Sarah Jean Hanson, BS Biology ’02, traveled to South Sudan earlier this year with Doctors Without Borders. Photo courtesy of Sarah Jean Hanson

Whether it is on an Indian reservation in the southwestern United States, the heat of South Sudan or a rural village in Southeast Asia, Sarah Jean Hanson, BS Biology ’02, has found that people view pregnancy and delivery the same way: it is a special and celebrated time.

“It’s treated slightly different every place you go, but the common thread is how important pregnancy is,” she says.

As an OB/GYN working in the public health field, Hanson has made a career of providing health care access to women around the globe, particularly access to safe labor and delivery.

Hanson, a former University Scholar, arrived at Mason interested in a career in public health but initially wanted to study HIV medicine. When she found herself ready to graduate from Mason a semester early, she took the advice of the former University Scholars director, the late Noreen McGuire Prettyman, who suggested Hanson go overseas to get some additional public health experience. As a result, Hanson constructed a semester abroad in South Africa at an HIV clinic. While there, Hanson found herself most drawn to the troubles of the pregnant women she encountered.

“The HIV patients were really rewarding to take care of, but the women’s problems [with pregnancy] seemed more interesting to me and very easy to fix,” she says. Something as simple as having access to antibiotics or medications to stop hemorrhages could make a significant difference in health outcomes for mothers and babies, not to mention having a trained professional to perform a difficult delivery.

Returning from Africa with a new focus, Hanson attended medical school at the Medical College of Virginia (now Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Medicine) and completed a residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore last year.

In January 2011, she traveled to South Sudan with Doctors Without Borders on a six-month maternal health project where she not only provided clinical services, but also trained local health professionals on running a safe and effective maternity ward at the local hospital.

A semester in Africa while she was a student made Hanson realize that her interest was in maternal-child health. Photo courtesy of Sarah Jean Hanson

During her stint there, the country held a referendum for its independence. “It was definitely an exciting time to be there, but it was a very tense political and security situation,” she says.

Hanson says she always felt safe in South Sudan, mainly because the local population so appreciates the impact the Doctors without Borders program has had there. The hospital where she worked boasts a less than 1 percent maternal mortality rate; the country as a whole averages a one in seven maternal mortality rate.

Hanson now serves with the Indian Health Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Public Health Service. She practices medicine at Gallup Indian Medical Center on the Navajo reservation in Gallup, N.M.

Despite all her global travels, living in the American Southwest is an interesting cultural shift for the Roanoke, Va., native. In particular, she finds practicing medicine in the Navajo culture intriguing. Hanson notes that the entire family is present for the labor and birth, welcoming the new baby into the group by touching and holding him or her. Women also rarely have epidurals, believing that the pain of delivery is part of the experience.

“To them, this is actually not just a medical procedure where someone has a baby, but it is a whole community embracing every aspect of the delivery and arrival of this new person,” she notes.

Hanson credits her time at Mason, particularly in the University Scholars program, with bringing her to a rewarding career. She notes the scholars’ tenets of excellence in academics, service, leadership and community as ideals she still uses in her life. She describes her work as a great privilege.

“In public health, every decision you make is not about money; it’s about what is the right thing for the patient and for the community,” she says. “That’s a cool way to be able to practice medicine.”

This article originally appeared in the fall 2011 issue of the Mason Spirit.

Mark Flanigan helped out with recovery operations in Japan. Photo courtesy of Mark Flanigan

During the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, most people worried about how fast they could leave or fly out loved ones. Mark Flanigan, MS Peace Operations ’06, on the other hand, was anxious about getting back into the country.

For Flanigan, there was no question of whether he would want to continue his studies in Tokyo as a Rotary International World Peace Fellow at the International Christian University. He waited for what felt like an eternity for Rotary International to let students return.

Flanigan first traveled to Japan in 2000 where he taught English to elementary and junior high school kids for the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program in Nagasaki. He fell in love with the country’s rich history and culture, and stayed on three years longer than he had originally anticipated.

