"Desegregation" at George Mason
The history of desegregation at George Mason University, like that of many public institutions in Virginia, cannot be disentangled from the broader political and legal currents that shaped higher education in the American South during the late 20th century. Established as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1957 and becoming an independent institution in 1972, George Mason’s early years coincided with Virginia’s era of “massive resistance,” a policy explicitly designed to thwart the racial integration of public schools following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Mason’s development into the institution it is today reflects both the subtle, bureaucratic obstacles to desegregation that persisted well into the 1980s, as well as the equally bureaucratic and institutional changes that made integration and equity possible.
By the 1970s, as George Mason expanded into a four-year institution with a growing student body and broader academic ambitions, it became increasingly subject to federal scrutiny over racial disparities. In particular, the university was criticized under the Commonwealth of Virginia’s obligations in Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited federal funding for institutions that discriminated on the basis of race. This led to the creation of the Virginia Plan for Equal Opportunity in State-Supported Institutions of Higher Education in 1978, a document outlining modest goals for increasing minority enrollment and faculty hiring. George Mason, along with other predominantly white institutions (PWIs) in the state, was tasked with demonstrating "good faith efforts" to recruit and retain African American students, but enforcement mechanisms were weak, and early progress was limited.
It was not until the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare began exerting more sustained pressure in the 1980s that more robust reforms took root. Revised editions of the Virginia Plan, specifically the 1983 revision, set clearer benchmarks and deadlines for integration. Mason’s response during this period was reflective of its institutional identity as an emerging urban university: the administration expanded outreach to Northern Virginia high schools with large Black populations, created scholarships aimed at first-generation college students, and began modest faculty diversification efforts.
Perhaps the most significant structural change came in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as Mason’s mission increasingly aligned with serving a diverse and metropolitan student population. The establishment of offices dedicated to minority affairs, coupled with a changing regional demographic profile, led to meaningful gains in Black and minority student representation. By the early 2000s, Mason’s public image had begun to shift from that of a predominantly white commuter school to a dynamic, multicultural campus. This evolution came as a direct result of multiple institutional programs and efforts; it came through a principled commitment to racial equity, over decades of University administration and students.
Desegregation at George Mason, then, was not the product of a singular breakthrough or moment of moral clarity. It was a slow, negotiated process, one driven by federal mandates, state initiatives, and a sustained internal movement by University administration and faculty.