In 1978, the George Mason University Foundation purchased eleven acres of land and the former Kann’s department store building in the Virginia Square neighborhood in Arlington. After Kann’s closed in 1975, the International School of Law (ISL) purchased the building in anticipation that the area’s projected growth would attract more students. However, the reality was that for ISL to stay open, they needed American Bar Association accreditation, which remained elusive. Coincidentally, George Mason University wanted a law school and believed the Northern Virginia region needed one. Unfortunately, the Association of American Law Schools, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) and the General Assembly rejected Mason's request to establish a law school, twice. In 1976, the Honorable Charles S. Russell, a judge for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit and, later, the Supreme Court of Virginia, became aware that Mason’s Board of Visitors hoped to add a law school to grow the university. Russell knew that ISL and Mason were seeking partnerships to resolve their respective law school difficulties. So, Russell arranged a secret meeting between ISL Dean, Ralph Norvell and the Rector of Mason’s Board of Visitors, John “Til” Hazel, at a restaurant across the street from ISL. As they ate lunch, the two men agreed that a merger would be advantageous to each of their respective institutions. Hazel and Norvell shook hands and decided to work together for Mason’s and ISL’s mutual benefit. But first, they needed both SCHEV and the General Assembly to approve the merger. Unfortunately, Mason and ISL also faced opposition to their merger. In November 1978, Mason purchased ISL’s property in Arlington for $3.2 million. In response to this gutsy move, SCHEV issued an additional report to the General Assembly, again showing resistance to the merger. To ensure Mason’s attempt to acquire a law school would succeed, Hazel created the “Urge to Merge” lobbying campaign to convince Virginia’s legislature to approve the merger. Motivated by the prospect of accredited degrees and a chance to sit for the bar exam, law school students worked with Hazel on the campaign. Their efforts were rewarded in February 1979 when the State Senate and House of Delegates passed Senate Bill 607, authorizing the merger between George Mason University and ISL. Mason finally had a law school, and ISL students received accredited degrees that spring. The former department store building, built in 1953, became Mason’s first building on the new Metro Campus, its name before it was renamed Arlington Campus in 1989. The building was known as "Original" or "Arlington Original". The building had escalators and a PA system from its time as a department store, making it the only law school building with an escalator at the time of the merger. Law school students recalled using the PA system to request assistance from facilities staff. Original's huge footprint allowed Mason to expand its programs, eventually filling up the law school building. As Mason’s enrollment in Arlington increased, the university leased space in neighboring buildings, such as one at Quincy Street Station, eight blocks to the south. However, this solution could still not sustain Mason’s rapid growth in Arlington. By 1988, GMU President George Johnson had plans to grow the Arlington Campus and make the Virginia Square neighborhood “an educating community.” As a result, Mason drafted expansion plans that included multiple phases of construction. The first phase provided a modern building, Arlington I, for the law school and its library on the land that used to be Original’s parking lot. Arlington I’s construction broke ground on April 25, 1996, and cost approximately $19 million. This new building opened in 1998 and dedicated in January 1999. Arlington I became the new home of the law school, its library, the Mercatus Center and the Institute for Humane Studies. As a result, programs in the leased Quincy Street Station location moved into Original. The second expansion on the Arlington campus was completed shortly afterward. It included a 240,000-square-foot building and public plaza between Arlington I and Original. This building housed a library, an art gallery, and a large auditorium. The Metropolitan Building, located between the Law School and FDIC headquarters, opened in 2006 and houses a parking garage and office space. Construction on Arlington II finished in 2011. This building became home to the then-named School of Public Policy and was known as Founders Hall. In 2005, Arlington I was renamed John T. Hazel, Jr. Hall (Hazel Hall) in recognition of the role Rector Hazel played in establishing Mason’s law school. Hazel Hall is home to Antonin Scalia Law School, renamed after the late Supreme Court Justice in 2016. In June 2017, the Foundation Building was renamed Vernon Smith Hall in honor of Mason’s second Nobel Prize winner. Vernon Smith Hall is home to the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution. Founders Hall was renamed Van Metre Hall in October 2018 in recognition of a previous donation of land by Van Metre Companies, a local commercial and residential real estate firm. Van Metre Hall is home to the Schar School of Policy and Government, named for benefactor, Dwight Schar. Finally, in 2020, Original was demolished to make way for a new building, Fuse, which will focus on technological innovation and entrepreneurship. The Arlington Campus became known as Mason Square in 2022. Mason Square predominantly offers evening classes, and the campus comes alive around 4 p.m. Its plaza has become an energetic center for campus and community engagement. It has featured a game cart, a ping pong table, and a cornhole set for use by the local community. Free yoga classes and juggling lessons have been offered in the plaza, and musicians play cheerful music in the plaza regularly. The plaza also hosts outdoor concerts and movie screenings. Mason Square is located across the street from the original El Pollo Rico restaurant, a beloved hangout spot. In addition, Mason Exhibitions Arlington is two blocks from the campus on Fairfax Drive. Construction on Fuse is expected to be completed in 2025.  

