ÑÇÖÞAV

On April 1, 2006, thousands of ÑÇÖÞAV community members gathered in the Johnson Center to cheer on the men's basketball team as they took on University of Florida in the NCAA Final Four in Indianapolis.

Fans of Mason’s sports teams have seen the Patriot mascot evolve from a man dressed in colonial garb to large-headed fuzzy cartoon characters with crazy socks to a dapper, almost superhero Patriot.

In 1986, Mason alum Kim Crabbe became the first Black woman called up to the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team. Decades later, she’s still giving back to the sport she loves.

On Sept. 3, 2010, during Welcome Week, more than 1,200 ÑÇÖÞAV students showed up to break the Guinness World Record for the world's largest dodgeball game.

After 18 months of renovations, Mason's Harris Theatre is once again open for performances.

Robinson Professor of Physics James Trefil is a huge proponent of science literacy and has written extensively about science for a lay audience. With his colleague, Robinson Professor of Earth Science Robert Hazen, he created and taught Great Ideas in Science, a popular course for nonscience majors.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Homecoming at ÑÇÖÞAV centered around soccer and was held in the fall. Here you see Homecoming King Archie Kao, BA Speech Communication '92, with Homecoming Queen Christina Bartlow and President George Johnson.

Roger Wilkins, a Robinson Professor from 1986 to 2007, and for whom Wilkins Plaza on Mason’s Fairfax Campus is named, died in 2017 at age 85, but his legacy at the university remains strong.

Many notable African American students, faculty and staff have made indelible marks at ÑÇÖÞAV. As we acknowledge Black History Month, and celebrate Mason’s 50th anniversary, here are just a few:

As part of an effort to research and record local history, Mason graduate and undergraduate students, along with faculty, have begun documenting Black students who attended Mason and the Black communities that once existed in Fairfax County.