Audrey Butler

Anthony Hoefer Recognized with Teaching Excellence Award

rstaffo2 — Thu, 06 May 2021 17:50:36 +0000

Anthony Hoefer Recognized with Teaching Excellence Award rstaffo2 Thu, 05/06/2021 - 13:50

In This Story

“Dr. Hoefer is an excellent professor… He is very supportive, and he persistently communicates with the class to make sure everyone is feeling relaxed, yet on their toes for how to perform the next task. Overall a very genuine, hardworking, and delightful professor.”

Kriti Shukla, Project Leader for Honors College Connects

“No matter how busy his schedule gets, Dr. Hoefer always goes the extra mile and takes the time to support his students as a professor, advisor, and mentor,” says Honors College student, Julia Hakeem.

On Friday, May 7th, Dr. Anthony Hoefer, Associate Professor of English and Assistant Dean of the Honors College, was recognized with the Teaching Excellence Award at the Celebration of Teaching Excellence. This event, sponsored by the Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning, calls attention to the tremendous dedication of time and effort recipients put into their lessons, advising, and student support both inside the classroom and beyond. Award recipients like Dr. Hoefer truly make a difference at Mason.

“Dr. Hoefer really makes students feel like he cares about them as individuals,” says Elizabeth Fortson, a Project Leader from Hoefer’s HNRS 261: Honors College Connects (HCC) section. Originally a student organization, but now an option within the Honors College curriculum, HCC students form teams and partner with “real-world” organizations in the community to help them solve problems and make a positive impact. While this past spring looked different with online learning, Hoefer continued to demonstrate adaptability and genuine care for his students. Fortson emphasizes this care he shows: “He always made some time at the beginning of class to ask how we were doing before we went into our breakout groups… I remember that I once mentioned an event I was planning, and he not only asked further questions, but helped advertise the event to other students.”

Hoefer further succeeds in creating an encouraging environment in other courses, as well, including HNRS 110: Principles of Research and Inquiry, as well as UNIV 160: University Scholars Transition Seminar – both of which help build the confidence of first year students as they adjust to college life. These classes are pivotal to the students that take them, as for many this is their first perceptions of the college experience.

Honors College student Riley Hester, emphasizes this sentiment, having taken University Scholars Transition Seminar with Hoefer, before seeking him out again for HNRS 360: Multi-Disciplinary Topics, “Dr. Hoefer puts so much planning into his classes and it really shows – [the content] is creative and really encourages students to go more in-depth into the topic.”

“Dr. Hoefer is a great teacher because he puts people at ease,” continues Hester. “I know that even the quietest people in my class talked because they were not afraid of having their ideas shot down. It takes a really great educator to make all students feel comfortable enough to share their thoughts and questions.”

The 2021 Teaching Excellence Award recognizes a truly well-deserving professor, as HCC Executive Board, Elise Mertz, states, “Dr. Hoefer is incredibly dedicated to his students… I can’t think of someone better suited for this award.”

Topics

Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning

Honors College

Honors College's Richard Todd Stafford Recognized with David W. Rossell Quill Award

rstaffo2 — Wed, 14 Apr 2021 16:19:44 +0000

Honors College's Richard Todd Stafford Recognized with David W. Rossell Quill Award rstaffo2 Wed, 04/14/2021 - 12:19

In This Story

Richard Todd Stafford

On April 13th, Mason held its annual Outstanding Achievement Awards Ceremony. At the event, Honors College Director of Communications Richard Todd Stafford was recognized for his dedication to Mason’s mission through the David W. Rossell Quill Award.

The David W. Rossell Quill Award celebrates the strong leadership of its nominees, both within their regular duties and beyond. By dedicating their time and expertise, those presented with this award see potential in their students and put them first time and time again, truly making Mason a better place.

Richard Todd Stafford is the Director of Communication for Mason’s Honors College and a professor in both the Honors College and Cultural Studies departments. This semester, he is teaching HNRS 361, a multidisciplinary practicum course where students develop unique creative research projects. This is just one of many courses he has taught throughout his ten years at Mason.

Multidisciplinary learning and collaboration are the hallmarks of Stafford's approach. As Director of Communication, he mentors a communication team of seven Honors College students and one alumnus that represent several majors. The charge of this team is to tell the Honors College's story. As supervisor of the Honors College Communications Team, Stafford provides professional development guidance and supports interns as they create content including news articles, newsletters, videos, and social media posts.

Outside of academics, Stafford engages with students through the Climate Change and Energy Transition Book Club and as a committed advisor for the Virginia Environmental Justice Summit, a student-led conference that empowers activists across the state. In the past, he has also helped produce the Cultural Studies "Capitalism, Climate, and Culture" Colloquium Podcast.

Stafford was nominated for the David W. Rossell Quill Award by Honors College student and President of the Mason Environmental Justice Alliance, Dasha Maslyukova, with the support of Assistant Dean of the Honors College Anthony Hoefer. “I nominated him because I have seen him both in and outside of the classroom helping students engage with topics that they really care about,” shared Maslyukova, citing her interactions with him through HNRS 361, the book club, and planning the Virginia Environmental Justice Summit.

