Chancellor Lorin A. Thompson 1960s

1964 Main Campus opens in Fairfax.

1965 Yup, that's Four-year status is authorized. a kilt. On February 3, 1965, UVA announces that Mason will be officially instituting a dress code. Men will be required to wear coats and ties on campus, while women will wear dresses or skirts and blouses. Faculty members are instructed to ask any student not conforming to the directive to leave the classroom. The initial reaction among Mason students is one of dismay. In a show of protest, some men wear kilts to class, while some women come dressed in sport coats and ties.

1968 First class of 52 students graduates.

1966-67 Men’s Basketball at George Mason College is formed.

1968 fall enrollment is 1,445 with 175 out-of-state students.

16 | FASTER FARTHER: THE CAMPAIGN FOR 1970 fall enrollment is 2,134 undergraduates with 256 graduate students for a total of 2,390.

1971 1972 1974 First graduate degrees are awarded. The university separates from UVA. The Office of Admissions hires Andrew (this can be longer and include (Andy) Evans, Mason’s first African date) American admissions officer. Evans is tasked with recruiting minority applicants. Tennis becomes first women’s sport. Enrollment reaches 4,000. North Campus (Formerly Fairfax High School) is acquired. 1976 The first class of nurses graduates. Mason’s baseball team reaches NAIA World Series.

1977 On-campus housing opens in the fall. Students move into the Student Apartments.

1978 George Johnson becomes president. 1968 Mason moves to NCAA Division I First class of 52 students graduates. (ECAC South). 1979 Mason receives doctoral status from the General Assembly—first doctoral programs are in education and public administration, then environmental biology and public policy, applied psychology, and economics. Mason acquires International School of Law in Arlington, which gets accreditation from the American Bar Association a year later. The Metro Campus opens in what was Kann’s Department Store, and becomes first law school with an escalator.

1970s Spring 2018 MASON SPIRIT | 17 The Mason Medal 1980 fall enrollment is 13,293 in 80 degree programs. International students represent 58 countries. 1981 Mason begins offering graduate classes on the Metro Campus (Arlington). 1983 Mason joins the NCAA. Plan for Alternative General Education program starts with the idea to bridge the divide between “general 1982 education and the contemporary world.” Mason receives funding for the university’s James Buchanan and his Center for the Study of Public Choice first endowed chair, the Holbert L. Harris move to Mason. Chair in Economics, which is currently held The first Arts Gala, called Arts Explosion, is held. by Mason alumnus Tyler Cowen, BS Economics ’83. The university awards its first doctoral degree, a doctor of arts in education. 1984 Rob Muzzio (track and field) becomes Mason’s first NCAA Individual National Champion. He later places fifth in the decathlon at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Men’s Volleyball reaches NCAA Final Four for the first time. 1985 First Robinson Professors are hired. First graduation is held in the Patriot Center. President Johnson promises the 1985 Commencement will take place in the new 10,000-seat arena “even if we all have to wear hard hats.” Men’s Basketball plays first game at the Patriot Center against . Women’s Soccer wins NCAA Division I National Championship. Mason becomes founding member of the Colonial Athletic Association.

1987 Prince William approaches Mason to consider university presence in the county. First George Mason Medal is presented to 1988 John T. Hazel Jr. Early Identification Program begins. 1989 Men’s Basketball makes first NCAA appearance.

1986 James Buchanan wins Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. 18 | FASTER FARTHER: THE CAMPAIGN FOR GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY 1980s 1990 enrollment is 20,308. International students represent 86 countries. s 1990 1990 The Center for the Arts opens with Marvin Hamlisch as host and Roberta Peters performing.

General Assembly appropriates $25,000 for the Prince William Institute. Prince William County 1991 negotiates gift of 120 acres of land. Mason receives major Law school makes U.S. News & World Report list bequest to establish of up-and-coming law schools. the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Study.

1992 1993 Kraken, the first Komodo dragon born in captivity Zero-base curriculum outside of Indonesia, is hatched in an incubator in begins. It eventually Robinson Hall and quickly becomes a media star. becomes New Century Geoffrey Birchard of the Department of Biology is in College, which is now the School of Integrative charge of the top-secret dragon eggs that are the Studies. property of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo. 1996 Prince William Institute is officially named Prince William Campus. Johnson Center opens. The building is the first of its kind on a university campus. Washington Post architecture critic Benjamin Forgey writes that it was too early to tell how the building will work, but “the mix is fascinating.” George Mason Statue is dedicated on April 12, 1996. Created by Wendy M. 1999 Ross, the seven-and-a-half-foot statue shows George Mason presenting his Dedication of Freedom first draft of the Declaration of Rights, which was later the basis for Aquatics and Fitness Center the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights. and GTE (now Verizon) Auditorium takes place.

1997 Prince William Campus opens for classes. 1980s Spring 2018 MASON SPIRIT | 19 2000s

2000 Prince William Campus buildings PW I, II, and III renamed Occoquan Building, Bull Run Hall, and Discovery Hall. 2002 University Libraries hits 1 million volumes. Vernon Smith wins the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. 2004 With an enrollment of 28,750 Mason becomes the largest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 2005 Volgenau School of Engineering named in recognition of gift from Ernst and Sara Volgenau. 2006 Mason's first comprehensive Men’s Basketball reaches NCAA Final Four. campaign ends, raising $142 million in private support. 2007 Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program is established.

2009 Engineering building is named in honor of gift from Long and Kimmy Nguyen..

2000 enrollment hits 23,408. Mason sees its largest incoming freshman class in history 2,169.

20 | FASTER FARTHER: THE CAMPAIGN FOR GEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY 2010 enrollment hits 32,562 with 99 degree programs and students from 127 countries.

2010 Grand opening is held for Hylton Performing Arts Center, named for a lead gift from the Hylton family. The de Laski Performing Arts Building is dedicated, honoring philanthropists Don and Nancy de Laski. The Biomedical Research Lab, one of 13 biosafety-3 labs in the country, opens on the Science and 2011 Technology Campus. After years of planning and fundraising, a new state-of-the-art Ritchey Chretien telescope is installed in the Research Hall observatory. Mason researcher Alessandra Luchini is named to Popular Science’s Brilliant 10, which is a list of the top scientists in the country under the age of 40. Mason joins the statewide initiative 4VA, a collaboration with James Madison University, University of Virginia, and Virginia Tech tasked with increasing student access to science, technology, engineering, and math courses. 2012 2006 On June 30, President Alan Merten steps down as president after a 16-year Men’s Basketball reaches NCAA Final Four. tenure. Ángel Cabrera is named Mason’s sixth president. 2007 Aspiring Scientists Summer Internship Program is established.

2013 Mason joins . 2015 Prince William Campus is renamed 2016 Science and Technology Campus. Mason is designated as an R-1 research institution Public launch of the $500 million The law school is renamed the Antonin Scalia Faster Farther fundraising campaign. Law School, in honor of the late Supreme Court Patriot Center becomes EagleBank Arena justice, after landmark gifts from the Charles through a partnership between Koch Foundation and an anonymous donor. George Mason and EagleBank. Schar School of Policy and Government named in recognition of generous gift from philanthropist Dwight Schar.

2010s Spring 2018 MASON SPIRIT | 21