Our Stories

Mason’s Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), known as “The Patriot Battalion,” began in 1982 and frequently conducts training with other universities throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.

Mason alumni John Whalan, Elaine "Chipper" Petersen, and Bob Veenstra built the university's first telescope and observatory with $200 in start-up funds from the Physics Department.

The largest graduating class of any Virginia public university this year, Mason's Class of 2022 had the distinction of graduating as part of the university’s 50th anniversary celebration.

Did you know that up until the 2004 Commencement George Mason University graduation gowns were black? The university moved to green gowns in 2004, thanks to the work of a Traditions Committee.

On May 21, 1983, George Mason University awarded its first doctoral degree, a doctor of arts in education, to Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, a teacher at nearby West Springfield High School.

On April 7, 2022, George Mason University celebrated its 50th anniversary as an independent public university. That day and the week of events surrounding it illuminated Mason as a university that is altogether different.

Though things have changed since Mason’s Department of Social Work began 50 years ago, one constant is its focus on the many aspects that impact health and well-being: housing, work, physical health, mental health, finances, and social support.

In January, Nikyatu Jusu, assistant professor of directing and screenwriting in Mason’s Film and Video Studies Program, had her first feature film, “Nanny,” premier at the Sundance Film Festival, where she was awarded the Grand Jury Prize.

On Nov. 24, 1985, George Mason University women's soccer defeated North Carolina 2-0 to claim the first-ever NCAA National Championship at Mason.

Take a look back at George Mason University in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, with a showcase of photos captured by student photographers working for Broadside, Mason's student newspaper from 1969 to 2014, in a new exhibit on the lower level of Horizon Hall.

As a part of George Mason University’s 50th Anniversary celebration this year, the University Libraries’ Special Collection Research Center (SCRC) is sharing some documents, artifacts, and photography from the archives in its new exhibition “We Are Mason: A Student History.”

Mason’s 50th anniversary celebration continued Friday, with the official unveiling of a project designed to transform its Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia.