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From South Sudan to Virginia, Eliuda delivers for George Mason

Colleen Rich — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 18:48:23 +0000

From South Sudan to Virginia, Eliuda delivers for George Mason Colleen Rich Tue, 01/07/2025 - 13:48

Growing up in Juba, South Sudan, James Eliuda knew nothing about America and never thought about picking up all his things and leaving his hometown.

This past season, James Eliuda has solidified himself as an integral piece to the best season George Mason’s soccer program has had since joining the A-10 conference. Photo by Art Pittman/Mason Athletics

"I was just playing soccer, having fun, living with family … everything happened so fast," he said.

In South Sudan, Eliuda lived with his mother and eight siblings and proved at an early age to be leaps and bounds ahead of his hometown's competition. Most soccer players in South Sudan have few opportunities to grow and showcase their talents and skills. Eliuda is the exception to this rule.

Playing at Future Stars Academy in Juba and graduating from Juba Diocesan Secondary School at just 15 years old, Eliuda was afforded the opportunity to train with South Sudan in the under 15 and under 17 competitions.

After impressing the head coach, he and a few others were invited to train with South Sudan’s first division team, and Eliuda was soon training with a professional team in Kenya.

After three months of valuable training, as well as plans to travel to Dubai that fell through, Eliuda decided to make the drastic move to the United States to continue his soccer journey at DME Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

Although grateful and excited for with the opportunity to play high-level soccer in the United States, Eliuda had to adjust to being a student-athlete and living in an new environment, thousands of miles away from his family.

Future Stars Academy in Juba, South Sudan. Photo provided

"Everything was different: the weather—in my country it is always hot—and I was tired when I came here. We used to write on blackboards back home, but when I went to DME, they gave me a computer [that] took me almost one month to learn," he said.

This is where ��AV men’s soccer head coach Rich Costanzo saw Eliuda on the pitch and knew he was the right fit to bring to George Mason.

"You could see how much quality he had, but how much more potential he has to give. I could tell he was a good player," said Costanzo. “Everything I heard about the type of person he was, I knew he'd be someone we'd want to work with and someone who'd be receptive to becoming a better player."

"No one talked to me about how I played and how they wanted me to play for their team, so when he said that to me, I was like 'this guy believes in me,' so if I go there, I'm going to believe in myself even more that I'm a good player," said Eliuda.

As a freshman, his dreams were put on hold when Eliuda was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for much of the Patriots’ season in fall 2023. He already had a year of eligibility stripped due to his two-year absence from traditional schooling before DME Academy, bringing his NCAA eligibility years down to three.

"We had to do waivers and petitions, and he is still entering college at 18 like everyone else. It took all year," said Costanzo. "Every time I'd ask him [how he was doing] he'd say to just trust in God, and we're going to get there."

After a hard-fought battle with the NCAA, Eliuda was permitted to play the remaining five games of the season and also granted all four years of eligibility.

"We cried when we got approved. It was a real blessing, for him, for us, for everything," said Costanzo.

Eliuda’s time finally came in October 2023 against the University of Dayton. Since coming off the bench in the middle of the first half of that game, he has started every game. He scored his very first goal for George Mason in the next game against Radford, which the Patriots won 7-0.

This past season, Eliuda has solidified himself as an integral piece to the best season George Mason’s soccer program has had since joining the A-10 conference. He scored two goals and tied for second in the club in assists this season, helping the Patriots win their first-ever A-10 regular season championship with 13 wins. He was also named Second Team All-Conference for the midfield position.

"I never thought of the personal accolades," said Eliuda. "Our goal is to win."

Although he is a proven and dedicated athlete, Eliuda is a student first and foremost. His phenomenal academic track record can be traced all the way back to his formative years in South Sudan. He received the 2023-24 A-10 Commissioner Honor Roll distinction for his academic performance in his first year at George Mason. He plans to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in sport management.

Outside of class and on the pitch, Eliuda can almost always be found at the George Mason Field House working out, getting treatment, and being a social butterfly.

"The first thing you notice when you speak to James is his smile, he's always talking and smiling," said George Mason basketball player Chase Tucker.