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The Clock stands on Wilkins Plaza at the intersection of the Johnson Center, Horizon Hall, Fenwick Library, and David King Hall. The number "1999" appears on the clock’s face, as it was a gift to the university from Mason's Class of 1999. Its estimated cost, according to the only Broadside article written about the Clock from September 20, 1999, was $15,000.

The establishment of the Clock as a physical part of the Fairfax Campus began as a project led by John Butler, Student Government President, from 1998-1999. Butler wanted the Student Government and graduating class of that year to give back to the university and leave a lasting legacy. The plaque on the clock’s base lists the names of 113 students from the Class of 1999 who contributed toward the purchase of the clock. According to some members of the Class of 1999, they did not recall hearing about the clock and thought it suddenly appeared one day. Jimmie Foster, Jr., a Broadside photographer, took the earliest known photographs of the clock on May 1, 1999.

In December 2018, the clock was removed and stored in a warehouse to allow for the expansion of Wilkins Plaza as part of the Core Campus Project. While the clock was away, its manufacturer, Verdin, fully refurbished it. Students previously noticed that the clock’s time was a few minutes off. The clock now has digital controls that eliminate the need for it to be manually programmed and ensure that it displays the correct time automatically. Verdin also thoroughly cleaned the clock and gave it new scratch-resistant lenses. The clock was reinstalled on Wilkins Plaza in December 2020.

Today, the clock remains an important landmark and gathering place for students due to its central location on the Fairfax campus. Students conduct club activities like fundraisers and recruitment near the clock, where they can catch the attention of students leaving the Johnson Center and Fenwick Library. In addition, the clock serves as a meeting point for protests and emergency evacuations. Finally, it has become a tradition for graduating students to take photos with the clock.

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George Mason (1725-1792) a Fairfax, Virginia planter authored the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Virginia Bill of Rights and Constitution, on which the United States Bill of Rights is based. A member of the original Constitutional Convention, Mason refused to sign the initial draft of the Constitution because it did not include a Bill of Rights.

In 1959 the president of The University of Virginia, Colgate W. Darden, Jr, suggested that a new name be chosen for its branch college at Bailey's Crossroads. Three names were offered to faculty, staff, and students for their consideration: "University College" (the name it had been using since its inception in 1957), "Northern Virginia College", and "George Mason College". The voting ended in a virtual three-way tie, and the University's Board of Visitors broke the tie by choosing "George Mason" at its December meeting that year.

In the late 1980s, the Student Government pointed up that GMU needed new ideas and traditions to boost school spirit and a sense of community. In February 1989 it publicly proposed erecting a statue of the school’s namesake on the quad to foster campus pride, unity and tradition. They estimated that the statue would cost between $30,000 and $50,000 and hoped that donations from student organizations would cover the costs over a five-year period. Although they made this announcement in 1989, students privately proposed the statue 2 years earlier, according to the official dedication program. Unfortunately, college students are generally not in a financial position to donate, the Student Government’s fundraising campaign was unsuccessful.

