Month: September 2014

As summer winds down and the school year begins, Mason Basketball’s 2014-15 season is right around the corner! Coach Paul Hewitt and his Patriots are gearing up for Mason’s second season in the Atlantic 10 conference and are ready to hit the hardwood once again.

An exclusive two-game plan is available for Mason families to secure seats for two of the toughest tickets all year long – Opening Night and Homecoming! Take advantage of this offer so you are not left out of these exciting games. Be part of the family atmosphere and Patriot Platoon student section all season long as Mason Basketball gets underway this fall.

The Patriots’ hoops season begins on Friday, November 14 as Mason hosts Cornell on Opening Night in the Patriot Center on Mason’s Fairfax campus. The Patriots are looking to start the season off on the right foot as they march to the 2015 Atlantic 10 Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The two-game plan will guarantee you the same great seat for both Opening Night and Homecoming and costs just $49.50. In addition to seeing two of Mason’s biggest nights on the hoops calendar, you will be guaranteed the best seats in the Patriot Center. These seats are not available at the Patriot Center Box Office and come with a premium bobblehead giveaway exclusive only to season and mini plan holders in 2014-15.

In addition to the two-game plan, Mason Athletics offers mini-plans that are three and six games long as well as full season ticket packages. One of these mini-plans gives you the chance to see Mason Basketball take on local rivals George Washington University in the Revolutionary Rivalry Series. This package also includes tickets to see George Mason take on Old Dominion and VCU.

Mason Basketball is a great tradition on campus and creates ways for Mason families to join in the Mason Spirit. To secure your 2014-15 Mason Basketball ticket package today, call the Mason Athletics Ticket Office at 703-993-3270 or visit GoMason.com!

Andrew Bashuk
Director of Marketing
George Mason University Athletics

Encourage your student to nominate your family for the Alan and Sally Merten Family of the Year award, which will be presented at the Family Weekend welcome dinner on Friday night.  The Alan and Sally Merten Family of the Year Award was started to recognize the importance of families and the support they provide students during their experience at Mason.

Student’s can either submit a written essay of 1,000 words or less, or a video essay no longer than three minutes to families@gmu.edu. The selection committee will review submitted applications based on the following criteria:

1. Evidence of family’s support for student’s college success
2. Evidence of family’s enthusiasm for Mason
3. Ability to articulate why their family is deserving of this honor

The winners of the Family of the Year award will receive a commemorative plaque, all fees associated with Family Weekend registration will be waived or refunded if already paid in full (up to $500 will be covered), and a University Bookstore prize pack valued at $250!  Nominations are due by October 1 at 5:00 pm. For additional further details regarding the Family of the Year Award criteria and to submit an application visit https://masonfamily.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Family-of-the-Year-Nomination-Packet-2014.pdf.

Kristen Wright
Graduate Assistant
Office of Orientation and Family Programs and Services

Sept. 2	Last Day to Add/Drop Classes (No tuition penalty)
Sept. 3	Family Webinar: Career Planning Tips for Seniors- noon EDT https://masonfamily.gmu.edu/webinars/
Sept. 11	9/11 Day of Service
Sept. 22	Midterm progress reporting period begins
Sept. 26	Last Day to Drop (67% tuition penalty)
Sept. 29	Selective Withdrawal Period
Sept. 30	Fall 2014 Graduation Application Deadline

George Mason University students are taking the lead to organize the second annual Mason Nation 9/11 Day of Service as the university once again joins the largest annual day of charitable engagement in the United States. In 2013, 47 million Americans observed the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. Last year, with substantial support from the Division of University Life and Mason’s Honors College, students helped organize efforts for the inaugural event and hundreds of Mason students, faculty and staff members served.

As a result of the new Mason Service Council’s strong student leadership, this year’s event has grown and not only local service to the community, but also includes a service project with two international beneficiaries. Registration opened on August 25 for eight service projects to be held on September 11. Two of the projects are accepting donated items: the Women Giving Back clothing drive and the James Mott Community Assistance Program food drive.

Other projects and fundraisers during the week include:

• The Filipino Cultural Association, Working Group for Displaced Populations, Amazon, and Mason’s Department of Women and Gender Studies will host a fundraiser at Skyline and Hanover for two projects in the Philippines: a children’s shelter and an endangered village. All funds collected will go to the Tambayan Children’s Center.
• Alpha Phi and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8469 will host a Buddy Poppy drive on the Fairfax Campus at the Johnson Center North and South Plazas as well as in the Corner Pocket patio to raise money for veterans’ services.
• The Office of Social Action and Integrative Learning and Alpha Phi Omega will encourage students, faculty and staff to landscape the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post and reorganize its library at 5703 Vogue Rd, Fairfax Station, VA, 22039.
• The Hispanic Student Association will guide youngsters at Mason’s Child Development Center in emergency preparedness activities.
• Honors College and Phi Kappa Sigma will collect, inspect and sort clothes to be delivered to the Women Giving Back store, a HomeAid program that provides free clothing to women and children in Northern Virginia homeless shelters.
• Alpha Kappa Alpha and Alpha Greek Life members will collect food donations for the James Mott Community Assistance Program which serves 175 families weekly including those who reside in senior community centers and in a center for HIV/AIDS patients who are ill and disabled.
• The Mason Organic Gardening Association and Students Helping Honduras will team up in the northeast corner of Innovation Hall for the Food Forest project. The gardening association also will weed, plant seeds, harvest vegetables, design, paint, water, compost in the Potomac Heights Vegetable Garden near the Aquatic and Fitness Center.

The event has also seen great support from local government officials and City of Fairfax Mayor, R. Scott Silverthorne, who will join the day’s opening festivities.

Encourage your students to get involved in the community and participate in activities scheduled through the 9/11 Day of Service by registering at http://911day.onmason.com/service-projects/.

Sudha Kamath
Communications Officer
Office of Strategic Communications