In addition to his work with students, Stafford is a PhD candidate for the Cultural Studies program, researching the relationships between discourses of “clean coal,” politics surrounding climate change, and practices used by the coal industry.

Maslyukova is just one of many students who have been positively impacted by Stafford’s mentorship. “I hope that he sees that the students he interacts with really take a lot [from his mentorship] and that he influences a lot of different students, even if they might not tell him that directly. Just having him care about students makes me feel like Mason cares about students,” she explained.

In addition to acting as an educator and advisor, he serves as an example in his personal life and local community. For instance, Stafford is currently dedicated to the restoration of Happy Creek, a threatened public waterway in his own community of Front Royal, VA.

“I think that it’s important for students to see professors as active citizens in their own communities,” shared Maslyukova.

The extra mile he goes to mentor students in a professional and personal capacity is impactful, and it shows through the way his students develop as leaders in their communities, find their own direction, have access to the tools they need, and make meaningful cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary connections. Maslyukova emphasizes the importance of his mentorship to her college experience: “He values his students as people and those connections are something I just really appreciate.”

Ever since I have met Stafford, he has always put students first and helps them in any way he can. Since I have worked as a Communications Team intern under Stafford the beginning of my freshman year, he has been an amazing supervisor. In addition to that, whenever I needed academic help, guidance, advice or had any question throughout the semester, I would always reach out to Stafford because I knew he could point me in the right direction.

Kimberly Laura, Honors College Graphic Design Intern

As a new member of the Communications Team, I was pretty nervous about getting acclimated to the job and everything it might require of me, but being able to work with Prof. Stafford has been such a welcoming experience. Right from the start, it was clear how much Prof. Stafford cares about putting students’ needs first: he always encourages us to make our school work a priority, does little check-ins on our goals and our lives, and is extremely accommodating. As busy as Prof. Stafford is, he always makes time for students, ensuring that we know what our role is and have the tools to be successful.

Mariam Qureshi, Honors College Writing and Reporting Intern

I was introduced to Mr. Stafford by my Honors College advisor at the end of my freshman year, after admitting to them I had no idea what I wanted to do in the future - other than an interest in communication. Since joining the Communication Team, I realized I could not have asked for a better team, organized, supported, and kept running by Mr. Stafford… My colleagues on the team are some of the most hard-working, talented, and supportive people I know, always ready to take on new challenges - and this is led by Mr. Stafford’s example. He genuinely wants every student to achieve their best, creating opportunities and resources for learning, and always believing in the potential of others.

Audrey Butler, Honors College Videography and Writing Intern

Professor Stafford works hard to ensure that the students he supervises, teaches, and communicates with reach their full potential. No matter how busy his schedule gets, he always takes time out of his day to respond comprehensively to student questions and concerns. Furthermore, he is always looking for new and innovative ways to expand the Honors College's outreach efforts and, in turn, positively leverage University enrollment. When he has an idea, he doesn't hesitate to collaborate with others to implement it, seeking honest input from others while researching how to best carry it out.

Josh McLean, Honors College Videography Intern

It really does not surprise me at all that Professor Stafford won this award. If anything, he should have received it so much earlier! In my academic career, I have taken HNRS 261 and 361 with Professor Stafford. Outside of courses, I have been interning with the Honors College Communications Team ever since a quick conversation at his office hours one day. I have been blessed to have such a wonderful teacher and guide throughout my undergraduate journey. He has given me countless tips and techniques on studying, note-taking, time management, and conflict resolution in my everyday life. During my lowest times, he has always been extremely understanding, sympathetic, and flexible. I am so entirely grateful to have a mentor that cares for my well-being and is willing to work with me throughout it all. When my peers ask me what Honors courses they should take, I zealously encourage them to take a course or two with Professor Stafford because, in all honesty, he is singularly one of the best professors and mentors I have ever had!

Andreana Lin, Honors College Lead Communications Intern

I first met Mr. Stafford as my HNRS 361 professor last semester. During that course, I wanted to research and develop a creative project regarding my field of study, marketing, and applying to my marketing job. While excited for my project, I was overwhelmed by the scale of it however, Mr. Stafford guided me through the process and provided several networking opportunities that have been extraordinarily helpful. Since then, Mr. Stafford welcomed me into the Honors College Communications team and now I work with brilliant and creative peers under his leadership. It is evident that, in the classroom and the virtual workplace, Mr. Stafford cultivates a healthy environment where self-expression and creativity is welcomed.

Juan Escalera, Honors College Social Media Intern

I met Stafford last year in HNRS 360, which is in my top two Honors College courses. I enjoyed that class because it intersected with my own research interests around climate change while allowing me to approach the topic from a different discipline. At the same time, I was applying to work on the communications team. I’m studying environmental science, so I was hoping not to be overlooked for a role I might be qualified for just because of my major. I have always been drawn to writing, media, and photography, but Stafford is the first person who really affirmed that there was a space out there for me. He has always let me cover the stories I was most interested in, and at the same time, has pushed me to take on new roles and opportunities. I am extremely grateful for his advice and his dedication, but most importantly, I am lucky to have a role model that inspires me to pursue my goals.

