George Mason University

SOURCE:  Wikipedia, captured 2020-08-21
This page last modified: 2022-02-18 21:10:42 -0800 (PST)

  • Established: 1949 Motto: Freedom and Learning Type: Public University  |  Research University Endowment(December 2019): $113 million President: Gregory Washington Provost: Mark R. Ginsberg (Interim) Academic staff: 2,609 total (1,260 full-time; 1,349 part-time) Administrative staff: 2,497 total (763 administrative faculty; 1,734 classified staff) Students: 38,255  |  Undergraduates 26,013 (2019-2020)  |  Postgraduates 11,201 (2019-2020) Location: Arlington (urban), VA, US  |  Fairfax City-Fairfax County (suburban)  |  ... Website: GMU.edu/

    Controversies

    George Mason University (Mason, GMU, or George Mason) is a public research university located in Fairfax County near Fairfax City in Virginia. In 1956, the Commonwealth of Virginia authorized the establishment of a Northern Virginia branch of the University of Virginia and the institution that is now named George Mason University opened in September 1957. It became an independent institution in 1972. It has since grown to become the largest four-year public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The university is named after the founding father George Mason, a Virginia planter and politician who authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights that later influenced the future Bill of Rights of the United States Constitution. George Mason University operates four campuses in Virginia (Fairfax, Arlington, Front Royal, and Prince William), as well as a fifth campus in South Korea.

    The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities -- Very high research activity." It is particularly well known in the fields of economics and law and economics. Two George Mason University economics professors have won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics: James M. Buchanan in 1986 and Vernon L. Smith in 2002.

    EagleBank Arena (formerly the Patriot Center), a 10,000-seat arena and concert venue operated by the university, is located on the main Fairfax campus. The university recognizes 500 student groups as well as 41 fraternities and sororities.

    History

    [ ... snip ... ]

    In 2018, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit revealed that conservative donors, including the Charles Koch Foundation and Federalist Society, were given direct influence over faculty hiring decisions at the university's law and economics schools. GMU President Ángel Cabrera acknowledged that the revelations raised questions about the university's academic integrity and pledged to prohibit donors from sitting on faculty selection committees in the future.

    Dr. Ángel Cabrera resigned his position and became president of Georgia Tech. The interim president was Anne B. Holton.

    On February 24, 2020, the Board of Visitors appointed Gregory Washington as the eighth president. He started at George Mason University on July 1, 2020. Washington is the university's first African-American president.

    [ ... snip ... ]

    Research

    George Mason University, an institution dedicated to research of consequence, hosts $149 million in sponsored research projects annually, as of 2019. In 2016, George Mason University was classified by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education among the U.S. universities that receive the most research funding and award research/scholarship doctorates. George Mason University moved into this classification based on a review of its 2013-2014 data that was performed by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University.

    The research is focused on health, sustainability and security. In health, researchers focus is on wellness, disease prevention, advanced diagnostics and biomedical analytics. Sustainability research examines climate change, natural disaster forecasting, and risk assessment. George Mason University's security experts study domestic and international security as well as cyber security.

    Centers and institutes

    The university is home to numerous research centers and institutes.

    Partners

    George Mason University has established far-reaching research partnerships with many government agencies, non-profits, health systems, and international finance organizations. Among others, George Mason University researches computer systems and networks with the Defense Advanced Research Agency (DARPA); investigates climate issues with the National Aeronautics and Space administration (NASA); explores underwater archaeology with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA); partners on conservation and biological matters with the Smithsonian institution; studies brain neurons with The Allen Institute; conducts economic research with the International Monetary Fund; and examines chronic illnesses and disabilities with the Inova Health System.

    [ ... snip ... ]

    Controversies: Koch Family Foundations Funding

  • [Koch] This listing of Cato Institute Adjunct Scholars includes numerous George Mason University faculty members (9/30 = 30% of the scholars listed). The Cato Institute was previously known as the Charles Koch Foundation.

    George Mason University has been subject to controversy surrounding donations from the Charles Koch Foundation. University documents revealed that the Koch brothers were given the ability to pick candidates as a condition of monetary donations. George Mason University altered its donor rules following the controversy.

