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Mason President Gregory Washington offers an overview of the steps the university is taking to operate safely, and to address concerns about one step taken to safely welcome students back.

George Mason University today is launching the "Do Your Part Campaign" to reinforce the message that safety is a shared responsibility and that our safe return to campus depends on everyone modifying their behavior in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Preparation is underway for what may be the greatest campus-wide challenge the George Mason University community has ever taken on – our safe return to campus.

This week, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that it would discontinue visa exceptions for international students on F-1 visas who take all of their courses for the semester online. This decision could force hundreds of thousands of international students to leave the United States and threatens to interrupt the academic work of more than 3,000 students here at George Mason University.

If we close our eyes and envision a patriot, we might see the classic image of an individual taking up arms to defend our country. But is that all there is to patriotism? By definition, it is an expressed feeling of love, devotion and sense of attachment to a particular place or way of life. There is so much more to being a Patriot than the physical defense of our country, and here at Mason, we have a more expansive, more inclusive approach to patriotism.

Mason's eighth president Gregory Washington's inaugural video message to the university community.

Outside their dorms, students at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) have visual access to rare and endangered species. On any given day, you can find them doing field and laboratory work with influential conservation mentors. Midway through the spring semester, the school known for its hands-on conservation training, had to quickly transition their courses online due to COVID-19.

The COVID-19 pandemic shifted thousands of jobs online, allowing employees to telework and avoid congested roadways. That’s good for slowing the spread of the virus, but new research from George Mason University also shows such habits could limit people’s exposure to harmful traffic pollution.

When Denys Kuratchenko began working at Northern Virginia Community College’s 3D printing lab in 2017, he didn’t anticipate that his projects would change lives. But the expression on a young girl’s face made him realize he could.

When Haider Semaisim works on the federally mandated database of global incidents of terrorism with George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government, he does so with pride. It is not only an educational and professional endeavor, he said. “It’s personal.”

In response to COVID-19, a group of George Mason University students had planned to create 3D printed personal protective equipment (PPE), such as face shields and masks for health care professionals and their patients. When the announcement came on March 22 that Mason campuses were closing, they knew they had to move fast.

Around the world, environmental crises are making headlines, from the potential extinction of species and ecosystems to climate change. Students in George Mason University’s Department of Environmental Science and Policy (ESP) are driven to make a change. This year five PhD students in the department received grants from the Cosmos Club Foundation to tackle a wide range of conservation efforts.