Introduction: Building A More Inclusive Campus Community
This exhibit will explore how George Mason University's student body changed from its early years as a division of the University of Virginia to its 1972 founding as an independent university.
It will explain how GMU's independence sparked a change in the school's approach to inclusivity, enabling it to create activities and policies that drew in a more varied student body. By analyzing demographic shifts over time, this exhibit will show how GMU has developed into one of Virginia's most diverse public universities and how its path has influenced a campus culture focused on access and representation.
The picture attached of the GMU's new Fairfax campus, only composing for four buildings, is relevant because it signifies a new beginning for the college.
George Mason College officially opened in Fairfax, Virginia, on Sept. 14, 1964. Then a branch campus of the University of Virginia, the college welcomed 356 registered students and had a faculty that included seven full-time and 18 part-time instructors. The campus consisted of four buildings, then named North, South, East, and West.
Before the initial opening of the four buildings, George Mason College was opened in 1957, with an initial enrollment of 17 freshmen. Classes were taken in a former elementary school in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia. The building only had 8 classrooms, no air conditioning, and leaky plumbing. This made the new buildings in 1964 seem like a luxury. The new buildings had more classrooms, updated plumbing, and air conditioning.
The map below shows the exact location of where the first four buildings of George Mason College were located in 1964.