  • [2019-10-17] $1M Donation Supports Psychology Research at George Mason University.  Charles Koch Foundation Donates $1.09 million to GMU's "Well-Being Laboratory"

  • [2018-03-22] George Mason University receives $5 million gift for Department of Economics.  $5 Million Gift from Charles Koch Foundation Will Support Department of Economics

  • [2016-03-31] Bar None: Support for Student Access Vaults Campaign Forward.  George Mason University has already received the largest gift in its history: an anonymous donor's landmark gift of $20 million, joined by $10 million from the Charles Koch Foundation

    Controversies: George Mason University's Historical Hoaxes: Institutionally-Sanctioned Online Disinformation Training]

  • SOURCE: Wikipedia, captured 2020-08-21

    Students of George Mason University, as part of Professor T. Mills Kelly's course -- "Lying About the Past," have created two popular hoaxes: the "Edward Owens hoax," and the "Reddit serial killer hoax." It is a goal of the course to create a sweeping internet deception. As Prof. Kelly stated in the course's syllabus:

    Edward Owens hoax

    The Edward Owens hoax was a historical hoax created by students at George Mason University in 2008 as a class project for "Lying About the Past." The students created a website and a fictitious entry on English Wikipedia about Edward Owens, purportedly a Virginia oyster fisherman born in 1853 who became a pirate. The hoax was reported as true in some media outlets.

    Hoax description

    Students published a blog and videos about the fictional Owens, created by the fictional student "Jane Browning." The blog asserted that Owens fell on hard times during the Long Depression of the 1870s and took up piracy in Chesapeake Bay to survive. The students wrote that he robbed smaller commercial vessels and wealthy pleasure boaters from Maryland using a punt gun to threaten his victims. The class created a fake will, which asserted that Owens and his crew eventually went back to oyster fishing. The students later created a hoax biography of Owens on Wikipedia.

    Reddit serial killer hoax

    The Reddit serial killer hoax was a second historical hoax perpetrated by "Lying About the Past" class members. This one quickly failed, unlike the Owens hoax. In 2012, Professor Kelly taught the course for a second time in a similar format. The Reddit hoax, about an alleged serial killer named Joseph Scafe, was launched on the Reddit site on 28 April, and was first debunked in just over an hour.

    Hoax description

    The participating students created a sockpuppet named Lisa Quinn, and under her name opened a Wordpress.com blog entitled: "I think my uncle was a serial killer." In her blog, Lisa wrote that she found some odd items in a Saratoga steamer trunk that she received upon the death of her grandparents. Lisa posted pictures of the trunk; ladies shoes she presumably found inside the trunk; and newspaper clippings from 1895; one of which was about the murder of Alice Walsh -- later identified as having been taken from the April 22, 1895 edition of The Evening World. According to Lisa's post, the trunk belonged to a relative, Joseph Scafe, (also called 'Uncle Joe'), and that it contained -- in a false panel -- ladies' jewelry and a "disturbing" journal. Lisa supposedly wanted to know if -- in the opinion of her readers -- her uncle was a serial killer.

    With a new sockpuppet, DisturbedThrowaway, the students attempted to start the spread of the hoax with a posting of a question on AskReddit: "Do you think my uncle Joe was just weird or possibly a serial killer?" Through Reddit, the hoax was expected to spread. At first, the hoax aroused interest. Many posters requested more photos (which DisturbedThrowaway declined) and alluded to the commercial success the case could lead to. The name of Jack the Ripper was mentioned as well. Yet, within 26 minutes, suspicions were rising. DisturbedThrowaway, the poster of the question, claimed to have found the names of two victims, Alice Walsh and Diamond Flossie, in the documents she retrieved. She asked the redditors for assistance in research; however, a quick Wikipedia search brought forth information connected with the two names, and posters at the site wondered why DisturbedThrowaway hadn't performed such a simple search herself.