Flanigan then returned to the United States where he worked for the federal government for several years and studied at Mason’s School of Public Policy.

When he was selected to serve as a Peace Fellow in Tokyo in 2010, Flanigan couldn’t wait for the chance to be immersed in the Japanese culture again.

Flanigan was on spring break visiting his sister in Russia when he first heard of the earthquake and tsunami.  Devastated by the news, Flanigan flew back to the United States to wait for word on the program’s status. Three weeks later, he was given the green light by Rotary International to return.

Upon return, Flanigan immediately jumped at an opportunity to volunteer for the Nippon Foundation Japan Tohoku Relief Project.  He went with a group of 90 Japanese and 35 international university students from 20 countries to Ishinomaki, Miyagi prefecture, a city known for its large fish market. Their main task was to help the fishermen and oyster producers in small seaside communities remove tsunami rubble and debris, and collect fishing equipment that would be needed once the industry began to recover.

“For the first time in my life, I was able to see a disaster firsthand at the grassroots level and participate in the response operation,” says Flanigan. “I felt as though, in some small way, I was finally able to begin putting all my theoretical training into actual practice,” he says.

Flanigan says his four days of volunteering add up to the “single greatest experience” he’s had abroad thus far.

While Flanigan already has plenty on his plate, studying full-time and volunteering in his spare time, there’s still no such thing as summer break for him. On June 13, Flanigan left for Geneva to intern with the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), which is responsible for coordinating the international response for natural disasters and complex emergencies.

“We’re working primarily on the further development of the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group, which is an intergovernmental network under the U.N. that deals with urban search and rescue and related disaster response issues,” says Flanigan.

“Its purpose is to provide a platform for information exchange in order to define standards for international assistance and develop methodology for international cooperation and coordination in earthquake response,” he adds.

Although Flanigan is doing big things overseas, he hasn’t forgotten his roots at Mason.  He says his time spent in the School of Public Policy is what really developed his interest in humanitarianism into something he could pursue.

“I didn’t really know anything about the practical aspects of planning and executing a real-world peace operation,” says Flanigan. “That is the strength of the program at Mason. It’s taught by people who have really worked in the field.”

Flanigan returned to Tokyo this fall, where he continues working on his thesis, which focuses on the nexus between natural disasters and human security, particularly in Asia. He expects to graduate from International Christian University with a master’s degree in peace studies in spring 2012.

This article appeared in a slightly different form in the Mason Spirit.

Board members of Mason's Black Alumni Chapter at an alumni mixer. From left, Shawn Williams, Kevin Holmes, David Atkins, Timothy Cotman Jr., Allen Johnson, and Michael Wilson. Photo courtesy of David Atkins

David Atkins is writing the latest chapter in his ever-evolving, 25-year relationship with Mason — first as a student, then as an employee for more than 18 years.  In 2003, he was one of the founders of the Black Alumni Chapter, and now he can proudly say that he is chairman of the brand-new Black Scholars Endowment.

The scholarship was organized by Mason’s Black Alumni Chapter and will be distributed to the first recipient(s) in 2013.

“A big part of the chapter’s mission is to advocate for black/African heritage students at the university,” says Atkins, BS Decision Science ’90, who is currently the director of contract management and licensing at Mason. “It made sense for us to establish an endowment that would live way past any of us and [fulfill that] mission in a very substantial way.”

In 2010, two successful fund-raising efforts were inaugurated to raise money for the endowment: the Black Greek Challenge and the Alumni Weekend Step Off.

The Black Greek Challenge is a fund-raising competition between the National Pan-Hellenic Council members in which fraternities and sororities solicit donations to the Black Scholars Fund from their alumni, members, families and friends. This year, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. won the challenge for the second year in a row, raising more than $9,400 (up from $7,300 last year).

On Oct. 1, the second annual Alumni Weekend Step Off was attended by almost 450 people. Performances at the step show competition, which is held during Alumni Weekend, included six National Pan-Hellenic Council fraternities and sororities composed of alumni and students, dance troupe Urbanknowlogy 101 and the Herndon High Step Team. It was because of this event that the Black Alumni Chapter reached the $25,000 minimum for an endowed scholarship.