In 1992, the Student Government asked for assistance from Mason administrators. The Offices of the Provost and Student Affairs sponsored a competition for a nationally renowned sculptor to design the George Mason statue. It is challenging for artists to depict George Mason. The only surviving portrait of Mason shows him in his thirties and was painted nearly 20 years after his death. Out of four finalists, the students comprising the George Mason Statue Committee selected the 18-inch clay model made by Wendy M. Ross.

Ross studied at the University of Wisconsin and the San Francisco Art Institute and later received a Master of Fine Arts from the Rhode Island School of Design. She currently maintains studios in Bethesda, Maryland, and Oregon. Ross has enjoyed a decades-long career and created sculptures for the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Capitol, and National Park Service. Her concept for the George Mason statue shows him presenting his first draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776. She visited Mason’s home, Gunston Hall to do research, and the writing table in the sculpture replicates the one in his study. The books on the table are by John Locke, David Hume, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. This selection of authors reflects Mason’s philosophical influences regarding ideas of personal liberty. Ross was also selected as the sculptor for the George Mason memorial on the National Mall, dedicated on April 9, 2002.

After attempts to secure public funds failed, the Arts Gala Committee, led by Joanne Johnson, commissioned the sculpture on August 1, 1995. They contributed $148,500, 93% of its $159,000 cost and presented the George Mason sculpture as a gift to the GMU community. The 10-foot-tall bronze statue was formally dedicated along with the Johnson Center on April 12, 1996. It was the first 3-D depiction of George Mason in United States history. The statue is located on the southern end of Wilkins Plaza and can be found between the Johnson Center and the Harris Theatre.

As the students envisioned, the George Mason statue has become a beloved landmark on campus with traditions and superstitions attached to it. It is a tradition for graduating students to get a photo with George. Student groups dress George up for festive occasions and milestones, like graduation and sporting events. He also dons t-shirts and holds signs to participate in student advocacy. Ross stated in interviews that she loves when students dress up the statue and how iconic it has become on campus. In addition, there are superstitions attached to the statue, bringing both good and bad luck. Students rub George’s left toe for good luck before important exams or papers. GMU legends say stepping on the plaques around the statue brings bad luck. If a current student does this, they will not graduate in four years, and a prospective student who does so will not be admitted to Mason.

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The original Student Union Building (today known as Student Union I or, simply, SUB I) was announced in January 1968 and was the first building at Mason intended to be entirely for student use. It provided dedicated space for student dining, student clubs, student government, student publications, and other student activities. Unfortunately, the building project was delayed for four years, due to difficulties gaining budget approval in the Virginia Legislature. Phase I of the Student Union Building’s construction broke ground on March 1, 1972. The building’s cost was estimated at $1.9 million at the time (about $9 million in 2023). However, upon completion, the Student Union's operating costs were to be supported predominantly by student fees. To achieve this, President Lorin Thompson added a "building fee" to tuition fees in 1973. By 1974, the Student Union was 97% student funded.

Because students funded the Student Union, they expected that the building would be entirely for student use, and that they would be engaged in decisions regarding its operation. However, the Board of Visitors and new Mason President Vergil Dykstra’s administration had its own plans for the building’s use and students’ inclusion in its governance, leading to conflicts and controversies before and after opening. For example, the Board of Visitors hired the Student Union's director without considering students’ input, although they had participated in the interview process. In addition, they relocated administrative offices for student services to the Student Union and opened its student-only dining room to faculty. Furthermore, the Board of Visitors unilaterally changed the building’s name from Student Union to University Union. Their decisions prompted backlash from students who felt they  were funding the building with the understanding that it was for them.

When Phase I opened on February 1, 1974, it housed the offices of Career Planning, Financial Aid and Placement, Campus Ministry, Honor Committee, Student Government, and the University Union Director. The 40,000 square foot space also included meeting rooms, study lounges, spaces for student clubs and activities, a game room, a bookstore, a cafeteria, a card room, a television room, a music room, telephones, and an information desk. In addition to the amenities advertised by Mason’s administration, the Student Government ran a coffee house program in the building that featured live poetry and music on Fridays. The Student Union replaced the Ordinary and provided students with a permanent hangout spot. By the end of the school year in 1974, the Broadside noted that the building “glowed with activity” late into the evening.

