Students

As a freshman, George Mason University Honors College student Marley Oare chose the Global Affairs Program because she pictured herself working for the CIA or the United Nations. That quickly changed when she took a natural science course in her first semester.

Oakley Hill, a PhD candidate at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, leverages Root Narrative Theory (RNT) to analyze how political narratives shape public perception, ideology, and voting behavior in the United States. His research, including the national Justice Languages of America Survey, highlights the distinct ways liberals, conservatives, and moderates interpret political conflict while advancing practical conflict resolution through mediation and facilitation work.

This April, 63 George Mason University students presented their research at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) in Richmond. NCUR is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research across disciplines. This year marked George Mason’s highest attendance to date, and many students were able to attend due to support from the Office of Student Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR). 

George Mason University global affairs major Noella Mongony has received second prize in the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics essay contest, the Elie Wiesel Foundation has announced.

George Mason University golfer Vaughn McMeans has been named the 2026 Atlantic 10 Men's Golf Player of the Year, becoming the first Patriot in the program’s history to earn the conference's top individual honor. 

The 2026 Heal Together event was hosted by the Office of Access, Compliance, and Community (OACC) in partnership with the Center for Leadership and Intercultural Engagement, Contemporary Student Services, the Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, and Community Engagement and Civic Learning. 

Senior information technology major Crystal Forson likes to joke that her parents have been in school with her the whole time—"just without the studying.” Their support, she said, has been constant, from eighth grade when she joined the George Mason University’s Early Identification Program (EIP), all the way through graduation this May.

As one of the key focal points of George Mason University’s Grand Challenge Initiative, building a climate-resilient society requires not just innovation in sustainable infrastructure, but innovation in how the university prepares future leaders in sustainability.

George Mason University senior Silas Fransen plans to pursue a career as a museum curator. And thanks to the university’s Office of Student Creative Activities and Research (OSCAR), the art history major already has one exhibit to his name. 

Beginning a PhD is rarely straightforward. Beginning one just as the world shuts down adds an entirely new dimension to adaptability. For George Mason University biosciences PhD student Matthew Lefkowitz, that quality would come to define his doctoral journey.