Sophia Chapin, Honors College Multimedia Intern

Each and every day, Professor Stafford exhibits the values of George Mason University. I would argue that these define who he is as a supervisor, professor, and mentor. He is the perfect candidate to have won this award! He gave to me that which he gives to each of his students, as well as the interns he supervises: a sense of community, an environment in which to learn, and a challenge to be the best version of myself. As our professional relationship grew, he continued to look for ways to mentor me throughout my undergraduate education, as well as ways to use my internship to benefit me both inside and outside of the classroom. To be frank, I would not be where I am today without the opportunities and guidance from Professor Stafford.

Nathan Crawford, Honors College Social Media Intern and alumnus

I met Mr. Stafford when I joined the Honors College's Communications Team during my junior year. Immediately, I noticed that Mr. Stafford greatly valued the thoughts and ideas of every student whom he encountered. He helped to make the Communications Team an efficient, collective unit by both listening to and collaborating with students on innovative ideas to make the Honors College as a whole feel like more of a community. Mr. Stafford has a gift for seeing the potential and talent in others, even when they may not notice those said traits in themselves. Working with him on the Team affirmed my love for editing and publishing, and his guidance and advice have stuck with me in the workplace as I continue to collaborate on small teams to achieve a common goal. Mr. Stafford is a great example of what good leadership and mentorship looks like through his openness to the ideas of others and his ability to bring out the best in people.

Zaria Talley, former Honors College Lead Communication Intern and alumna

Mr. Stafford engages and supports his students not only in class, but outside of class through their passions such as helping students to plan the Virginia Environmental Justice Summit (VEJS) and Honors College Connects (HCC) Program. As a student with little experience on the marketing team in planning the second annual EJ summit, Mr. Stafford would always take the time to share his wisdom on how to market and engage different audiences to participate in our conference through helping us define our goals, how to best utilize different social media platforms, create a social media toolkit, and support us in creating a video with the Honors College Communications Team. In HCC, with support from the Honors College Communications Team, he continued his support in its first year as a curricular and extracurricular program in helping us learn how to encourage students to take the class and incorporate institutional memory through the creation of videos and a website redesign. I most admire Mr. Stafford for always taking the time to meet with students and providing a space to ask for feedback and improvement. He was one of the first Honors College professors I met that has supported me from my first year at Mason from encouraging me to continue my HNRS 110 research at the winter research exhibition to his support in creating a reading group for students to meet about their interests.

Julia Hakeem, Honors College student

Professor Stafford is a special person and professor. He stimulates people intellectually; he has honestly shown me just how complex and intricate and interesting the world really is, but he has done it in a wondering, welcoming way. He cares about students and treats them as intellectual peers. He is self-aware and humble and encouraging.

Finn Fisk, Honors College alumna

Mr. Stafford by far has been the most influential and supportive professor I’ve had during my time at Mason. I first had the opportunity to learn from him during my HNRS 360: Multidisciplinary Topics: Energy and Culture Research Seminar, where he helped guide my research into being something that I felt very proud of presenting at the in-person and virtual Honors College Research Exhibition. Since then, he has continuously been someone who is willing to go above and beyond in terms of looking for opportunities, supporting student work and activities, and just providing truly valuable guidance. I feel very lucky to have met Mr. Stafford, and he has helped motivate me to keep being curious in my studies and is a real source of support while navigating my college years.

Olivia Garcia, Honors College student

Topics

David W. Rossell Quill Award

Honors College Students Help Organize Virginia Environmental Justice Summit

rstaffo2 — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 16:10:16 +0000

Honors College Students Help Organize Virginia Environmental Justice Summit rstaffo2 Fri, 03/19/2021 - 12:10

Facing a world of climate change, systemic racism, and resource inequity, ten Honors College students worked with peers from Mason and VCU to organize the second annual Virginia Environmental Justice Summit, held on Saturday March 27th, 2021.

“Seeing this conference continue into the second year, creating something sustaining that educates and empowers students throughout the state, has been a great metric of success," said Dasha Maslyukova, Honors College junior and president of the Mason Environmental Justice Alliance.

The idea for this initiative first came from Honors College alumna, Emma Gregory (2020), who envisioned a conference that would allow students interested in environmental justice to connect with other activists. She understood the injustices within her community and throughout Virginia, and she was looking to inspire change by organizing the first annual conference during her senior year at Mason.

“Environmental justice is social justice,” explained Gregory. “It is the pursuit of equitable protections for all communities. It’s really a response to the history of our country [...] Since the inception of our country, communities of color, and communities that are experiencing poverty, have really borne the brunt of pollution – [they] have not received environmental protections that keep them and their communities safe and healthy. Environmental justice to me means empowering all people to protect their communities and their health, and to take part in environmental decision-making from here on out.”

This year’s summit hosted a full day of talks from established activists and organizers, along with skill-building workshops to empower attendees to respond to key environmental justice issues.