Although George Mason has embraced Eliuda as one of their own, his heart will always be with his family in Sudan, who he hasn't seen since he came to the United States. "It's so hard because the time difference,” he said, “I'm sleeping when they're waking up."

Despite his homesickness, Costanzo and the George Mason faculty have helped Eliuda navigate life in Virginia and feel at home.

"There's a lot I can say about [Costanzo] … not playing all last season, that was the toughest moment, and I give credit to him the most … he's taken [me in] like a son,” Eliuda said, expressing his gratitude.

"We use the term Kaizen—we try to get better a little bit every day, and [Eliuda] embodies that," said Costanzo. "At his core, he's a winner, whatever he does he's going to be great."

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First-year setter Tuana Ozarpaci is learning fast about the U.S. and Division I volleyball

Sarah Holland — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 19:52:52 +0000

First-year setter Tuana Ozarpaci is learning fast about the U.S. and Division I volleyball Sarah Holland Thu, 08/29/2024 - 15:52

The heavier volleyball used in NCAA Division-I play and the different feel from its international counterpart isn’t the only change to which ��AV’s Tuana Ozarpaci is quickly acclimating herself.

Photo by Rafael Suanes/Mason Athletics

Living in a foreign land, far away from home for the first time, the 18-year-old first-year setter from Istanbul, Republic of Türkiye, is taking a crash course, learning volumes both on the court and off as she settles in at her new home-away-from-home.

“It’s a whole new change, but it’s a good change,” said Ozarpaci, an economics and sports management major. “I just want to focus on my studies, volleyball, and my personal growth.”

Attending a university far from friends and family can have its challenges, but Ozarpaci is adapting well to her new environment and her new volleyball family.

In early spring 2023, Ozarpaci announced her intention to play for George Mason, becoming coach Megan Shifflett Bachman’s first commit for the incoming class of 2024. Ozarpaci chose George Mason over University of Texas, DePaul, and Loyola Marymount, citing the close relationship she had quickly developed with Shifflett Backman and current Patriots players via Zoom and her desire to find a new home preferably on the East Coast.

Ozarpaci had initially drawn the university’s attention with her impressive performance on the Turkish club team Galatasaray Sports Club, where she played in 414 sets across 133 matches and led her team with 1,000+ assists each season as the starting setter for the past three consecutive seasons.

Shifflett Bachman was on maternity leave when she heard of Ozarpaci’s decision to come to George Mason. “She was just one of those athletes who really stood out,” Shifflett Bachman said. “What she could do with the ball was impressive and immediately caught our attention.”

The number of international student-athletes playing Division I women’s volleyball has slowly risen in recent years, but they still comprise just under 6% of all Division I players, according to the latest NCAA statistics.

But Ozarpaci could play a key role for a George Mason team that looks to improve last year’s 9-21 record. Setters are the team’s quarterbacks, meaning they usually touch the ball on every play to set up teammates. Having a keen on-court awareness, knowing her teammates and accurately placing the ball are skills that are imperative for that position.

Ozarpaci will get her opportunity this fall, with the Patriots returning just one setter from last year’s team.

“Being a freshman—especially as an international student—is always going to be hard, no matter what,” Ozarpaci said. “But the coaches are making me feel safe and welcome while pushing me to improve and learn how to do things better.”

She had visited the United States with her parents and older sister before enrolling at George Mason, but the family had never been to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area before arriving in Fairfax on Aug. 1. Now, she is ready to brave this chapter on her own.

A huge basketball fan, Ozarpaci already plans on being a regular at EagleBank Arena this winter, at least when she’s not too busy with classes or sampling American culinary delights, such as Chick-fil-A and Dunkin, both on the Fairfax Campus. Ozarpaci has become a big fan of both.

“I’m loving it here, it’s beautiful, and I feel like I’m going to grow a lot,” Ozarpaci said.

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George Mason athletes post successful NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores

Colleen Rich — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 19:21:22 +0000

George Mason athletes post successful NCAA Academic Progress Rate scores Colleen Rich Wed, 06/12/2024 - 15:21

��AV student-athletes continued to post impressive scores in the Academic Progress Rate (APR) release by the NCAA. Four programs produced perfect multi-year NCAA APR scores of 1,000 while a total of 11 teams had a perfect APR for the 2022-23 academic year.

