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When Denys Kuratchenko began working at Northern Virginia Community College’s 3D printing lab in 2017, he didn’t anticipate that his projects would change lives. But the expression on a young girl’s face made him realize he could.

When Haider Semaisim works on the federally mandated database of global incidents of terrorism with ����AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government, he does so with pride. It is not only an educational and professional endeavor, he said. “It’s personal.”

For 21 straight nights, graduating senior Yasser Aburdene spent his evenings protesting in front of the Bolivian Embassy in Washington, D.C., fighting for democracy in the midst of a controversial election victory by Evo Morales. He had no idea his advocacy would land him in the spotlight at one of the most historic sites for human rights.

Saving an endangered species is possible, but it takes a village. Conservationists, including three ����AV alumni working at the Smithsonian and a current student, are part of the team at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation (SMSC) working to ensure red pandas move off the endangered list.

Dilafruz Khonikboyeva and her family won the Green Card Lottery while living through Tajikistan’s civil war, but they didn’t know about it until the years-long blockade was lifted in 1995. They crossed multiple battle lines to reach the U.S. consulate in Moscow. Luckily, even though their green cards had expired by the time they arrived, the U.S. government honored them, Khonikboyeva said.

School suspensions can triple the probability that a student will drop out of school or have later involvement with the criminal justice system, according to studies linked to the school-to-prison pipeline. These statistics are concerning, but Sarah Parshall has hope.

Calculating the value of a stock or bond is relatively straightforward, but have you ever thought about the monetary value of an endangered species? Finance major and May graduate Eleri Burnett has.

During the war in the South Caucasus, and particularly the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, closed borders and a shortage of resources became the norm for Armenians like Margarita Tadevosyan.

The fifth Taco Bamba location in the Washington, D.C., area, —which opened Dec. 6 in University Mall, the shopping center across the street from ����AV’s Fairfax Campus—is a celebration of Albisu’s time at the university.

First Lady Jill Biden will be ����AV’s Commencement speaker next month, headlining the May 14 virtual event honoring nearly 9,700 graduates.

Playing football for University of Notre Dame was something Steve Elmer said he could only dream of when he was younger. His talent combined with a scholarship had him playing on the field with a golden helmet as freshman. He became one of the team’s most experienced offensive linemen, having 30 starts to his name.

����AV names Kevin Cevasco as the 2021 College of Health and Human Services Alumni of the Year. Read more about his time at Mason and commitment to health care accessibility throughout his career.