“It was an honor being part of the amazing student team that helped plan this wonderful summit and I’m grateful to everyone that came, our speakers, advisors, and the donors that helped support us,” shared Julia Hakeem, a member of the planning committee and junior in the Honors College.

Over 120 attendees heard from the Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program and Coordinator and Co-founder of Women of Color United, Jacqueline Patterson, and an impressive list of other experts and practitioners, including Carlos Izurieta, Community Organizer at DC Fair Food; Josephus Allmond, an associate at the Southern Environmental Law Center; and BeKura W. Shabazz, Founder and President of First Alliance Consulting Group and Criminal Injustice Reform Network.

Education is the first step towards empowering others to make change, so students at the summit learned how to apply environmental justice principles to issues involving food, water, and energy issues. “I now understand the complexity and inclusivity needed in environmental justice,” shared Hakeem, who plans to use the lessons of the conference as she pursues a career in public health.

Attending this year’s event, Gregory felt a sense of pride in seeing how the summit has grown. “I’m really inspired by all the young people and everyone who is coming together to […] demand better from our governments, from our organizations, from everyone in our society,” said Gregory.

The students who organized the Virginia Environmental Justice Summit this year hope to continue the development of the event in 2022. For the organizers, change is necessary, and it is up to everyone to build a just future -- as a community. “The end of the summit is only the beginning to sustaining the relationships built during the conference and taking action to support environmental justice in our communities,” said Hakeem.

For more information, including a recording of the summit, visit the Virginia Environmental Justice Summit website.

Topics

Environment

Environmental Justice

Virginia Environmental Justice Summit

Tennille Parker

rstaffo2 — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 16:06:29 +0000

Tennille Parker rstaffo2 Fri, 03/19/2021 - 12:06

For alumna Tennille Parker (1997), finding your community is one of the most meaningful parts of life. From her time at Mason, Parker still remembers the Honors College peers who stood beside her and inspired her to reach her highest potential.

Parker credits her friends for helping her achieve. It was their "belief in me that gave me confidence in what I could do," she says. Reflecting on this, she remembers a close friend who "literally stood over my shoulder” while she applied to a fellowship that would open many doors for her. “Lo and behold, I was accepted into the fellowship, which provided both financial support and also a really rigorous pre-graduate school prep program. I went right from graduation to spending a summer – maybe a month – doing some work and then right into grad school.”

This path presented Parker many opportunities and led to her career as the Director of Disaster Recovery and Special Issues division for the federal Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD). Working for HUD "was my very first job out of undergrad,” Parker explains. “When the existing federal disaster recovery programs are tapped out or their resources are not significant enough to address remaining unmet recovering needs, Congress will often provide special grant funding to HUD – that’s my division.”

HUD has been responsible for providing support to areas following catastrophic disasters such as hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, and Maria. Funds from HUD help make it possible for communities to recover, rebuild, and prepare for the future: “[We are] performing oversight, conducting technical assistance. Slowly we’re trying to create the type of space where there’s an expectation that these investments will protect communities from disasters, because disasters will not stop.”

In addition to her role supporting communities in need across the nation, Parker is enthusiastic about giving back to the local area that influenced her and supported her learning. She has worked both at the local level for the Fairfax County Government and as the President for the Mason Alumni Association.

“It’s one thing to be a Mason student; it’s quite another to be an alum and have that view of how the university works,” Parker notes, calling the experience “eye-opening.” She particularly expresses concern about the financial demands on many students. As a leader in our alumni community, Parker has raised funds to help ease these burdens. In this way, she hopes to open the positive opportunity she had to others and to support the continued evolution of the Honors College and Mason as a whole.

Parker emphasizes that she is proud of what the Honors College has become since she graduated in 1997: "taking the best part, cultivating students’ comradery, academic excellence opportunities, but trying to do so more broadly.”

“I think everyone should go to Mason,” she adds, with a big smile on her face. “It’s the right size for people who are ready to make a difference.”

Parker felt uplifted at Mason and aims to continue to support, encourage, and inspire those who follow in her footsteps.

Topics

alumni

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis on the Election, ‘Branding’ Political Parties, and What’s Next

rstaffo2 — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 19:09:26 +0000

Former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis on the Election, ‘Branding’ Political Parties, and What’s Next rstaffo2 Thu, 11/12/2020 - 14:09

Amidst the record voter turnout for one of the most highly anticipated presidential elections, where does the nation stand? How might we heal? According to former seven-term U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), we’ve got some ways to go.

“It’s a divided country. We are divided,” said Davis at the outset of his appearance on November 10’s First Tuesday program. It was the ninth and final episode of the political campaign webinar series hosted by George Mason University Robinson Professor of Public Policy Steven Pearlstein. The series was sponsored by the Honors College and the Schar School of Policy and Government.

Davis, who recently stepped down as Mason’s rector, brought his political insights to a breakdown of one of the most controversial elections in our nation’s history. He knows a bit about divisiveness in politics: After declining to run for an eighth term he co-wrote the book The Partisan Divide: Congress in Crisis with former U.S. Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas). Davis came to the conversation ready to analyze what happened in this year’s election.