Photo by Art Pittman/Athletics

The APR score is a rolling four-year average of each team and its athletes' progress toward graduation. Teams that score below 930 are subject to penalties, which can include ineligibility for postseason competition.

The highlights of results for George Mason student-athletes include:

The Division I single-year APR score for the George Mason Athletics Department was 989, which scored above the 985 needed to meet the NCAA academic unit benchmark.

Men's and women's cross country programs and the men's and women's tennis all scored a perfect multi-year score of 1,000.

Twelve teams (men's cross country, men's golf, men's soccer, men's tennis, men's track and field, women's cross country, women's rowing, women's lacrosse, softball, women's swimming and diving, women's tennis, and women's volleyball) scored at or above the NCAA Division I average multi-year APR score of 984.

"We are very proud of the impressive scores George Mason Athletics boasted in the latest Academic Progress Report (APR) released by the NCAA," said Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Marvin Lewis.

"This is a testament the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of our student-athletes, coaches, and the academic services team led by Deputy Athletics Director Nena Rogers. The collective commitment to academic success can be celebrated by all of the ��AV community."

Implemented in 2003 as part of an ambitious academic reform effort in Division I, the APR holds institutions accountable for the academic progress of their student-athletes through a team-based metric that accounts for the eligibility and retention of each student-athlete for each academic term.

The scores provide a real-time look at a program's academic success each semester by tracking the academic progress of each student-athlete on scholarship. The APR accounts for eligibility, retention, and graduation and provides a measure of each team's academic performance. This year, the APR score was a multi-year average of the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 academic years.

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Distad embodies excellence on and off the field

Colleen Rich — Mon, 06 May 2024 14:46:15 +0000

Distad embodies excellence on and off the field Colleen Rich Mon, 05/06/2024 - 10:46

��AV lacrosse midfielder and biology major Lauren Distad is the 2024 Aimee Willard Commemorative Award recipient. This award is given annually to a student-athlete who embodies Willard's legacy and who mirrors the standards of quality set by Willard in her two-sport career: intensity, consistency of purpose, achievement, and teamwork.

Lacrosse player Lauren Distad with Athletic Director Marvin Lewis. Photo by Athletics

Distad's path to winning the Aimee Willard Award started 1,100 miles away from George Mason in Roseville, Minnesota, where she grew up. "I come from a very diverse area in Minnesota," said Distad. "I saw a lot of people that weren't given equitable care and opportunities that I was given. So, in high school, I started volunteering and doing stuff because I wanted to close that gap. I started a food drive during COVID, and that kind of kick-started me with community service stuff.”

A student-athlete’s coach must nominate them for the award. "Lauren has been a consistent contributor to our program, her school, and her community,” said George Mason women’s lacrosse head coach Kara Mupo. “She continuously upholds the highest standards through everything she does and leaves a positive and lasting impact on people in all facets of her life."

When she chose to come to George Mason, Distad says lacrosse was the leading factor, but it's not the reason she's stayed. "Lacrosse brought me here […] but I stay because of the people that I've met here and the consistency within academics and athletics. It's a great environment, great community."

Distad plays an active role in making George Mason and the surrounding Fairfax community a great place to be. In her limited free time over the past three years, Distad has served as a member of the Student Athletics Advisory Committee, as a George Mason Ambassador, a Mason Chooses Kindness Ambassador, and she is heavily involved in Morgan's Message, a nonprofit that “strives to eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health within the student-athlete community and equalize the treatment of physical and mental health in athletics.”

Distad is also the founder of the One Love club on campus, a group that raises awareness about relationship violence by hosting events, workshops, and fundraisers. She also has excelled in the classroom; she was twice named a Athletics Provost Scholar and has been on the Dean's List for every semester she's attended George Mason. Distad also works two on-campus jobs in Athletics.

In March 2024, she received an OrthoVirginia Student Achiever Award, which recognizes George Mason student-athletes that excel in all areas—academics, athletics, and service to the community.

Off campus, Distad has volunteered at the Lloyd Moss Free Clinic as a medical scribe and has worked with FACETS at the Wedgewood Community Center, helping with afterschool enrichment. She also spent summer 2023 as a volunteer in the birth center and breast health care center at Regions Hospital in Minnesota. She is on a pre-med track and is set to take the MCAT this fall with the hopes to specialize in pediatrics or as a fertility specialist, but that's not the only reason she picked her volunteer work.