Although students were grateful for the building, resentments simmered over the lack of communication from Mason’s administration. After the building opened, students voted to change its name back to the Student Union, and the presence of administrative offices in the building remained unpopular. Tensions over space in the Student Union reached a breaking point in the fall of 1974. Students found out that the administration planned to relocate the Campus Ministry to use its office for a newly hired scholarship placement assistant. As a result, the Student Government circulated a petition against the relocation of the Campus Ministry. Those who signed the petition said they were signing for students’ rights to give input in decisions regarding the Student Union Building. Within two weeks, the petition had five hundred signatures from students, faculty, staff and administrators. The three-week controversy between Mason students and administration regarding autonomy over the Student Union Building concluded when President Dykstra canceled the Campus Ministry’s move and gave the new staff member a smaller space until the completion of Phase II’s construction. Construction on Phase II of the Student Union Building I began on January 1, 1974. It opened partially in May 1975 and completely in the summer of 1975. Phase II added 40,000 square feet to the building, doubling its size. Existing student clubs, fraternities, and student services received expanded space. Phase II added new amenities like a clinic, a counseling center, an arts and crafts center, a bank, dry cleaning, and a pub. The Rathskeller, Mason’s first and only student pub, operated in the Student Union from 1975 to 2019.

Phase III, which added to the back of the building, was completed in 2011. This additional space allowed the Registrar’s Office to move from the Chesapeake Module behind Fenwick Library into the Student Union. Many amenities originally located in the original Student Union eventually moved to Student Union Building II (The Hub) or the Johnson Center, but it retains its student focus and many original services and amenities. Financial Aid, Career Services, Health Services and the Counseling Center are still in the original Student Union. The building’s stairways look the same as they did in 1975, retaining the original walls and floors and still functioning as a place to hang posters and advertisements. In addition to the aforementioned student services, students new to Mason or craving waffle fries visit the building for the Mason Card office and Chick-Fil-A.

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A groundbreaking ceremony for the new Fairfax campus was held on August 1, 1963. Students at Bailey’s Crossroads knew of the construction, but few were interested in following it. Student photographers Jim Wilson and Bill Flandermeyer visited the campus while it was under construction and took some of the earliest photographs of the Fairfax campus. The campus at Fairfax officially opened on Monday, September 14, 1964, to 356 registered students. This number represented a 58% increase in the student population from the final school year at Bailey’s Crossroads. The original campus consisted of four buildings, named North, South, East and West, each for the direction it faced. Because the campus was initially small, students spent much of their campus life from 1964 to 1974 in these first four buildings. The then-state-of-the-art buildings were designed and built by local businesses Joseph Saunders & Associates of Alexandria and Eugene Simpson and brother, respectively.   On opening day, Mason’s new director, Robert Reid, boasted to the Fairfax Times that Mason was the first fully air-conditioned college in the Washington, D.C., area. Air conditioning was a welcome change for students and faculty who experienced the lack of climate control in the old school building at Bailey’s Crossroads. They were delighted with the spacious, top-of-line classrooms and laboratories. The air conditioning and brand-new facilities temporarily distracted them from realizing the campus lacked some essential amenities. During the first week, there was no faculty lounge or place for students to get food and beverages. Mason’s administration quickly set up vending machines in a study hall as a temporary solution. The campus was formally dedicated on November 12, 1964. The ninety-minute dedication ceremony took place in front of the North Building. Nearly a thousand people attended, including prominent politicians, educators, members of the community and the local press. Construction was still ongoing when the Fairfax campus opened. The sidewalks were incomplete, so planks were put down when it rained. The covered walkways between the buildings had yet to be constructed. Former students described the campus as “a sea of mud.” Even with the wooden planks, mud was difficult to avoid since students had to cross an unpaved path between the North and East Buildings to reach their gravel parking lot. Photographs from the 1965 to 1966 yearbook show that in addition to the completion of sidewalks and covered walkways, the roads around campus and parking spaces were paved, finally ending the mud problem.

