Email banner featuring three images: Mason alumni marching in a July 4 parade, a crod gathered in front of a building on the Sci-Tech Campus, and attendees at a Movers and Shakers event on the Mason Square Campus in Arlington.

Mason in the Community

April 2023
Office of Government and Community Relations

As an integral part of the greater community, George Mason University has continually strived to build and maintain a multitude of partnerships, provide a variety of services and programs geared toward the region we serve, and explore research that enhances the quality of life for all.

Through Mason in the Community, you can learn more about how Mason engages with and enhances our shared community.

Students in the Community

Mason students in the MIX building toys as a part of Innovation Week.

Toy-building event at the MIX marks Innovation Week

Engineering and STEM students utilized their skills to build interactive toys in observation of Innovation Week. The toys were donated to the Homeless Children's Playtime Project. Participants used mathematical perspective and creativity to make the toys. Theo Zamani, the president of the Mason American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME) chapter, promoted the event with ASME members. “I took this project on and promoted it to help the cause. It was the first time this was done, and this was a great way for people to give back to the community.”

Research for the Community

Researchers at a meeting of the 120 Initiative.

Applying diverse faculty expertise to find solutions to gun violence

Nearly two dozen Mason faculty members, from seven schools and colleges, provided their expertise to the 120 Initiative, an all-hands-on-deck effort from the 18 institutions in the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area to find solutions to reduce gun violence. The initiative was named for the average number of people who die each day from gun violence.

Classroom in the Community

Mason student and researchers develop an app for individuals recovering from opioid use disorder

Mason graduate student Rebecca Leung is teaming up with other Mason researchers to develop an app called iCONNECT to help peer support specialists, individuals in recovery from substance use disorder, and their families connect with the specific resources needed to sustain recovery. The team has provided the first Android version of the app to community partners for testing. Peer recovery specialists will continue to test out iCONNECT once it is coded to the Apple platform before being released to a limited number of users in the county for further feedback.

Alumni in the Community

Alum wants to bring Mason and Fairfax City together

Mayor Catherine Read, BA Government and Politics ’84, is the first woman and first Mason alum elected to serve the City of Fairfax. Mayor Read sees many possibilities for greater collaboration and student engagement between the City and Mason including a Fairfax Pride celebration and a CUE Crawl during Welcome Week.

Billy Bates, a Mason physics major, joins Read on City Council. She was one of Bates' early supporters. Read and Bates were sworn into office in January.

Events for the Community

April 24 | Vision Series Lecture: America's Mental Health Crisis: How Can We Prevent Youth Suicide? | 7 p.m. EST | GMU-TV

April 28 | Music on the Plaza featuring COLLECTIVE | 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. | Mason Square

May 3 | Missiles and Much More: Increasing Defense Industrial Base Capacity | 1 - 2:15 p.m. EST | Zoom

Upcoming Events

Did You Know?

Participants of the Females of Color and those Underrepresented in STEM (FOCUS) summer camp standing outside smiling.

Mason Summer Camps

Summer days will soon be here! Keep your children engaged through academics, the arts, and sports/recreation camps at Mason. Programming covers a variety of interests including conflict resolution, conservation, game design and technology, podcasting, theater, music, and much more. Visit the website for details.

Staff Spotlight

After more than 30 years of service, Molly Grove, the associate director for Community and Local Government Relations at George Mason University’s Science and Technology Campus, is retiring.

Grove’s Mason journey began in 1992 as a part-time coordinator, planning the university’s Commencement and convocation ceremonies. Over the years, she has earned a reputation as a “social butterfly” and the “face of the SciTech Campus.”

“Molly has been the SciTech Campus’ lifeline to the community, working with business, government, and education leaders since its beginning. She’s left an indelible fingerprint on SciTech,” said Ron Carmichael, the campus’ director of administration and operations.

In addition to relationship-building, Grove leads event planning at SciTech. She was especially busy in the past year, coordinating the triple groundbreaking of the Life Sciences and Engineering Building, Innovation Town Center, and University Village in honor of Mason’s 50th anniversary.

“There have been so many wonderful memories during my time at Mason,” Grove said. “I will always look back at representing the university in the community with great affection.”

Grove served on many business and civic boards on Mason’s behalf. She was involved in the launch of Leadership Prince William, a nonprofit organization focused on training individuals and organizations to enrich the community through collaborative leadership.

Read more about Molly's impact at Mason.

Office of Government and Community Relations

relations.gmu.edu

703-993-8846

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