Early on, the 2020 presidential election rose from the aftermath of a contentious presidential term, naming Donald Trump as the first president in history to be impeached, to lose the popular vote, and to hold only one term.

“Trump lost this [election] because of his personality,” Davis said, reflecting on Trump’s blunt mannerisms that have come to characterize the “brand” of his most loyal supporters. “It’s a bad brand for Republicans because the party, philosophically, has more to offer people…We’re not a party of entitlements, we’re a party of economic opportunity.”

Further building into this election, issues of social movements and pandemic response were fresh and influential in the minds of many voters, and Davis observed Trump’s radical attitude as the cause for gaining more opposition. In response to the handling of events surrounding George Floyd’s death, Davis pointed out, “For Trump, [this] was an opportunity to unify the country—and he didn’t know how to play on that other than polarize it, at a time the country was looking for some unity.”

The unity that was achieved, however, was the unity against the Republican president, as Davis emphasized, “Democrats were an anti-Trump party, not a progressive party.”

Yet despite the evident divide in our nation that seems larger than ever, Davis voiced a sense of optimism in the future, describing the election results as the outcome some may not have wanted, yet perhaps still “the government we needed.”

“[Now may be] time to slow down after some great tumultuous, divisive years,” Davis said. “Start talking to each other again instead of yelling at each other.”

Of course, the uncertain, post-election reality waits ahead, with new hurdles in store for both Republicans and Democrats, where Davis forecasts wrestling with major questions inside the dominant political parties.

“[Democrats] are going to have these fights now within the caucus of what they want that party to be,” he pointed out, describing whether they follow the progressive agenda of many young supporters or a more traditional agenda that many of the older generation of supporters favor.

Meanwhile, conservatives must answer with which values they best identify with. “Republicans are going to have to decide, ‘Do we want to keep Trump over the next four years, or do we want to shed him and put somebody else in?’” Davis asked.

Finally, perhaps beseeching his college audience, Davis said, “We need a new generation of leaders.”

Watch the rest of the First Tuesday series

Lis Smith on rapid response to attacks in political campaigns

rstaffo2 — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 16:12:26 +0000

Lis Smith on rapid response to attacks in political campaigns rstaffo2 Fri, 10/30/2020 - 12:12

Learn more about the First Tuesday series

Register for the last First Tuesday event

For political communication guru Lis Smith, working in politics is working to build a better world.

“There’s something grand about being able to shape American public life – to shape the policies that we live under every day,” she says to Robinson Professor Steven Pearlstein during the First Tuesday political talk series.

As a rapid response specialist, Smith decides how a campaign will respond to attacks against their candidate, while always being ready to send arguments back against the opponent. In this fast-paced environment, Smith fondly describes her field as “not like any other profession in the world.”

Still, for Smith, the thrill is not all that calls her to the job.

“Campaigns aren’t just a game; they are a means to the end. The end result is I get to help put really good people in office – people with whom I share values, and people who will be really good leaders in critical moments like [today].”

With that in mind, Smith has built an impressive resume for herself through the candidates she has stood behind.

While known most recently for her ingenuity behind Pete Buttigieg’s democratic presidential campaign, Smith was also a key player in Senator John Edward’s (D) presidential run. From 2006 to 2010 she stayed busy, participating in numerous gubernatorial campaigns, and then in 2012 being named the rapid response director for the Barack Obama re-election campaign. Shortly afterwards, she returned to the Democratic Governors Association, working most notably with Martin O’Malley (D) in his 2016 primary run against Hillary Clinton (D).

So how, then, does one decide who will be a “good leader” or candidate – especially for positions as influential as the president?

“We look for the remedy to what ails the previous president,” Smith explains “After Trump won in 2016, there was this view in the democratic party that to beat Trump you had to be him. You had to emulate his crudeness, and all his grotesque mannerisms – raising your voice, insulting everyone who disagreed with you, hyperventilating over every issue – and that was sort of the path the democratic party was going down. [But] the reality of presidential campaigns is that we go between opposites.” In Smith’s eyes, the more-moderate characteristics exemplified by candidate Joe Biden rose, predictably, out of the need to “remedy” Trump’s now-iconic brashness.

“I don’t think [attacking] makes sense in this race,” Smith continues, responding to the role one of Biden’s rapid response specialists might take during the current presidential race. “Trump is defined [already]… People feel how they feel about him.” A nonconfrontational strategy may be one of the greatest contrasts from Clinton’s run against Trump in 2016, but, as Smith predicts, could be the key to a race that is not framed inside of Trump’s control.

The political climate going towards the November election has shifted since Trump’s first campaign, and Smith sees a nation losing interest in the relentless bashing of candidates, in favor of finding a plan to lead to recovery – “[a plan for recovery] is the message people need to hear.”

