(Nathan Ferraro / Fourth Estate)

Doubling down on my commitment to serve you

BY NATHAN FERRARO, MANAGING EDITOR

Hello everyone, and happy spring semester! 

I hope you had a restful winter break and are excited to get back to work this semester. I know I am. 

Five months ago, I was hired as Fourth Estate’s only Copy Editor for the fall 2025 semester. Even though I loved my job, I excitedly jumped into the position of Managing Editor a few weeks later — one that Fourth Estate has not had for several semesters. 

It took a few weeks, but Editor-in-Chief Sam Douglas and I found our flow and began working together in earnest: we published stories and photo galleries for over 40 consecutive days.

We are doubling down on that record this semester. I am committed to delivering you better newsworthy coverage faster than before. We are planning exciting projects to improve Fourth Estate, including adhering to a publicly available, strict set of editorial policies and journalistic standards (coming soon).

I am personally dedicated to seeing our return to print. It may not look exactly like it once did and it may not be weekly, but I strongly believe in the tangibility of a printed newspaper and its significance to a community like ours. My ultimate goal is seeing more Mason students, staff and community members equipped with information about everything they need and want to know about our university. 

Last year was a particularly turbulent one for George Mason and its key governing entities: President Gregory Washington, the Board of Visitors, and Student Government. I edited stories about each of those topics, and am proud to report we published 23 live election updates on Nov. 4. 

There may not be an election this semester, but there is certain to be news unfolding as the new Visitors work to execute the policies endorsed by Virginia’s recently inaugurated Governor, Abigail Spanberger. 

Fourth Estate is here, and we are ready to deliver all the news you need to know about university policies, local politics, sports games, cultural events and more. 

Thank you for reading and for your support,

Nathan Ferraro, Managing Editor

nferrar@gmu.edu