According to the Black Alumni Chapter, the endowment will provide scholarships for undergraduate students from an underrepresented student population, with first preference to black/African heritage students. The recipients must have a minimum 3.0 GPA, and candidates must have completed at least one course within the African American Studies minor; or must be an active or contributing member of a Mason student organization that promotes the advocacy and support of black/African heritage students.

As for Atkins, it was during his tenure as president of the Black Alumni Chapter in 2005 that he first had the idea for the endowment, but his dedication to and passion about Mason reaches back to when he was a student at the university.

“I received a number of grants and scholarships in order to attend Mason,” he says. “And I know that without those, I may not have finished, or it may have been a harder [goal] for me to achieve. I think that it created a greater commitment from me to the university — even as a student.”

Atkins was a charter member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and a treasurer of the Black Student Alliance, among other activities he was involved in as a student. He wants to engage future alumni by encouraging and empowering black Mason students.

“In looking at the mission for the Black Alumni Chapter, it makes perfect sense for us to create an opportunity to acknowledge and support students, to encourage [a high] level of involvement with the university,” Atkins says.

Chapter members are so excited about their accomplishment — and motivated to keep up the momentum — that they have already set a long-term goal to grow the endowment to $100,000.

Melanie Lalande. Photo courtesy of Melanie Lalande

With sold-out shows and a slew of glowing reviews, Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles anthology “Love” has certainly conquered all in Las Vegas, including Mason alumna Melanie Lalande, BFA Dance ’01.

“I love this show!” Lalande happily exclaims, sounding much like the thousands of other fans who have caught this magical trip through Beatlemania.

But Lalande is not just a fan, she also runs the show. Recently named the new artistic director of the five-year-old spectacle, Lalande is in charge of about 70 artists, as well as everything from hiring to overseeing the show’s aesthetics to creative tinkering.

“We are sort of the keepers of the creative quality of the show,” Lalande says from her new home in Las Vegas.

A Cirque veteran, Lalande has been with the wildly popular performing arts company since 2008. Before that, she choreographed and taught dance up and down the East Coast, including New York City, America’s dance capital. In addition, she was once the tour choreographer for the hip hop band The Roots, and she is the founder of Mayzsoul, a Washington, D.C.-area dance company that helps young dancers expand their résumés by giving them ample opportunities to perform.

The Fairfax, Va., native says she began pursuing a position with Cirque about four years before she landed a spot with the troupe. The last year of the courtship involved multiple trips up to Cirque’s headquarters in Montreal for a series of grueling interviews.

A scene from Cirque du Soleil's "Love." Photo courtesy of Cirque du Soleil

Liking what they saw in her, Cirque eventually hired Lalande as one of its artistic directors, and she spent the next three years living like a gypsy while touring the world with such shows as “Kooza” and “Totem.” But Lalande can finally put away her suitcases, as she has a more grounded gig with “Love.”

“For me, it was time to settle down a bit,” she says.

Housed in a theater at the Mirage Hotel and Casino built specifically for the Cirque show, “Love” is a mesmerizing and colorful look back at the evolution of the Beatles set to the music of the Fab Four. It was created by late Beatle George Harrison and Cirque founder Guy Laliberté. “It was such an historical collaboration,” Lalande points out.

When interviewed in early October, Lalande had just arrived in Las Vegas and had yet to fully ensconce herself in her new role. But, in the near future, she says, she hopes to infuse some of her own touches into the program. “You first look at what’s been done, what’s been tried, before adding your two cents,” she says. “But with time, your style comes in.”

And while much of her success is attributed to her own hard work and persistence, Lalande doesn’t hesitate to give credit to her training at Mason, where some of that style was undoubtedly groomed.

“I had a lot of phenomenal teachers,” she recalls of her time spent in what was then the Dance Department, now the School of Dance. “Those people taught me how to construct and deconstruct a show.”