South Building (Krug Hall) By 1965, the students received a dining hall in the basement of the South Building. They named it the Ordinary, after the old English word for a pub. Chemical smells often drifted in from the biology and chemistry laboratories directly above. The Ordinary quickly became a popular hangout spot for students. Like their predecessors at the Bailey’s Crossroads campus, alumni from the Class of 1968 recalled playing competitive games of Hearts, Spades and Bridge. These card games were sometimes so intense that students nearly missed classes. The Ordinary started serving fresh food in the fall of 1965. Articles in The Gunston Ledger frequently complained that the Ordinary was too crowded, so additional spaces for students to gather were added or improved in the East and West Buildings beginning in 1965. The Ordinary featured a jukebox. When the original jukebox died in April of 1966, a student penned an obituary for it in The Gunston Ledger commemorating its year and a half of service to students. The Gunston Ledger gleefully announced the purchase of a new jukebox for the Ordinary in October 1966. The Ordinary remained a gathering place for students until 1974 when the building that is now SUB I was completed. Mason Day began in 1965 as a half-day of speeches and awards the day after UVA's Founder's Day celebration. During the 1968 to 1969 school year, Student Government Activities Chair, Mike Baker, transformed Mason Day into a multi-day spectacle of fun and entertainment. As part of Mason Day in 1969, for 3 days, 40 male students camped in tents behind the South Building. The event was labeled “Mason’s First Dormitories.” They ate their meals in the Ordinary, played sports on the lawn, roasted hot dogs, played music, watched movies and attended a presentation by local photographer Charles Baptie in the Lecture Hall, and staged a water balloon fight. Mason Tent City remained a tradition until 1977, when the university opened permanent dormitories.

North Building (Finley Building) The North Building originally housed Mason’s administrative offices. An anonymous article in The Gunston Ledger, on November 16, 1967, decried that Mason was the only institution in Virginia without a flagpole. The writer implored students to find a way to raise $150 for a flagpole. The shaming worked, and a flagpole, which no longer stands, was installed in front of the North Building shortly after. According to Broadside, beginning November 10, 1969, students stood in front of the flagpole in a memorial vigil of the lives lost in the Vietnam War. The previous month, the Vietnam War Moratorium Committee had presented Chancellor Lorin Thompson with a petition containing hundreds of signatures from students and faculty asking to be excused for one day of classes to participate in anti-war activities. Thompson rejected their petition. The vigils in front of the flagpole, visible from the administrative offices, were likely a response to his denial of their request. The Vietnam War Moratorium Committee had officially scheduled to attend an off-campus event on November 14, 1969. So students were shocked when a group of protestors, in a spectacle Broadside called "Guerrilla Theatre", burned an American flag in the Ordinary. That same afternoon, Professor James Shea led students in burning draft cards in the Quadrangle. The Guerrilla Theatre incident divided the Vietnam War Moratorium Committee's student leaders, with Jim Corrigan speaking out against it and George Whelpley behind it. The Student Government was similarly divided, voting 6-3-3 to oppose disciplinary action against those responsible for the incidents. The Student Government supported Shea and asked the administration to retain him. On the morning of May 6, 1970, Mason students asked Thompson to lower the flag in honor of students killed by the National Guard at Kent State University two days earlier. Thompson denied their request. A Kent State student spoke in the Quadrangle. Following the speech, a demonstration of fifty Mason students marched to the flagpole in an attempt to lower the flag by cutting the cord used to raise and lower it. Campus police confronted the demonstrating students. At noon, Thompson agreed to lower the flag to half-mast to accommodate the students and prevent any unrest.

East Building The second floor of the East Building served as Mason's library until its free standing library was completed in late 1967. The entire East Building had originally been allotted for the library. However, the librarian generously gave two floors back to the college, which they used for classrooms and an additional lounge. In 1965, SAGE, a women’s organization on campus, hosted a fashion show in the East Building. On June 9, 1965, the first final day exercises were held in the East Building, and Mason’s class of 1965 received their diplomas. In 1968, the first class to graduate with Bachelor’s degrees from Mason put on their graduation robes in Eats before proceeding to the ceremony in the Lecture Hall.

