Mitchell Richtmyre/Fourth Estate
President Gregory Washington addresses questions on DEI, ICE and food poisoning during town hall
BY AMELIA JANE SAND, STAFF WRITER
On Thursday, Feb. 20, Gregory Washington hosted his second town hall as Mason President to address the Mason student body’s concerns. The town hall, held in Merten Hall, ranged from topics including housing concerns, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity on campus, and cases of food poisoning.
When asked about concerns regarding DEI, President Washington stated, “[there are] comprehensive plans to manage all of and retain the core aspects of what we do in the DEI space. It doesn’t mean that you, [the students], won’t see things look a little different. You may see programs change and titles change, but the core aspects will remain.”
President Washington addressed the state of the new Trump administration, calling students to “understand that for lack of a better way of saying this, we are in an ideological battle. There are real forces that don’t want certain people here. I am committed and my leadership team is committed to assuring affordable access to everyone in this state who wants it.”
Then, President Washington addressed concerns regarding those invited to the Mason Career Fair this spring.
One student stated that he and others found the inclusion of ICE and “war profiteering” companies—such as General Dynamics— in career fairs, “repulsive” and called for the president to respond to the claims and explain Mason’s stance.
This statement allegedly referring to the previous inclusion of defense companies such as Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and Leonardo in the Fall 2024 career fair. This statement further follows a call to “flood their emails” by the @gmu4palestine Instagram. The post covered ICE’s presence at the career fair and called for action against allowing “this fascist agency to infiltrate our campus.” The post then goes on to list several demands, the first calling for the removal of ICE from the fair’s program.
During the town hall, several students held up signs that stated, “protect your students,” “GMU against genocide,” and “divest from death.”
Mitchell Richtmyre/Fourth Estate
“These entities come to campus because students seek jobs from them, and we have a responsibility to actually provide them opportunities within those jobs,” President Washington said about the decision to allow ICE and General Dynamics to remain at the career fair.
Washington stated, “ [ICE’s presence on campus] is not a sign of us supporting ICE, believing in their mission, or their methods and tactics.” He called the partnership, instead “transactional.” Therefore, their presence on campus would neither be championed nor condemned.
As the town hall progressed, students raised concerns over the increase in reports of food poisoning from the Mason dining halls.
President Washington stated that he was “not aware of any mass food poisoning event” and that “if something like that had happened, my folks at University Life would have reached out to me immediately.”
President Washington and Vice President of University Life Rose Pascarell assured students together that the situation would be investigated further and students who suffered from food poisoning are encouraged to bring their situations forward.
When President Washington was asked about the future of housing, he mentioned that while there are early plans for more housing to be made available, likely between 2500 and 2800 beds, the university is waiting on the support of “the Board” before moving forward. He ended by noting that campus housing affordability remains a top priority.