As for her future, Lalande is not resting on her creative laurels. Outside of Cirque, she’s still involved with Mayzsoul as its director and is working on a children’s book that she hopes to turn into a movie someday.

“It’s been keeping me very entertained,” she says of working for Cirque. “But life is long, and I have a lot more ideas.”

Actors in Blacktop Theatre Company's production “PUN: (n) A Play on Words” from left to right: Kelly Hennessy (Mason graduate '09/Blacktop Theatre Company member), Tristan Griffin (Mason senior), Chris Aldrich (Mason graduate '11), Mark Jennings, Carina Czipoth (Mason graduate '10), Paul Laudiero (Mason senior), Mason O'Sullivan (Mason senior) and David Andrew Knoche (Mason graduate '11). Photo by Andrew Bossi

Do you remember spending hours outside as a child, colorful chalk in hand, drawing countless pictures on the blacktop? The members of Blacktop Theatre Company, one of the Washington, D.C., area’s newest theater companies, are bringing these memories back to life.

The company was founded earlier this year by five ambitious Mason alumni: Patrick Magill, BA Theater ’09; Aaron Fisher, BA Theater ’09; Kelly Hennessy, BA Theater ’09; Andrew Hawkins, BA Theater and BA English ’09; and Christy Denny, BA Theater ’08. All are currently working theater professionals who volunteer their time to keep the company running.

As the name suggests, Blacktop Theatre provides new and veteran artists a “blank slate” where boundaries are as easy to create as they are to erase. The company strives to produce relevant, provocative and challenging works for its audiences in the region.

“The purpose of Blacktop Theatre is to allow the imagination of the artist to run wild. We want artists to feel at home here,” says Magill. “As a young theatre company, our goal is to bring the enjoyment of the arts to the community in the form of witty, yet meaningful productions.”

Initially, the company was created as a way to produce the group’s first full-length production, “PUN: (n) A Play on Words,” for the 2011 Capital Fringe Festival. Held each year in July, the festival provides performance venues for local artists who want to showcase their works. The artists are responsible for self-producing these works, from securing the actors to producing the set and designing costumes.

Fisher wrote “PUN: (n) A Play on Words” in 2007 as a sophomore at Mason. The play takes an interesting look at the struggle to maintain power and status among key words in the dictionary as new words are added. Current and former Mason students filled seven of the eight roles in the production.

Immediately after the play was accepted into the festival, the team began brainstorming ideas to finance their production in ways that would bring the arts to the community. What they found along the way was an outpouring of support from the local community, as well as plenty of friendly faces from Mason.

“We owe a large part of our success to Mason’s theater program, which offers so many opportunities for students to create unique ideas and see them through to fruition,” says Fisher. “Even after students graduate, many of the faculty are right there every step of the way supporting each student’s goals.”

Specifically, the group singles out several Mason faculty who gave them unwavering support in their own ways: Kevin Murray, managing director of the Theater of the First Amendment (TFA), Mason’s professional theater company; Heather McDonald, theater professor and co-artistic director of TFA; Mary Lechter, theater faculty member; Ed Gero, associate professor of theater; and Rick Davis, professor of theater, co-artistic director of TFA and executive director of the Hylton Performing Arts Center.

After launching what is called a “kickstarter” campaign, which encourages donations through a website, the team got the ball rolling with its first fund-raising event. Held in March at theSPACE in Old Town Fairfax, “21 Days to Play” challenged a local playwright to create or revise a script in 21 days. For this event, Hawkins accepted the challenge.

After working on the script, the final performance consisted of a staged reading of Hawkins’ play, “Cliffs,” as well as a session for the audience to provide feedback. Denny helped direct the reading, while Magill, Hawkins, Hennessy and another local theater enthusiast portrayed the play’s characters.

“Cliffs,” a poignant play about the journey of one man’s soul, was a product of TFA’s First Light Discovery Program in 2008. The program provides playwrights the opportunity to develop new plays while working with professionals in the theater industry.