West Building The West Building became the center of attention at Mason on September 21, 1966. At 2:10 pm that day, a hot water pump motor in the boiler room burned out and caused an electrical fire. The building’s supervisor discovered it but found his telephone was out of order. He then drove to the Fairfax Fire Station to report to the fire alarm. Seven fire trucks from Fairfax, Vienna, and Annandale responded to the fire alarm. The fire marshal ordered everyone to evacuate the smoke-filled West Building upon arrival. Firefighters set up fans to blow the smoke out of the building. Once it cleared, they put out the fire with a regular fire extinguisher. No one was injured, but students and staff were inconvenienced because the fire knocked out all telephone service and many of the lights across campus. The food machines in the Ordinary also did not work. Classes were dismissed for the rest of the day.

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Since George Mason College had no dorms, students spent their free time between morning and afternoon classes on or near campus. The combination of a small school building and constant togetherness fostered strong bonds between students and faculty, creating a casual learning environment with great camaraderie. Oral history interviews with former students Richard Sparks, Ann Walker Sparks, James Heath, Nancy Buddeke Heath, Helen Momsen, and Douglas Nelms describe the closeness and the spirit of fun that characterized student life at Bailey's. Additionally, Sparks and Nelms pursued photography as a hobby and captured students' experiences at George Mason College in Bailey’s Crossroads in the 1960s.

The neighboring Bailey’s Crossroads Volunteer Fire Department graciously offered to let the students use their second-floor meeting hall as a student lounge. It became a significant part of student life at Bailey’s Crossroads. They spent time between classes and ate their lunches there. Momsen and Nelms remembered students playing card games, including Bridge, Hearts, and Spades in the student lounge. Fire sirens occasionally disrupted the students’ leisure time since the fire station was in active use.

The student lounge featured soda and candy vending machines, which the student body owned and moved from the schoolhouse to the fire hall. The fire department hosted bingo games in their meeting hall on the weekends. Heath recalled refilling the soda machines because they were empty by the middle of each bingo game. As a result, the student body had a steady supply of money for the treasury. They eventually sold the vending machines to the fire department.

When not in the student lounge, students spent time in the small campus library, played sports on the lawn and patronized nearby businesses. Nelms enjoyed Gifford’s Ice Cream and ate lunch from Steak ‘N a Sack, a restaurant owned and operated by a Palestinian immigrant family. Sparks bought lunch from the nearby Krispy Kreme because it was inexpensive, and he did not have to cross the highway. Walker Sparks ate lunch from Hot Shoppes, just across the highway, and Burger Chef, a McDonald’s competitor. They also enjoyed movies at the Flying Saucer Drive Inn on Leesburg Pike. Sparks highlighted some of these places a map he created in the early 2000s.

The student government met in the fire department hall, where they held debates and elections. In the spring of 1963, Momsen, then a first-year student, ran for student body president as the first female candidate, losing by fewer than ten votes. As a consolation prize, an administrator handed Momsen a stack of mimeographed pages. These were copies of the then-current student "newspaper", Perspective. She was offered the job of editor of the student newspaper. Momsen used her connections to establish a high-quality newspaper for George Mason College, which she named The Gunston Ledger. The Gunston Ledger became the chronicle of student life and created a legacy of Mason student media that continues today.

Although the students knew that the Bailey’s Crossroads campus was temporary, they were fond of their school. Nelms gleefully recalled students playing pranks on each other and their professors. Sparks admitted that when he first arrived, he did not take his studies seriously and frequently skipped classes. However, despite students’ laid-back attitudes toward learning, they admired and respected the faculty. For example, Sparks and Heath recognized the positive impact that Dr. Fanny-Fern Davis had on their academic and career development. Buddeke Heath concurred that the teaching was “first-class.” Although Walker Sparks and Sparks continued their education at other prestigious schools, they felt most attached to Mason.

The students’ pride in the Bailey’s Crossroads campus is evident in their determination to establish a campus culture and lasting traditions and their bittersweet feelings toward moving to the Fairfax campus. An excerpt from Kathy Howell’s “Winding up the Semester that Was” column in The Gunston Ledger, Volume 1, Number 4.5, details students’ affinity for their campus and its culture.

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