The First Tuesday series, sponsored by the Honors College as well as the Schar School of Policy and Government, will return with its final guest speaker, former Republican Congressman from Virginia and Rector of George Mason University Tom Davis, on November 10th at 9am. Mason students, faculty, and community are encouraged to sign up and participate as Professor Steven Pearlstein leads the final conversation delving into the behind-the-scenes world of politics surrounding the 2020 election

Attend upcoming events

Date	Speaker
Sept. 8	Peter Hart Dean of American Pollsters
Sept. 15	Mike Henry Former Campaign Manager, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Gov. Terry McAuliffe
Sept. 22	Rebecca Pearcey Policy Director, Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign
Sept. 29	Rick Wilson Co-founder, Lincoln Project Republican media strategist
Oct. 6	Amy Gardner Political reporter and editor, Washington Post
Oct. 13	U.S Rep. Jennifer Wexton Democrat, Virginia 10th District
Oct 20	Danny Diaz Republican political and communications strategist, George Mason graduate
Oct 27	Lis Smith Political communications rapid response specialist
Nov. 10	Tom Davis Former Republican Congressman from Virginia, Rector of George Mason University

Digging Up the Dirt: Mason Alum Danny Diaz Reveals How Oppositional Media Shapes a Political Campaign

rstaffo2 — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 19:04:21 +0000

Digging Up the Dirt: Mason Alum Danny Diaz Reveals How Oppositional Media Shapes a Political Campaign rstaffo2 Fri, 10/23/2020 - 15:04

Learn more about the First Tuesday series

Register for upcoming First Tuesday events

When a candidate chooses to run for public office, they are agreeing to place not only their policies, but also their character up for critique.

People want to know who they are really voting for and the media will do its best to dig up all they can on what may lurk in their past. For that reason, the job of an “opposition media consultant” is imperative to have on the campaign team.

That was the insight offered on October 20 by Danny Diaz, a communication graduate of George Mason University who now acts as a Republican political and media strategist specializing in opposition research. Diaz was the guest on First Tuesday, a series of interviews focusing on the 2020 election cycle hosted by Mason Robinson Professor of Public Policy Steven Pearlstein.

“If you’re running a campaign and there’s a piece of research that drops on your candidate that you are unaware of, you have failed,” Diaz said, adding that “opposition research as a media strategy has been around since the very beginning of politics in America. When two people with plenty of resources are running against each other, there almost always will be opposition media.

“This is America. This is politics.”

Co-founder of Republican political shop FP1, Diaz specializes in rapid response and oppositional research as a professional political communicator. In 2002, Diaz became press secretary to the Republican National Committee and went to work for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign as a regional spokesman.

Jumping forward to 2007, Diaz held the position of deputy communication director for John McCain’s (R) presidential campaign and the next year joined the Republican National Committee as a communication director. The next campaign he helped advise was Mitt Romney’s (R) 2012 run for president; in 2016, he advised Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign. Building on an already impressive resume, Diaz has helped numerous Republican gubernatorial campaigns as well.

“Opposition research is an understanding of your candidates’ history, their story, their background, what they’ve done professionally,” Diaz said, highlighting the importance of knowing information on your own candidate even before digging up background on the opponent. “The first thing you do is understand your own candidate’s record… [then] your opponent’s record, and then the contrasts——the differences between the two.”

Since Diaz began his career in politics in the early 2000s, the role of the media in campaigns has undergone a major shift. “This is an incredibly dynamic and changing landscape,” he said. “The [mainstream] media has diminished itself; it should be honest with people. Instead it has shareholders, and they need to earn profit. What sells newspapers is what goes on the cover. In 2008, it was Barack Obama. In 2020, it’s Donald Trump.”

In order to utilize and keep up with the changing outlet of information, Diaz recognizes a need to understand the uneven playing field between how different political parties are represented through media beyond a campaign.

“There is a fundamental difference between running a Republican campaign and running a Democratic campaign,” Diaz said. “The center-left media coverage day-in and day-out makes it harder for Republicans to win these races. I think it’s a huge advantage to democratic campaigns…[However] at the end of the day, American households still need to understand where the candidates stand on key issues and the differences between them. There’s only one entity that can do that, and it’s the candidate and their campaign.”

The First Tuesday political speaker series, sponsored by the Honors College and the Schar School of Policy and Government, continues October 27 at 9 a.m. EDT, with Democratic communication specialist, Lis Smith. With only two more conversations left, it is still not too late to join in this deep dive into the world of politics, and Mason students and faculty are encouraged to sign up and participate.

Date	Speaker
Sept. 8	Peter Hart Dean of American Pollsters
Sept. 15	Mike Henry Former Campaign Manager, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Gov. Terry McAuliffe
Sept. 22	Rebecca Pearcey Policy Director, Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign
Sept. 29	Rick Wilson Co-founder, Lincoln Project Republican media strategist
Oct. 6	Amy Gardner Political reporter and editor, Washington Post
Oct. 13	U.S Rep. Jennifer Wexton Democrat, Virginia 10th District
Oct 20	Danny Diaz Republican political and communications strategist, George Mason graduate
Nov. 10	Tom Davis Former Republican Congressman from Virginia, Rector of George Mason University

Watch Past Events in the First Tuesday series

Through the eyes of a political candidate: Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton shares what it means to be the “public face of a campaign”

rstaffo2 — Wed, 14 Oct 2020 17:31:06 +0000

Through the eyes of a political candidate: Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton shares what it means to be the “public face of a campaign” rstaffo2 Wed, 10/14/2020 - 13:31

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The political world is messy and frequently brutal, and the media swarms representatives and candidates constantly in search of failures to exploit. Those involved are accused of being corrupt, power-hungry, or underhanded, and the divide between parties often seems impossible to navigate. So, why would anyone willingly choose to run for an office?

