Statement: Office of the President

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.

I am writing to give an overview of the steps we are taking to operate the university safely, and to address concerns we have heard about one step we have taken to safely welcome students back.

Soon we will significantly reduce required COVID testing for most who are fully vaccinated, and will offer free tests to any member of the university community who wishes to be tested, regardless of their vaccination status. The Mason community has earned this rollback in testing through its collective diligence in taking the many precautions to keep COVID at bay.

Fall 2020 is officially underway, and George Mason University is marking a transition in our efforts to stay ahead of the pandemic. Now that we are starting a mix of online and on-campus operations, I am writing to walk you through some of the new measures that will begin with the start of classes.

As you know, last week George Mason University made the decision to test our most at-risk population—our residential students—to see if there was any significant impact from the Labor Day holiday. I’m pleased to share that with 97 percent of those results in, we have seen a remarkably low rate of transmission: just 11 positive students out of more than 2,400 test results, or a 0.45 percent positivity rate.

We have just come through an historic election, which has taught us a great deal about ourselves and our society that we will spend time processing.

Our ability to manage this crisis is in no small part a credit to the efforts of students, faculty and staff, who have done an extraordinary job of following new safety guidelines. We will continue to update the university community should things change.

Mason is initiating the largest-scale surveillance testing protocol of any Virginia university, in which our goal is to test up to 13,000 members of the Mason community each week.

As COVID-19 infections increase in our region, especially the prevalence of the Delta variant, effective immediately, our university again will require all individuals on our campus to wear masks indoors, including classrooms and laboratories, regardless of vaccination status.

Mason is joining the growing community of universities that require all students, faculty, and staff to get vaccinated, and to share verification of their vaccination status, in order to work, study, and live on campus.