Committee Established to Work on Campus Life

By Daniel Walsch
University Life's efforts to add life to the university on weekends are paying off.

According to Alissa Karton, Johnson Center and University Life program manager, more activities and events for George Mason were introduced last fall than ever before, and "so far," she notes, "we've been getting a good response from our residential students, as well as those who live off campus."

Karton serves as chair of a committee comprising students and staff members that was created last summer by Karen Rosenblum, vice president for University Life. Rosenblum asked the committee to develop strategies that will provide students with a greater number of on-campus social outlets on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

"We've been aware for too long of comments that there is very little for students to do on weekends here at the Fairfax Campus. There have been complaints that if students want to socialize on weekends, then they must go off campus to do so," says Karton.

After several brainstorming sessions, Karton and her group came up with a number of concrete ideas, including keeping the Johnson Center Bistro open on Friday and Sunday nights, midnight showings of movies in the Johnson Center Cinema, making meeting rooms in the Johnson Center available to student groups on Sundays, and offering a different activity each Saturday. Additionally, the committee has established a telephone hotline that lists weekend activities at George Mason. By calling 993-WKND, interested people can find out about the upcoming athletics events, movies, and student organization activities.

"Our committee continues to meet each month to review what [activities] we have scheduled and how they were received, and then look ahead to brainstorm on what we might try and organize for the future," says Karton. "While we still view our efforts as a work-in-progress, it is gratifying that students are responding so positively to what we have been doing so far."