"I just like to see people happy,” Distad said. “I know it sounds super simple, but everyone deserves equitable care and to be happy and to be cared for and seen."

On the field, Distad has played all over, but has become the team's draw specialist this year, tallying 87 draw controls, good for third most in the Atlantic 10. And while she's led the draw team to be top-25 in the country in draw control percentage, she humbly credits her teammates and coaches as the reason for their success: “I couldn't do it without my draw circle. We work really well as a team. There's a lot that goes into it and it's very skilled and people don't really notice that. […] And our circle game was really good last year, but [assistant coach Riley Ewing] enhanced our on-draw calls. I'm very fortunate to have a good team that supports me and who has my back.”

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Mason student Ilia Malinin is the world’s most dominant figure skater

Colleen Rich — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 18:48:00 +0000

Mason student Ilia Malinin is the world’s most dominant figure skater Colleen Rich Mon, 04/08/2024 - 14:48

An injury had slowed him down in the lead-up to the recent 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal, but ��AV’s Ilia Malinin wasn’t to be deterred.

Ilia Malinin won gold at the 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal with a record setting score in the free program. Photo provided

The 19-year-old part-time student left no doubt about who will be the likely favorite in the men’s singles competition at the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Italy, with a dominant world championship performance that included a world record-setting score of 227.79 in the free program.

In doing so, Malinin cemented himself as the man to beat in the figure skating field.

“I was surprised at how well I skated,” said Malinin, a Vienna, Virginia, resident and 2023 graduate of George C. Marshall High School. “I wasn’t sure if I could skate to my best because I’d been fighting through an injury. It was a lot of pressure because I knew it could be the best skate of my life or it could go terribly wrong.”

Considered a rising star in the sport in past years, Malinin successfully executed a record six quad jumps, including his signature quadruple axel jump that ranks as the sport’s most difficult in competition.

All quad jumps have four revolutions, except for the quad axel, which has four and a half revolutions. Malinin is the only person to have ever successfully performed a quad axel in competition, having first done so in 2022.

“I was kind of in shock,” he recalled. “The whole season, you’re working your way to get to that point. Then you get to that critical point where you could either skate your way on or off the medal stand. It felt like a relief.”

Malinin’s first world championship didn’t exactly go unnoticed by the Mason community.

“Six quads in a single performance?” asked Tim Groseclose, an economics professor within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences and the holder of the Adam Smith Chair at the Mercatus Center, who knows a little something about the sport thanks to a daughter who skated. “He’s basically the Michael Jordan of figure skating—not just the best in the world, but probably will be the world’s best for quite some time … and he’s an econ student at Mason!”

Malinin is the only person to have ever successfully performed a quad axel in competition, having first done so in 2022. Photo provided

Malinin is looking ahead to the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston in March 2025, with the Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina, Italy to follow in February 2026.

In the meantime, however, he still has plenty to keep him busy in his limited free time.

Mindful of a career after his skating days are over, Malinin said he began his collegiate academic pursuits at Mason because it offers a great education near his home and his nearby training rink in Reston.

It doesn’t hurt either that a number of his close friends from high school are currently Mason students.

But being the best in the world means practicing anywhere from four to six hours daily, six times per week under the watchful eye of his parents, Tatiana Malinina and Roman Skorniakov, the two former Uzbekistan Olympic skaters who also coach their son. Malinin’s grandfather, Valery Malinin, is a former Soviet Olympic skater currently coaching in Russia.

“When I first started skating [at age 7], it was more for fun,” Malinin said. “I was around 13 when I realized that I could skate for more than just fun.”

But that means it’s imperative Malinin make the most every minute of each day, so he often brings his laptop along for use at the rink during breaks to keep up with the online introductory economics class he’s taking this semester.

Last semester, he took a class in Mason’s School of Dance within the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Although he’s yet to declare his major, Malinin hopes to eventually study civil engineering, with an eye on design or architecture.

“Hope I meet Ilia someday,” Groseclose said. “And I hope even more he takes one of my classes.”

