Statements

Statements from the Office of the President

  • September 8, 2021
    Mason is initiating the largest-scale surveillance testing protocol of any Virginia university, in which our goal is to test up to 13,000 members of the Mason community each week.
  • August 11, 2021
    As COVID-19 infections increase in our region, especially the prevalence of the Delta variant, effective immediately, our university again will require all individuals on our campus to wear masks indoors, including classrooms and laboratories, regardless of vaccination status.
  • July 22, 2021
    Mason is joining the growing community of universities that require all students, faculty, and staff to get vaccinated, and to share verification of their vaccination status, in order to work, study, and live on campus.
  • May 26, 2021
    As we turn our attention to the Fall Semester, we must all continue to do our part and work together to keep Mason safe. This starts with new policies for COVID-19 vaccination, testing and masking.
  • May 17, 2021
    The sudden reversal of CDC mask recommendations has prompted many questions about what this means for George Mason University. As we review changing protocols, we will continue to require masks when on campus, and will provide an update with definitive guidance when we have it. As we consider these factors and review the changing protocols, we will continue to require masks when on campus, just as we have done this past year. 
  • April 20, 2021
    The verdict is in on the Derek Chauvin trial, and he has been held accountable for the injustice that occurred to George Floyd. We can breathe a collective sigh of relief that jurors reached the verdict they did.  With that being said, the nation must sustain its quest for systemic change to its criminal justice system, to ultimately make such episodes exceedingly rare.
  • April 15, 2021
    First and foremost, all organizations need a North Star – a vision of what their best can be. With respect to diversity and inclusion, Mason’s North Star is that this university should reflect the rich diversity of our students, the broader Commonwealth of Virginia (whose tax dollars support us all), and the nation.
  • April 6, 2021
    We are at an important moment in our fight against COVID, and I want to applaud everyone for their help in making George Mason University the safest campus it can be. Mason has received the go-ahead to begin vaccinating faculty and staff this weekend, and students later this month.
  • March 19, 2021
    This week, the Governor’s Office issued new guidance on how universities could conduct commencement ceremonies this spring based on revised COVID-19 restrictions.
  • March 18, 2021
    Tuesday’s mass murder in Atlanta returns us to terrible, familiar ground, as we try again to make sense of violence, and calm the terror that was already building within an entire cultural community.
  • January 6, 2021
    The nation is struggling to understand what is happening, how to react, and how to move beyond this. Academic communities like Mason’s are at their best when they step into moments like these to offer perspective, clarity, and when necessary, hard truths that force us to grow even as we seek to heal.
  • November 18, 2020
    Our ability to manage this crisis is in no small part a credit to the efforts of students, faculty and staff, who have done an extraordinary job of following new safety guidelines. We will continue to update the university community should things change.