In 2020, the nation saw some harsh truths about racial justice laid bare. While George Mason University has long been a leader in inclusivity and access to higher education, we can do better. Our Inclusive Excellence Framework will help us get there.
President Washington created the ARIE Task Force in July 2020 to aspire toward an inclusive and equitable campus environment in which every member of our community, without exception, is valued, supported, and experiences a sense of belonging. The outcomes of the ARIE Task Force have led to the implementation of a larger institutional effort, aligned with our Inclusive Excellence Framework.
Our commitment to remain a national leader in inclusive excellence is intentional and is driven by work that is ongoing and transformative. Mason’s Inclusive Excellence Framework is comprised of five aspirational dimensions and goals to aid us in creating collective impact, sustainable change, innovation, and productivity across the institutions’ academic and administrative units:
- Access and Success: Achieve and maintain a diverse and inclusive undergraduate and graduate/professional student body, faculty and staff, and administration.
- Campus Climate: Create and sustain an organizational environment that affirms and respects diversity and employs inclusive practices throughout our daily operations.
- Education and Scholarship: Engage students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the community in learning varied perspectives that contribute to discovery, innovation, community engagement, service, and social justice
- Infrastructure and Accountability: Create and sustain an institutional infrastructure that effectively supports progress and accountability in achieving our inclusive excellence goals.
- Community Engagement: Leverage faculty expertise, institutional strengths, philanthropy, and community partnerships to improve outcomes in local, regional, national, and global communities.
Mason is home to Virginia’s largest and most diverse student body, and we rank among the most diverse universities in the nation. That distinction wasn’t built overnight: It comes from our culture of seeing things as they are, accepting challenges, and figuring out how to get the work done.
We have a great foundation in place, but we know we can do more.