“I want to help people,” says congresswoman Jennifer Wexton to Robinson Professor Steven Pearlstein, during a political guest-speaker series, First Tuesday. “That’s always been my overarching concern both as a prosecutor, as an attorney, and as a legislator.”

Jennifer Wexton studied law at the University of Maryland, before continuing to pursue the subject through William and Mary’s law school. She served several years as an assistant district attorney, then by 2014, she was elected to the Virginia state senate, replacing Mark Herring (D). Four years later, Wexton defeated congresswoman Barbara Comstock (R) with a 56% vote majority. Presently Wexton is a member of the New Democratic Coalition and is running a congressional re-election campaign against Aliscia Andrews (R).

“As the candidate, you are the person who’s running, you are the public face of the campaign, you are the conduit to the community,” Wexton explains, reflecting on her role during a campaign. “I’m the one who ultimately decides what our message is going to be, what our vision will be, what our top issues are, because those are the things that are important to me, that I stand for.”

While Wexton finds herself well-suited in her current position, she did not see herself as a future politician until 2011. Despite her long-held interest in the political process, Wexton says joining politics “came down to seeing things going on that I didn’t agree with.”

“Most [congressional representatives] saw our republic and our democracy might’ve been hanging by a thread and felt the need to step up and do something about it. I think that recent events have proven maybe our concerns were not that hyperbolic after all.”

Recent events have certainly marked a greater division between the stances each party takes on issues. Finding what a state may stand for collectively is a difficult task, and one that is essential to the job of a congressional representative.

“I visited every corner of my district to meet with groups and talk to them about what their needs were and what we can do to help them,” Wexton continues, emphasizing how she collects many legislative ideas from local businesses and citizen. Thus, in her policies, she gives particular importance to affordable health care, gun violence prevention, LGBT rights, and tackling climate change – “for real this time”.

“There’s so much pent up demand for all these things – there will be a lot of good we can do. But the first thing we have to do is develop a national strategy to conquer Coronavirus, because for too long there has not been leadership at the top, and as a result we have 50 states engaged in a 50 state solution, all bidding against one another for the resources that they need to conquer and crush the virus.”

Professor Steven Pearlstein’s dive into the world of politics continues next Tuesday at 9am, where Mason graduate, Danny Diaz, will share his first-hand experiences as a Republican political and communication strategist. The First Tuesday series, sponsored by the Honors College and Schar School of Policy and Government, is open to the Mason community to sign up and participate in as we draw nearer to the November 2020 election.

Date	Speaker
Sept. 8	Peter Hart Dean of American Pollsters
Sept. 15	Mike Henry Former Campaign Manager, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Gov. Terry McAuliffe
Sept. 22	Rebecca Pearcey Policy Director, Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign
Sept. 29	Rick Wilson Co-founder, Lincoln Project Republican media strategist
Oct. 6	Amy Gardner Political reporter and editor, Washington Post
Oct. 13	U.S Rep. Jennifer Wexton Democrat, Virginia 10th District
Oct 20	Danny Diaz Republican political and communications strategist, George Mason graduate
Nov. 10	Tom Davis Former Republican Congressman from Virginia, Rector of George Mason University

Watch Past Events in the First Tuesday series

Washington Post reporter Amy Gardner Gives the Scoop Behind Political Coverage

rstaffo2 — Thu, 08 Oct 2020 14:19:00 +0000

Washington Post reporter Amy Gardner Gives the Scoop Behind Political Coverage rstaffo2 Thu, 10/08/2020 - 10:19

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What is the job of a political reporter in an age of widely spread “fake news”? “It is our job to tell the truth,” said Amy Gardner, who covers national politics for the Washington Post. Easy, right?

Sharing and consuming news has come a long way over the course of the past few political campaigns, where bias competes with accuracy for the spotlight, and every week seems to come with a new headline scandal that had been covered up by officials in public office. As Gardner detailed in her conversation with Mason Robinson Professor of Public Policy Steven Pearlstein in the First Tuesday series of webinars, many depend on newspapers to stay up-to-date with crucial information in a time where “all norms have been shattered.”

Gardner found her start working on the newspaper at the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a history major, after which she progressed to reporting for small newspapers in New York and North Carolina. After a stint working in Newport News, Va., she was offered a job at the Washington Post.

“You have to be hungry and have an appetite for news,” Gardner said. “I find myself driven by this hunger to get a story, to beat the competitors, to signal to the sources that I’m the one who’s on it and who knows it best.”

As she goes into investigating a story, Gardner prioritizes honesty and clarity in her interviews. “Getting it right is not just quoting the words verbatim—that is important—but it’s also putting those words in an accurate context and a fair context,” Gardner explained, warning against taking risks at misrepresenting what someone may confide to her about.

