Politics

Catherine Read is the first woman and first Mason graduate (BA government and politics ’84) to be mayor of Fairfax City, Va., the university’s hometown, and she isn’t shy about touting a university she says helped teach her how to think critically. Want to know why it’s good to “disrupt the system,” why it’s important to get more women into policy-making decisions, and why our educational system doesn’t reward bold ideas? Read tells you.

The Regional Elected Leaders Initiative presented its annual awards to four local officials during a ceremonial dinner at the Schar School. Here’s who they are.

The 2022 Regional Leadership Award winners have been announced.

After two veteran politicians discussed the midterm elections, two sitting directors at the CIA divulged details (as much as they could) on how the agency operates.

Two panel discussions examine how and why Virginia voters voted the way they did in the 2022 elections.

Terry McAuliffe is back! Former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe (D) returned to the Schar School classroom in late October, debuting at Associate Professor Justin Gest’s Immigration Policy and Politics class at Mason Square in Arlington, Virginia.

She’s already founded a successful PAC and raised $1.6 million to help progressive candidates in need. Now Kiera Hall wants to know how to do more, and better, as a Master’s in Public Administration student at the Schar School.

Are the midterm elections the most consequential of our time? Maybe, maybe not. Jennifer Victor, associate professor of political science in Mason’s Schar School of Policy and Government and Mason president Gregory Washington wrestle with that, and you might be surprised at the answer. Want more surprises? Then hear why high voter turnout could be a double-edged sword for our democracy.

Want to know how Washington really works? An exclusive course on the inner workings of Washington featuring high-profile speakers is a first-ever partnership between George Mason University and the University of Pennsylvania.

In his first-ever visit to George Mason University, famed academic and activist Cornel West makes an appearance in the Schar School’s Race, Politics, and Policy Center’s first-ever in-person event on April 14.