    Discovery

    With the latest hoax exposed, Wikipedia deleted the two entries about Alice Walsh and Diamond Flossie which had been written by the students' sockpuppets. The professor and students claimed that the subjects were factual, but Wikipedia found them to be of insufficient notability. Wikipedia administrators did raise questions about the course's situational ethics, however, as some claimed that Professor Kelly legitimized Wikipedia vandalism.

    Professor Kelly did not express regret in this matter, "I don't think there were any real victims here," he blogged:

    Results

    Yoni Appelbaum wrote in The Atlantic an article, How the Professor Who Fooled Wikipedia Got Caught by Reddit," in which he compared the serial killer hoax and the last pirate hoax. In his article, he wondered why the 2008 hoax was successful, while this hoax failed in minutes. One answer he suggested was that Wikipedia has a trusting community, while Reddit has a critical and skeptical community.

    In March 2013, Kelly announced that he would no longer be teaching the course, after the university declined to make it part of the regular curriculum of his department, however, as of February 2015 Professor Kelly continues to delve into topics dealing with editing and/or manipulating Wikipedia in his digital history class at George Mason University.

    T. Mills Kelly

  • Localhosted entries: T. Mills Kelly

  • Professor Mills Kelly, Interim Director, Center for History and New Media  |  local copy, captured 2020-08-21

  • Google Scholar

  • T. Mills Kelly, George Mason University -- History 389 (2014) Syllabus:  Lying About the Past  |  local copy (pdf)

  • [2013-04-02] Interview: T. Mills Kelly on "Lying About the Past" and Media Literacy

  • T. Mills Kelly [blog, 2013-03-31] No More Lying About the Past

  • [2012-05-15] How the Professor Who Fooled Wikipedia Got Caught by Reddit.  T. Mills Kelly encourages his students to deceive thousands of people on the Web. This has angered many, but the experiment helps reveal the shifting nature of the truth on the Internet

  • T. Mills Kelly [blog, 2012-06-01] Wikipedia and Me

  • T. Mills Kelly [blog, 2012-05-14] Serial Killers, Beer, and Lies About the Past

    Controversies: Other

    Sexual Misconduct

    George Mason University has been subject to many accusations of mishandling sexual assault and misconduct allegations. In 2016 a male student won an appeal overturning his suspension for sexual assault. The courts found that Brent Ericson, who had prior knowledge of this and previous cases against the student, did not give the student the ability to defend himself, as he suspended the student for prior, unrelated incidences. Brent Ericson has also been accused of sharing home addresses in a sexual misconduct case.

    The Title IX process at George Mason University has continued to be subject to controversy. Following the hiring of Brett Kavanaugh, students circulated a petition demanding not only the removal of Kavanaugh, but to increase the number of Title IX Coordinators on campus. The petition received 10,000 signatures and resulted in approval for funding for two more Title IX Coordinator positions. However, as of 2020, George Mason University only has one Title IX Coordinator. At least one student has publicly alleged that George Mason University mishandles Title IX investigations.

    Two professors have been accused of sexual misconduct at George Mason University. In 2018, Peter Pober was alleged to have committed sexual misconduct during his tenure as a Competitive Speech Coach. He retired while being investigated for misconduct. In 2020, Todd Kashdan sued George Mason University for gender bias, after he was sanctioned for sexual harassment by Title IX procedures. The lawsuit was not upheld as Kashdan failed to show sufficient grounds for complaint, with the judge noting that Kashdan admitted to many of the accusations.

    George Mason University economist Robin Hanson stirred controversy in 2018, when he argued for "redistribution" policies for sex three days after the Toronto Van attack. Further controversy was raised when archives of his previous writing, in which he argued infidelity is comparable to "gentle silent rape," were read.

    Law School Name

    In 2016, George Mason University's law school was briefly named the Antonin Scalia School of Law. Following the realization that this would lead to an offensive acronym ("ASSLaw"), the school was quickly renamed to the Antonin Scalia Law School.

    [ ... snip ... ]

    Notable faculty and alumni

  • Main article: List of George Mason University people

    Faculty

    Alumni

    Additional Reading

    Return to Persagen.com