However, representing, let alone finding, the truth in the current state of events provides its own challenge, as both media and the general public witnessed through the course of the presidential election in 2016, when Donald Trump had not seemed the likely victor the month prior to the announcement.

“The biggest challenge is to know what’s really going on,” she said. “We all thought we knew what was going on in October 2016 and we were wrong… It forced a reckoning of how we covered the race, who we had spoken to, and why we had missed this surge of disaffection and grievance and upset with the status quo that pushed Donald Trump into office.”

“You miss [information] by not being out in the state, or the country, or the battle grounds talking to people,” Gardner said, offering the importance of first-hand experiences to avoid misleading coverage.

Looking forward to the upcoming November election, Gardner warned the media to practice caution with declaring the victor on election night.

“It would be grossly irresponsible for networks to call races with that kind of uncertainty,” she explained, drawing attention to the chance of ballots taking longer to count due to increased mail-in voting during the pandemic. In terms of how the Washington Post will be reporting on the result of the election, Gardner emphasized, “We don’t need to be first, we need to be right.”

First Tuesday continues with U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D) October 13 at 9 a.m. The series, sponsored by the Honors College and the Schar School of Policy and Government, is open to the Mason community. Sign up to participate.

Date	Speaker
Sept. 8	Peter Hart Dean of American Pollsters
Sept. 15	Mike Henry Former Campaign Manager, Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner and Gov. Terry McAuliffe
Sept. 22	Rebecca Pearcey Policy Director, Elizabeth Warren presidential campaign
Sept. 29	Rick Wilson Co-founder, Lincoln Project Republican media strategist
Oct. 6	Amy Gardner Political reporter and editor, Washington Post
Oct. 13	U.S Rep. Jennifer Wexton Democrat, Virginia 10th District
Oct 20	Danny Diaz Republican political and communications strategist, George Mason graduate
Nov. 10	Tom Davis Former Republican Congressman from Virginia, Rector of George Mason University

Watch Past Events in the First Tuesday series

Co-Founder of Lincoln Project, Rick Wilson, Explains Why He’s After Trump

rstaffo2 — Wed, 30 Sep 2020 20:55:50 +0000

Co-Founder of Lincoln Project, Rick Wilson, Explains Why He’s After Trump rstaffo2 Wed, 09/30/2020 - 16:55

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“Politics produces good men and sometimes great men, but sometimes the great men are not good men," says Republican media strategist Rick Wilson. Wilson met with Robinson Professor of Public Policy Steven Pearlstein as part of the First Tuesday political guest-speaker series. He is co-founder and “creative genius” of the Lincoln Project, a political action committee formed in 2019 with the intention to prevent the reelection of Donald Trump as president.

Throughout his career, including running campaigns for George W. Bush (R), Dick Cheney (R), and Rudy Giuliani (R), Wilson has seen the rise and fall of many candidates and an evolution in the dynamic of political parties. Giuliani in particular caught Wilson’s attention, as he has experienced a major decline in the public eye, from occupying the role of New York’s heroic mayor with his presence during 9/11, to becoming the “corrupted lawyer” serving Trump.

“There is a great tragedy to Rudy,” Wilson said. “There is a certain addiction to being in power, a certain addiction to being involved in the key moments of our day, and only Trump was going to offer him that. He will go down in history as a once great man who collapsed and became corrupted by a president who corrupts and destroys everything he touches.”

Wilson has written two New York Times best sellers, Everything Trump Touches Dies and Running Against the Devil, as well as played a critical role in the creation of the Lincoln Project, all in efforts to draw attention to ways Trump has failed Republicans and the nation.

“I started having a deep concern for the direction of the [Republican] party around 2011,” Wilson explained, pointing to the public’s response following the Tea Party movement. He was particularly alarmed by the reaction to his comment against government involvement in the issue of gay marriage, claiming it as a “personal decision” and not the states’ business. After being publicly attacked by Tea Partiers and called out for an apparently “radical belief,” Wilson said, “When I saw that reaction I [realized], ‘There is something broken here. There is something wrong here.’”

By the time Trump was elected president, the political climate was already prepared for him, Wilson said. “The [Republican] party had changed from being a party of ideas, to being a party of oppositional defiance… [The party] hasn’t been the same since then and probably will never be the same.”

Thus the Lincoln Project came to fruition.

The Lincoln Project was built with the mission to “eliminate Trump, Trumpism, and its enablers—the people who have violated their oath, who have lied to the American people, who’ve compromised our security, in order to support Donald Trump,” he said. He has worked countless hours raising money and making eye-catching, if alarming, advertising videos to reach different demographics.

“An ad has to be a clean, elegant, simple thing. One message, one set of voters,” says Wilson. “That tight focus on a narrow range of one issue, one demographic, one message, is why our ads punch.”

First Tuesday continues with Amy Gardner, a political reporter and editor for the Washington Post, on October 6th at 9 a.m. The series, sponsored by the Honors College and the Schar School of Policy and Government, is open to the Mason community. Sign up and participate.