The student paper & new campus life

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, then sometime after in the fall of 1964 George Mason College's campus location was built south of Fairfax city.[1] Yet before George Mason college took on its new namesake, it was Northern Virginia Branch of the University of Virginia and in 1963, just a year prior, the Gunston Ledger put out its first issue just as ground broke at George Mason colleges soon to be new campus location (See fig.1). The Gunston Ledgers first issue was filled with the typical congratulatory statements toward college officials, the Northern Virginia members of the General Assembly, 40 spectators and State Senator Charles R. Fenwick.[2] Students and faculty were greeted with the modern ammenties such as air conditioning which its former campus location at Bailey's Crossroads lacked.[3]

The Director during this transition was Dr. Robert H. Reid whose ideas for how George Mason should operate was considered too rigid and "authoritarian" for both students and faculty. The student body at the time was labeled as "apathetic," however they took issue with the mandatory coat-and-tie enforced requirements for the campus.[4][5] A faculty led protest occured with multiple instructors whom resigned opposed to how Dr. Reid handled campus affairs. By 1966 Dr. Robert H. Reid would resign and the Gunston Ledger would continue to operate with its traditional reporting style. However, among the issues editorial cartoons and out of place messages would become more common place (See fig.2).

[1] George Mason University Digital collections, George Mason University: A History, https://masonlibraries.org/masonhistory/exhibits/show/permanence/permanenceintro

[2] Broadside Student newspaper collection, The Gunston Ledger [Vol.1, No.1], https://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/detail/GMU~40~40~756~185057:The-Gunston-Ledger--Vol--1,-No--1

[3] George Mason University Libraries' Special Collections Research Center Blog, Mason's Fairfax Campus turns 50!, https://masonlibraries.org/masonhistory/exhibits/show/permanence/permanenceintro

[4] George Mason University Digital collections, George Mason University: A History, https://masonlibraries.org/masonhistory/exhibits/show/permanence/permanenceintro

[5]Broadside Student newspaper collection, The Gunston Ledger [Vol.2, No.1], https://images.gmu.edu/luna/servlet/detail/GMU~40~40~763~185090:The-Gunston-Ledger--Vol--2,-No--1-