OPINION: Where's the Patriot Pride?

By Gleason Scott Rowe

I must admit, even as a devoted Mason Patriot, I often read the opinion columns of my fellow students in the weekly Broadside with disappointment and frustration. It seems the only thing most of these contributors want to do is criticize.

They try to make the point that George Mason University is a mediocre university or claim that homosexuality is a mental illness and that the university only enables the LGBTQ community, or make inaccurate accusations about the pairs running for student government.

I will therefore take a different tact in my piece.

Granted, I may be a little biased about the university that I am proud to represent, but I think pride is justified. Mason is a place where many worlds intersect. Where else can you find a university that thrives in athletics and has also been named by The Princeton Review to be one of the top four “most diverse universities” in the past few years? Some say the only reason Mason has gotten so much recognition is because of the over-told story of the Final Four run in 2006. I would say that just made everyone look at us and see what we are really all about.

Take our homecoming king and queen for 2009. While Reann Ballslee got most of the press, I think there is more to this pair—they represent exactly what Mason is. Ballslee (or Ryan Allen as he is known most of the time here on campus) is an active member of the LGBTQ community and Ricky Malebranche, an extremely friendly, outgoing African-American student who is an active member of Mason Ambassadors, Catholic Campus Ministry and a resident adviser. They could not be more different on paper. But if you were to ask Mason students about it, they would likely say “That’s Mason!” I would also like to point out that until The Washington Post found certain students to give quotes, there was no controversy on campus about homecoming.

Many students also have this idea that Mason is a “commuter school.” I find this baffling due to the fact that according to Mason Spirit, we have the third largest on-campus population of all the Virginia universities. And while the construction frustrates us all, it has brought us to new levels of prestige as a community. For example, the new dining facility, Southside, is gaining recognition for its sustainability—a model facility for campuses across the country. Not to mention the fact that Southside produces food that is worlds better than that of Ciao Hall.

As far as the academics at Mason are concerned, I don’t think many realize all the university has to offer. According to collegesintheusa.com, Mason was the first institution to have a doctorate program for Information Technology, and two noble-prize winning professors in the economics department as stated by slate.com. Mason has the youngest top-tier law school in the country as rated by U.S. News & World Report. We are also one university of very few to have been granted a partnership with the Smithsonian Institute states the Mason Gazette. And Mason accomplished all of this after only 50 years of existence. I could go on with the rankings, but I feel it may take too long. The point is this: Mason sets you up for success, and students need to take the initiative to take advantage of these opportunities. I believe it is also prudent to remind certain contributors that Mason was not selected the #1 “Up-and-Coming University” by U.S. News and World Report, but rather by the votes cast by peer universities, which I believe is an even more significant and honorable position to have.

Does Mason have issues? Of course, but so does every university. So instead of complaining like so many do, it is up to the student body to take these issues and find a way to work them out. That is just another great thing about Mason—it gives students the chance to help build this already incredible institution. So let’s do something with it.