The George Mason Parents Fund is a university initiative that offers parents and families the opportunity to play a role in building and shaping an exemplary educational experience for Mason students. Thanks to the support of parents and family members like you, we recently concluded the inaugural year of fundraising for the Parents Fund.
This past April a portion of money raised in the Parents Fund was allocated to support two strategic initiatives within University Life and partner offices. Each of the initiatives funded by the Parents Fund enriches the student experience at Mason by preparing Mason students for the demands of work, citizenship, and life in an ever-changing global society. The initiatives that received support from the Parents Fund are:
Undergraduate Research Awareness Campaign
Participating in undergraduate research is demonstrated to improve student engagement and retention. The Mason Students as Scholars program just completed its fifth year of engaging, mentoring, and promoting undergraduate researchers. As part of the fifth-year celebration for the Students as Scholars program, an outreach focus was added to help demonstrate the range and scope of the people who comprise our undergraduate researchers and their supporters, and recruit new students to participate.
Pop-Up Pantry
Hunger can be a problem among college students, and Mason is committed to ensuring students in need have access to food. The Pop-Up Pantry is a non-profit organization that works to mitigate the challenges that face students with food insecurity and hunger at Mason by providing food, toiletries, and school supplies to students, staff, and faculty in need.
Initiatives like these provide experiences that help prepare Mason students for life beyond the classroom. To learn more about the ways in which the Parents Fund supports the undergraduate experience at Mason, or to find out how you can donate to the fund, please contact William Ayrea at wayrea@gmu.edu.
Thank you for your support!
William Ayrea
Associate Director
Annual Giving