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Volleyball star finds her place on and off the court

Colleen Rich — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 12:33:54 +0000

Volleyball star finds her place on and off the court Colleen Rich Tue, 10/10/2023 - 08:33

As far back as her sophomore year in high school, Ewelina Gacek knew she wanted a career in law enforcement.

Junior criminology major and outside hitter on the Patriots women’s volleyball team, Ewelina Gacek (No. 19) has shined on the court this season. Photo by Rafael Suanes/Mason Athletics

That is why ��AV and its highly regarded Criminology, Law, and Society Department originally made it onto her radar. Add an offer of an athletic scholarship and Gacek, from Chicago, said attending Mason was something she couldn’t pass up.

Now a junior criminology major and outside hitter on the Patriots women’s volleyball team, Gacek has shined on the court for a building squad. But she also has taken advantage of a university culture and flexible environment that does not demand student-athletes cocoon themselves in what Gacek called an “athletic bubble.”

“You get the opportunities to meet people and do something separate from volleyball,” Gacek said. “It gives me another identity, and it’s cool to show people I’m not just a Mason athlete, that I am part of the Mason community in a different way.”

For Gacek, that means participating in Mason’s Police Cadet program and getting a summer internship.

Photo by Art Pittman/Mason Athletics

Still, it is volleyball that defines the Fall 2023 semester for Gacek as the Patriots try to find their way after winning only 12 matches during her first two seasons. The team already has six wins this season with 11 matches to go, including a 2-5 record in the Atlantic 10 and Gacek leading in total points and kills.

“She’s been absolutely fantastic for us this year,” Coach Megan Shifflett Bachman said. “She’s incredibly athletic. The kid is in incredibly good shape and just outworks people.”

For Gacek, though, it’s all about the team.

“I’ve never seen us have such depth at every position,” she said. “Everyone is truly ready to go, and that’s what I mean by everyone is on the same page. Everyone is willing to put in the work and be ready when they need to be.”

As a cadet, Gacek must be ready for several duties. Cadets direct traffic on campus, lock up and help patrol academic buildings, and help with security during events.

Interestingly, Gacek said no one in her family is in law enforcement, and she even had thoughts of becoming a lawyer. But after some Mason classes that were taught by faculty who had been or are in law enforcement, Gacek said her career direction solidified.

“The professors, you just can’t beat it,” she said. “It’s like I’m getting officers and federal employees teaching my class.”

That said, another possible career option did emerge last summer, when Gacek worked as an intern in Victoria Secret’s compliance office, an opportunity she got through a former teammate’s connections. There, she said, she did intake of cases and classified them according to subject matter. She also worked with senior investigators, listening in on interviews and taking notes.

“It was great,” Gacek said. “It just opened my eyes to another thing that I could do as far as my career.”

For now, though, Gacek and her teammates are focused on building toward the Atlantic 10 tournament. The event, hosted by Davidson College, isn’t until mid-November, so there is plenty of time to fine-tune, starting Friday, Oct. 13, at home against Loyola University Chicago.

“We’re all just hungry and want to prove people wrong,” she said. “We all have the same goal in mind, that we can be who we want to be.”

A sensibility, Gacek found, that Mason encourages in all its programs and opportunities.

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Veteran Mason athletics leader Nena Rogers to serve as Interim Director of Intercollegiate Athletics

John Hollis — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 17:42:21 +0000

Veteran Mason athletics leader Nena Rogers to serve as Interim Director of Intercollegiate Athletics John Hollis Tue, 10/11/2022 - 13:42

Nena Rogers, ��AV’s Senior Associate Athletic Director of Intercollegiate Athletics for Academic Services, will serve as the university’s Interim Assistant Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics while a national search for a permanent director is conducted. Photo provided

Rogers, who has served various roles in the Mason Intercollegiate Athletics department since 1998, earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Mason. A standout student-athlete in track and field, Rogers was a 1988 NCAA champion and Olympic qualifier in long jump. She also earned four All-America honors competing in the long jump and triple jump for Mason. 

Rogers will begin as interim athletics director on October 13 and will serve until a permanent successor begins. In September, current Assistant Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Brad Edwards announced he will leave October 12 to become CEO of NFL Alumni.  

