Damian Cristodero

Many notable African American students, faculty and staff have made indelible marks at George Mason University. As we acknowledge Black History Month, and celebrate Mason’s 50th anniversary, here are just a few:

In his extra year of athletic eligibility, Mason baseball player Scott Morgan is pursuing a master's degree in software engineering.

Granted an extra year of athletic eligibility by the NCAA (something all student-athletes received because of the pandemic), Mason graduate student Jaylen Simmons set his sights on a goal that has been elusive despite his record-setting Patriot career: earning a spot in the NCAA championships.

The first steps of the construction project that will reshape and reimagine George Mason’s Arlington Campus are scheduled to begin this week, weather permitting.

The Core Campus Project, which transformed the center of the Fairfax Campus, is wrapping up after five-plus years of planning and construction.

Mason doctoral student Tanya Boucicaut wants to explore the nexus between hip-hop culture and Black Church culture in her native Virginia Beach, and she wants to do it in a documentary that looks at two major music festivals.

Jessica Lammers, who will graduate with her master of public health on Dec. 16, found a job as an environmental health specialist with Fairfax County through her internship.

Brett Josephson, assistant professor of marketing, has studied government contracting since he was a PhD student. In recently published research, Josephson—together with Ju-Yeon Lee, assistant professor of marketing at Iowa State University, and Babu John Mariadoss and Jean Lynn Johnson, associate professors of marketing at Washington State University—recommended that companies focus on specialization.

The Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial ecently opened as the centerpiece of the redesigned Wilkins Plaza on the Fairfax Campus, and is the focal point of how the university is addressing its identity as it relates to a complicated Patriot.

George Mason University students voted at a higher rate than the national student average in the 2020 elections, and also outperformed the average voting rates of public institutions, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement.