Statement: Office of the President

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.

I’m pleased to say that our community continues to do a remarkable job of showing how to thrive during this pandemic. A crisis can be an opportunity to learn and lead, and we have done both.

We are a month into the Spring Semester. The best evidence shows that when people wear masks, practice physical distancing, wash hands regularly and stay home and isolate when they feel sick, we greatly limit the spread and are safer as a community. We also need to complete the Mason COVID Health Check every day.

President Gregory Washington reflects on the meaning of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the context of the current national climate.

George Mason University will start the Spring 2021 semester on time on Jan. 25.

We are nearing the end of a remarkably successful fall semester, especially considering where we started and what we’ve been through. Just five months ago, our greatest challenge was figuring out how we could deliver a Mason education to a record number of students during a global pandemic. Now, in two weeks, we will graduate a class at winter commencement that includes more than 4,600 graduates and more than 5,000 when counting students earning certificates.

We are halfway through the fall semester, and by all accounts, we have passed one of the biggest hurdles facing universities: George Mason University has successfully reopened our campuses, kept our community safe, and delivered on our educational mission despite the pandemic. This has been challenging work for everyone in our community, and I want to applaud the efforts to make Mason a model for success.