in bioengineering, environmental…
Sometimes a Great Typo
By Mason Spirit contributor on October 28, 2010
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…
Opening Doors
By Mason Spirit contributor on April 1, 2010
Every year, George Mason University takes in about 5,000 new undergraduates. Half are freshmen, and half are transfers. A large part the transfer group comes from Virginia’s community colleges. It is this group of students that most remind me of myself. My parents didn’t go to college. My father had two years of high school;…
Sometimes a Great Typo
By Mason Spirit contributor on October 7, 2009
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…
The Long and Winding Road
By Mason Spirit contributor on April 1, 2009
Great universities should be great dispensers of knowledge, but they also have to be great creators of knowledge. New knowledge comes from research, and one of our reasons for doing it is that good teaching and good research go together. When I was a business school professor, I would sometimes say to the class, “For…
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