“Nena Rogers meets the moment perfectly. She is a Patriot through and through, and she brings an impeccable track record of helping students thrive as both outstanding students and athletes,” Washington said. “She has dedicated most of her adult life to the development and well-being of Mason’s student-athletes, and is a trusted hand of stability and continuity during this time of transition.” 

“I am humbled and honored to lead our athletics department. Mason has proven instrumental not only in my personal development, but also in the lives of the thousands of student-athletes I have had the honor of working with throughout my career,” Rogers said. “Our vision will continue to center on the education and well-being of our student-athletes. We will contribute to the strong foundation established by Mason, which values diversity in thought and actions and inclusive excellence."  

Since Rogers was tapped to lead Mason Athletics’ academic services in 2016, 394 student-athletes have achieved the George Mason Provost Scholar Athlete Award, including a record number 65 in 2020-21. The award recognizes the student-athletes who have earned at least 38 credit hours and have achieved a cumulative grade point average of 3.75 or better. 

Rogers has also supervised the Patriots’ women's volleyball and lacrosse programs since 2020, and she began overseeing women’s basketball this year. She also manages the athletics department’s Dr. Frank Pettrone Center for Sports Performance. As interim director, she will ultimately oversee all 22 of Mason’s Division I sports.

Rogers also was the driving force behind the development of Intercollegiate Athletics’ life skills program, which focuses on student-athlete welfare by coaching students on personal growth, career development, and commitment to community service. 

Rogers is chair of Mason Athletics’ Diversity and Inclusion Committee and has been newly appointed to a position on the President’s Task Force on Anti-Racism and Inclusive Excellence. In spring 2021, Mason was named one of just 10 Division I athletic departments to post a perfect score of 100 on Athlete Ally's Athletic Equality Index.

Rogers is a double-degree holder from Mason, earning her bachelor’s degree in education in 1988 and later a master’s degree in interdisciplinary studies with a concentration in higher education.

After graduating in 1988, Rogers returned to Mason in 1998 as the assistant coach for jumps and sprints for the women’s track and field program. In 2000, she transitioned to athletics administration.

A Virginia native, Rogers lives in Woodbridge with her husband, Dennis, and has two daughters, Maya and Kia.

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Another chance to lead for Mason volleyball star

Colleen Rich — Mon, 29 Aug 2022 17:39:55 +0000

Another chance to lead for Mason volleyball star Colleen Rich Mon, 08/29/2022 - 13:39

Peyton Ehmke. Photo by Mason Athletics

Peyton Ehmke loves volleyball.

So much so, the middle blocker for ��AV’s women’s team is not only returning for a fifth season, she has decided that once her playing career is over, she wants to coach.

“I’ve dedicated so much of my life to the sport already, I want to use what I’ve learned over the years to help other people grow as athletes,” Ehmke said.

Ehmke, who like all NCAA athletes received a fifth year of eligibility to compensate for lost seasons due to COVID-19, is the kind of leader any coach would want.

At 6-foot-1, the San Clemente, California, native has never missed a match at Mason and last season was second in kills, with 227, and blocks, with 61. More importantly, though, she has made it a priority to ensure team harmony and chemistry.

“I’m very close with everyone,” Ehmke said. “If they have any questions, I want my teammates to feel comfortable coming to me as another resource. I want to set an example for current and future athletes.”

“It’s been incredibly valuable for our otherwise fairly young team, having her here to show them the way,” said Megan Shifflett Bachmann, Mason’s new head coach. “Even more so, she greeted me with open arms and has embraced a lot of the change and gotten everyone on board in terms of really wanting to get on the same page and pursue all the same goals.”

Ehmke, who is pursuing a master’s degree in sport management after graduating in May with a bachelor’s in the subject and a minor in leadership, has made the most of her Mason experience, and not just on the court.

Photo by Mason Athletics

In the summer of 2021, she interned in the marketing department of the Bowie Baysox, a minor league affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. And her internships with Mason Athletics included writing for the department website and learning the ins and outs of social media marketing.

She also contributed to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee, which is a conduit to the NCAA for student-athlete concerns.

