Dan Aldis, '03, and his wife, Dana, with The Patriot
at Alumni Weekend 2009

Start planning your visit to Mason for the 2010 Alumni Weekend, taking place October 1-3 on the Fairfax Campus. We’re scheduling exciting activities and events and we want to include features that appeal to you.

Each year faculty, staff, and students are reconnecting with alumni during this special fall weekend created just for you. Please complete this short survey to indicate your preferences and likely participation.

Look for survey results and more details regarding Alumni Weekend in upcoming issues of the Mason Wire. Learn more about Alumni Weekend by visiting the website.

New Buildings Heat Up the Mason Experience

This summer, Mason will benefit from a series of new buildings on the Prince William and Fairfax campuses to offer students, faculty, staff and the local community a variety of new programs and services.

In May, the Hylton Performing Arts Center was dedicated on the Prince William campus, which will offer the community an opportunity to experience first-class performances by local music, dance and theater groups. The building also provides exhibition space to showcase local artists, and creates meeting and special event spaces for business and civic organizations.

This month, the state-of-the-art Biomedical Research Laboratory (BRL) opened its doors on the Prince William campus.  Inside, researchers focus on the development of techniques and products for detection, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of infectious diseases.

Later this summer, the Aquia Building on the Fairfax campus is scheduled to be completed, featuring a data center and temporary office space. Also scheduled for completion are the Hampton Roads student housing building, the new addition to the de Laski Performing Arts Building, and Masonvale, the faculty and staff housing community, all located on the Fairfax campus.

Just in time for Alumni Weekend, the Mason Inn Conference Center and Hotel (located on the Fairfax campus) will host its first guests. The complex features a 150-room hotel with a restaurant and lounge as well as a 24,000-square-foot conference center with a ballroom and 11 other meeting spaces of varied sizes.

Alumni Profile: Rhonda Strickland

With just three hours before the deadline, Rhonda Strickland, MFA ’90, heard a familiar voice on the radio, that of her former Mason creative writing professor, Alan Cheuse.The writer and “All Things Considered” book critic was on the popular NPR show explaining the Three-Minute Fiction contest.

Contestants could go to the program website where they saw a photo of a newspaper on a table, taken from outside a coffee shop. Participants could then write a 350-word story describing the photo.

"It just came to me," Strickland explained to The News & Observer in Raleigh, North Carolina, regarding her plot for the main character, his girlfriend, and their train-hopping trip from Arizona to New York. The photo was the culmination of the story, as the pair rummaged for food in trash bins outside the coffee shop.

With just 60 minutes remaining until deadline, Strickland sent the story with the title “Please Read”. Out of 3,000 entries, she was named the winner, thanks in part to her use of the photo as the destination for the story, instead of the starting point as most of the other writers. Her prize? Her story was read on the air.

"It's very flattering, especially just winning a contest, but then that it's NPR is very exciting," Strickland further explained to The News & Observer. "So many people heard it, and I'm getting calls from people I haven't talked to in a long time."

photo by: Robb Hill/Robb Hill Photo

Oct 1-3- Second Annual Alumni Weekend! Reserve your room at the Mason Inn.  Use code Alumni Weekend Oct 2010 for $89 rate.