George Mason University

On June 29, 2023, George Mason University issued a statement in response the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action which reads in part as follows: "Today’s United States Supreme Court decision barring the consideration of race for college admissions will not disrupt admissions operations at George Mason University, because Mason does not factor race into its admissions decisions...Mason has long embraced an inclusive admissions policy that offers everyone who is academically prepared for the rigors of study at this top-ranked research university the opportunity to pursue the life of their choice."

The university's task force proposed that the university, "Implement Student Requested Foundational Course on Diversity and Inclusion titled 'Foundations for Building a Just Society.'"

Student workers must complete the "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Required Trainings" within the first 30 days of employment.

Online trainings titled "Managing Bias" and "Diversity: Inclusion in the Modern Workplace" are offered for University employees.

Coalition Building and Diversity Education provides training to GMU employees which includes three tracks, "Beyond Diversity," "Creating Community," and "The Intercultural Development Inventory." The "Beyond Diversity" training has modules on "micro-aggressions, gender identity, intersectionality, and implicit bias with the aim to help participants understand systemic barriers that infringe on day-to-day interactions." 

Anti-Racism statement will be required on all syllabi; curriculum changes are also being considered.

The university offered a "Democracy Lab" program for first-year students. At the group's inaugural event, the university president spoke about "how anti-racism and inclusive excellence are integral to democracy."

In response to the Black Lives Matter movement and increased national attention around the murder of George Floyd, GMU students and faculty collaborated to create UNIV 381: Foundations for Building a Just Society. The three-credit class fulfills two Mason Core requirements—global understanding and social/behavioral sciences—and is projected to evolve over time into a required course for all students.

As of May 2024, the university states it is in the process of integrating "anti-racism principles and practices within the Mason learning experience."

The GMU core curriculum has a 3 credit "Just Societies" category which will be required starting in the 2025 academic year. Upon completion of the category, students should be able to "define key terms related to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion ... and articulate obstacles to justice and equity, and strategies for addressing them."

The University has a form to report bias incidents. The bias response team provides "support, resources, and education to individuals who have been subjected to or impacted by an act of bias."

All new George Mason University employees must complete three DEI trainings in their first 90 days of employment.

All faculty and staff must complete three DEI trainings either annually or biannually.

The University requires that members of a faculty search committee must complete training with HR within one year prior to the search and "every search committee member must be aware of implicit or unconscious bias and the way it can impact their evaluation and decision-making regarding candidate applications." Furthermore, GMU is developing an "implicit bias training for search committees."

The task force recommended that the university "Strengthen and expand the Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Center (TRHT) to include a new AntiRacism and Inclusive Excellence Lecture Series, K-12 and community partnerships centered on inclusive excellence and antiracism, and alumni engagement opportunities."

The university task force recommended that the university "Develop a research seed funding initiative focused on anti-racism and inclusive excellence to promote and support diversity and inclusion through multi-disciplinary research, scholarly and creative projects."

The university announced "an initial $5 million commitment over three years for the ARIE agenda (Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence)," according to faculty member at the Mercatus Center writing in City Journal.

GMU's Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning provides support for faculty to "improve curriculum design, teaching strategies, and pedagogical resources supporting anti-racist and inclusive teaching (ARIT)." Grants include the Impact Grant, ARIE Faculty Capacity Building Grant, ARIE Kickoff Grant, and ARIE Mini-Grant.

In April 2023, the Office of Research Innovation and Economic Impact (ORIEI) in collaboration with the Office of DEI announced the 2nd Annual Anti-racism & Inclusive Excellence (ARIE) Seed Funding Call for Proposals. This funding will support research, scholarship and creative activities addressing the "myriad issues on the theme of anti-racism and inclusive excellence." ORIEI and DEI anticipate funding 4-8 projects with two tiers of funding: up to $25,000 and up to $50,000.

In April 2023, the Office of the Provost is announced the inaugural Mentoring for Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence (MARIE) program. MARIE will fund project ideas of GMU graduate students who are committed to "advancing the values of access, diversity, equity, and inclusion at Mason."

On August 29, 2022, GMU announced that a team of university employees dedicated to building and maintaining more diverse faculty and staff have secured a National Science Foundation (NSF) ADVANCE Catalyst grant for just under $300,000 to help them with the process.

GMU offers a Graduate Inclusion & Access Scholarship. This scholarship is awarded on a competitive basis and is available to first-generation college students who are incoming fall semester doctoral degree students, are from an underrepresented population within their doctoral field of study at Mason, and have demonstrated financial need.