“I’ve learned so much over the years,” Ehmke said. “I would definitely be comfortable with any career in athletics. Mason has prepared me very well for my future, and I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to the university, its professors, advisors, coaches, trainers, and my teammates for the rewarding and fulfilling academic and athletic foundation they provided me. I am forever indebted to them.”

But it is athletics that have dominated her life. Her mom, Claudine, was a high school volleyball star, and her father, Richard, kicked for the Eastern Illinois University football team, for several arena football teams, and during a preseason for the Chicago Bears.

Through them, Ehmke said, she enhanced her “volleyball IQ” and understanding of what it means to compete.

“You learn from defeat and failure and how that can fuel you into something constructive,” she said. “If you lose, that’s in the past. There’s nothing you can do to change that outcome, so all you can do is change the outcome for the future.”

It’s a message she will impart to her Patriot teammates, who are 1-2 after last weekend’s start to the season.

The team has struggled the past few years. In fact, Ehmke is the only current Mason player who has played in the Atlantic 10 tournament. That was in 2018 when the Patriots finished fourth in the conference at 8-6, and Ehmke, then a freshman, was named to the A-10’s all-rookie team.

“I’ve been a leader for a couple of seasons. But this year, especially, it feels heightened,” Ehmke said. “I want to set an example for them so once I leave, I can still watch them play with that fire and intention.”

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Graduation Spotlight: Twin Sisters Uplift Communities with Public Health Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations

John Brandon Cantrell — Thu, 26 May 2022 13:46:46 +0000

Graduation Spotlight: Twin Sisters Uplift Communities with Public Health Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations John Brandon C… Thu, 05/26/2022 - 09:46

Ashley and Briana Dawson share highlights from their undergraduate experience before becoming Master of Public Health students at Mason.

Ashley Dawson (left) and Briana Dawson (right) earned their Bachelor's degrees in Community Health and minors in Dance Appreciation.

Sisters Ashley and Briana Dawson have been helping others improve their health since they were in high school. With their dance studio business, the twins assist the youth in their community to exercise, socialize, and adopt healthy lifestyles with chances to compete and participate in events across the DMV area. Their love for helping others did not diminish during their undergraduate career at Mason. As May 2022 graduates, they share highlights from their experience in the Bachelor of Community Health program, including opportunities that allowed them to help community members around the globe overcome health obstacles through nonprofit organizations.

While excelling in their program and as student-athletes with Mason Cheer and members of the Honors College, the sisters pursued opportunities to gain hands-on experience working with communities across the nation through ElevateHER, a Maryland nonprofit organization with a focus on improving community health.

Gaining Real-World Experience in Public Health

Working with ElevateHER, Ashley and Briana use the skills they learned throughout undergrad in real-world situations. As a community health worker, Ashley worked with underserved communities on health campaigns, such as It's Worth a Shot, a campaign designated to educate others on the COVID-19 vaccine. In this role, she went door-to-door to answer questions, share insight, and provide guidance on immunization.

"I explained how the vaccine was developed, its purpose, and preventative measures they can take to avoid COVID. I learned that communication is so important," Ashley said. "Many of the residents had never been vaccinated, so building a rapport with them and educating them in a way that wasn't hassling was great."

Throughout her time at ElevateHER, Ashley also gained experience as a health behavior analyst and later as a funding and development specialist. Her current role allows her to research, write, and apply for grant funding, such as the $32,000 she helped the nonprofit gain for a diabetes prevention program.

Briana manages its social media channels as the community health campaign and events manager. She creates health campaigns consisting of tailored educational messaging, press releases, and webinars to help others gain insight into health disparities and tools for overcoming health concerns.

In partnership with the Morehouse College of Medicine and the National COVID Resiliency Network, Briana created and organized the webinar series, "COVID-19: What Do We Really Know," to educate others on the latest information regarding COVID-19.

"At first, we were focusing on COVID and how there was vaccine hesitancy," said Briana. "Now we are shifting gears into more mental health topics. Recently, we had a live stream webinar about Black youth mental health, how parents can talk to their kids and give them strategies and resources."

With a mission to help educate others on public health through new avenues like social media, the sisters became involved with American Women for International Understanding (AWIU) to provide educational material on Rwanda Children. This organization provides shelter, education, medical care, and support to at-risk children in Rwanda. The sisters created a YouTube video for the AWIU that explains the mission of Rwanda Children to raise awareness and gain funding for the organization.

Engaging in Health Communication Research

Ashley and Briana Dawson holding their Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society certificates.

The twins' nonprofit work gained attention from Jennifer Warren, assistant professor in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, who taught Ashley and Briana in a health communication course. Warren invited the sisters to work on two research projects. The first examined the effect of Alzheimer's disease on African American communities.

"We were looking for the impact of adversity and how that makes African Americans more susceptible to cognitive dysfunction as they age. Alzheimer's and dementia are more common in African American populations, so we want to discover what is causing this health disparity," said Ashley. "We had already learned that Black communities are less likely to donate their bodies to science. Therefore, there is already less information on their brains. So, we wanted to learn whether it was a predisposing condition, genetic, brought on by stress or racism, and so on."

Continuing their dedication to public health, Ashley and Briana pursued another research opportunity with Warren called the Black Women's Resiliency Project. In this project, Ashley and Briana look at how Black women are labeled resilient when facing adversity.

"A lot of people refer to resilience as bouncing back, but we want to dive even further and not just think of this stereotypical phrase of 'the strong Black woman,'" Briana said. "We want to learn how they cope, how they heal and continue on, what strategies they are using, and determine if resilience is more so a process."

From these projects, Ashley and Briana learned how health communication theories relate to their community health coursework and can strengthen their goals of being public health consultants while opening the doors for new opportunities.

Making an Impact at Mason

From the beginning of their undergraduate careers, the twins pursued new avenues to strengthen themselves as public health professionals, which resulted in the sisters being honored with many awards for their achievements, including the induction into the Delta Omega Public Health Honorary Society.

Now that they achieved their undergraduate degrees, the sisters look forward to obtaining Master of Public Health degrees at Mason to prepare themselves to help communities around the globe as public health consultants.

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Department of Global and Community Health

Community Health

Mason Trailblazer: Dacheka Kolcum

Colleen Rich — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 16:35:14 +0000

Mason Trailblazer: Dacheka Kolcum Colleen Rich Mon, 03/28/2022 - 12:35

When the ��AV senior Dacheka Kolcum heard about the August 2021 earthquake that devastated Haiti, she immediately jumped into action to help by creating a GoFundMe page that raised $5,000 to help provide basic necessities for those most adversely impacted by quake.

The women’s soccer standout from Leesburg, Virginia, was born and raised in Haiti until being adopted by an American family at age 6. She’s since reconnected with her biological family and wasted no time in lending a helping hand after the earthquake.

“It was really hard [hearing the news],” said Kolcum, who is a sport management major. “The first thing I wanted to do was call my family. When I knew they were OK, then I knew how to do something. I knew this was a calling for me to step forward and take some action.”

The earthquake killed more than 2,000 people and injured more than 12,000 others. More than 136,000 of the nation’s buildings were either damaged or destroyed. Working through the nonprofit organization An'n Met Me (Let's Join Hands), Kolcum raised money for necessities, including clean water, clothes, food, and toiletries, for those directly impacted.

Kolcum said she was struck by the overwhelming generosity of the Mason community and others. Patriots coach Manya Puppione said she was happy to help when Kolcum first approached her about contributing to people in need.

“I am just in awe of Dacheka's leadership, empathy, and her willingness to take action,” Puppione said. “I know that she wants to be there to help out with her feet on the Haitian ground, and I know she will get there when she can.”

In November, Kolcum was recognized with Mason OrthoVirginia Student Achiever Award, which honors outstanding student-athletes for their efforts in the classroom and out in the community, for her Haiti work.

“Haiti is my roots, Haiti is my family, Haiti is what I wake up every day to work toward,” Kolcum said. “I think I’ve been put on this Earth to give back to my home country. Haiti is my motivator.”

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Graduation Spotlight: Twin Sisters Uplift Communities with Public Health Awareness Through Nonprofit Organizations

Ashley and Briana Dawson share highlights from their undergraduate experience before becoming Master of Public Health students at Mason.

Gaining Real-World Experience in Public Health

Engaging in Health Communication Research

Making an Impact at Mason

Topics

Mason Trailblazer: Dacheka Kolcum

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