The College of Business offers a program for "Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officers."

George Mason University police officers must complete the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Basic Training Curriculum which includes modules on "Policing in a Diverse Society" and "Fair and Impartial Policing."

The Police and Public Safety Department has an "equity statement" that states it is "committed to promoting inclusion and equity in its community."

The library offers an "Anti-Racism, #BlackLivesMatter, and Civic Action" resource guide, which includes Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist."

The College of Education and Human Development has an "Anti-Racist Research Methods" page, which claims that researchers "have a moral obligation to interrogate our research goals, methods, and dissemination strategies and to resist, disrupt, and dismantle white supremacy in the context of academia and research."

The Honor's College offers a program called Honoring Our Community, which "provides opportunities for students to have honest conversations about racial and social justice with the goal of cultivating an anti-racist culture and tighter sense of community."

GMU's 2022 Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) is called "Transforming Education through Anti-Racist Community Engagement". This plan focuses on connecting student learning and student success to community engagement, civic learning, and anti-racism.

GMU hosted a "Revolutionizing Research for Social Change Workshop" from July 25 to 29, 2022, with the goal of building "a cohort of revolutionary researchers who engage anti-racist and decolonizing research principles and practices."

GMU President created the ARIE Task Force in July 2020 to aspire toward an inclusive and equitable campus environment. ARIE stands for Access and Success, Campus Climate, Education and Scholarship, Community Engagement, Infrastructure and Accountability.

Creating Anti-Racist Theater is the professional guest artist series of the GMU School of Theater, offering the theatrical community the opportunity to discuss and explore ideas and practices around building inclusive spaces and practices in the global theater industry.

From March 18-19, 2024, GMU will host its 2024 ARIE National Conference, where individuals from education, research, policy, and advocacy come together to support creating and maintaining communities that are more equitable and inclusive.

GMU has an Access to Excellence Podcast that often discusses DEI and antiracism issues.

GMU's College of Visual and Performing Arts has a Kritikos Anti-Racist Reading Group. Kritikos engages topics such as writing about the arts, critical studies, translation, the artist in society, and art as speech.

The Inclusive STEM Teaching Project is a 6 week course designed to "advance the awareness, self-efficacy, and the ability of faculty, postdocs, and doctoral students to cultivate inclusive STEM learning environments" for their students and to "develop themselves as reflective, inclusive practitioners."

The 2023 Teaching and Learning Conference included sessions such as "Designing an Inclusive Course," "Designing Courses for Anti-Racist Community Engagement," "Empowering Students to Assess the State of DEI on Campus," and "Anti-Racism and Inclusive Teaching" among other DEI related sessions.

The School of Policy and Government has a "commitment to diversity" and several ongoing initiatives.

The "Advancing Inclusive Excellence Plans" are created "to help academic and administrative units integrate diversity, equity, and educational quality efforts into their missions and institutional operations." Under the University's Inclusive Excellence Framework, there are "five aspirational dimensions and goals" that are centered around promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice.

In some circumstances, the University may grant a hiring waiver when "there is an opportunity to hire a candidate who strategically advances the institutional commitment to diversity and inclusion." The waiver "allows hiring departments to expedite the search process to fill an immediate need while offering an additional incentive for candidates."

The Office of Compliance, Diversity and Ethics been renamed to be the Office for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI).

According to the U.S. News & World Report's "2023 Best College List" rankings, GMU is among the top 10 most diverse and innovative public universities in the country.

In November 2021, the Enslaved People of George Mason Memorial opened as the centerpiece of the redesigned Wilkins Plaza on the Fairfax Campus, and is the focal point of how the university is addressing its identity as it relates to a complicated Patriot.

On September 1, 2021, Sharnnia Artis joined GMU as the new vice president for diversity, equity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer.

After the murdering of six Asian American women in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2021, GMU president released an anti-racism statement condemning the violence and offering support to the Asian community.

GMU's Honors College has an Inclusion and Anti-Racism statement.

The Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution has an anti-racism statement.

GMU College of Science has an Access, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (AJEDI) statement.

The Margaret C. Howell Award is for faculty whose work "promotes respect, diversity, and individual dignity." Recipients receive a $2,000 award which is co-sponsored by Human Resources and Payroll and the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.

The University was recognized as a top 10 public university for diversity, which reflects the university’s "increasingly diverse freshman classes and Mason’s ability to attract, retain, and graduate students from all backgrounds with no marked disparities in outcomes."