On a high from the success of their first event, the group hosted two more events in May: “Play at Patriots,” a night of fun and games at Patriots Pub and Grill in Fairfax; and “Word Play,” an evening of comedy improvisation held at H Street Playhouse in Washington, D.C., featuring students from the Mason Improv Association, as well as two other local improv teams.

To help produce their fourth and final fund-raising event, the team reached out to fellow Mason theater alum Christina Coakley, BA Theater ’09, director of administration for the Keegan Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Together, the two theaters hosted an event that transported participants back to the fourth grade in “The 1st Annual Blacktop Theatre Company Spelling Bee.” Instead of the standard dictionary list of words, the words used during “The Spelling Bee” were contemporary, D.C.-centric, and, Denny admits, a little bit spicy. Gero served as one of the three judges.

In the end, the team raised about $2,000, more than enough for the production of “PUN: (n) A Play on Words” at the festival. In addition to producing their own play, the group learned some valuable life lessons about business, marketing and money management.

“There is so much that goes into running a business, and I learned to take everything in stride,” says Hennessy. “The most important lesson is that we learn from the things that didn’t go as we expected and to keep moving forward.”

So what’s next for the entrepreneurial founders of Blacktop Theatre Company?

“We’re not sure yet,” says Magill. “We definitely think we have a good thing going here, and we want to continue giving back to the community. Sometimes we can’t believe we’re able to do this, something that we love so much.”

Jim Laychak. Photo by Evan Cantwell

Ten years later, the events of Sept. 11, 2001, continue to affect the life of Jim Laychak, BS Accounting ’83 and BS Decision Sciences ’83.

Laychak’s brother, David, a civilian working for the Army at the Pentagon, died when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon.

A partner with the consulting firm Accenture at the time, Laychak spent more than five years after 9/11 leading the effort to raise money and develop plans for the Pentagon Memorial, which honors the 184 people who died at the site. Laychak explains his dedicated leadership on the memorial by saying that his preparation at Mason, including service on the Alumni Association, his work with Accenture and his personal loss combined to make him “the right person at the right place at the right time.”

The memorial opened in September 2008. “I was grateful to Accenture, which loaned me out to the Memorial Fund for five years. But when I came back, I had to find my place again after all that time.” And in 2009, Accenture restructured and Laychak was out of a job. “Of course, that was about the time of the worst financial climate,” he notes ruefully.

After losing his job, Laychak spent about a year considering new options. “I knew I didn’t want to do consulting, and I knew I wanted to do something related to fund raising. I wanted to do something where I could make a difference,” Laychak says. In December 2010, he landed his current position as chief operating officer for Center City Public Charter Schools in Washington, D.C. The system operates six schools with 1,300 students in kindergarten through grade eight. “I’m excited to be here,” Laychak says.

“It’s a good team, good people,” he says of the staff. “Every day is a new challenge.”

During this time, Laychak continued his involvement with the Pentagon Memorial Fund, and he remains president and chairman. With an endowment of about $8 to 9 million, the Pentagon Memorial Fund provides money to help support daily operations (it is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week). Now the Pentagon Memorial Fund’s focus has shifted to education and outreach, Laychak says.

“We really felt that as people were coming to the memorial they needed to know more about what happened that day. There is a whole generation now that has no memory of 9/11.”

With that goal, the Pentagon Memorial Fund has moved into another phase and has already revamped its website to be more educational, with such additions as a phone-in guided tour. Another part of its new plan is to raise money for a visitor and education center. That effort is making progress, Laychak says, with several recent donations, including $125,000 from the NFL. A search for a site for the education center as close as possible to the memorial is under way.

In addition to his work with the memorial, another constant in Laychak’s life has been his involvement with Mason. He served as vice president of service for the Alumni Association from 1997 to 2000, president from 2000 to 2002 and past president from 2002 to 2004. This fall, he joined the George Mason University Foundation Board of Trustees. “I was thrilled to be asked, and I’m happy to serve,” he says.

On a personal level, Laychak continues to feel the impact of 9/11. “Since then, I’ve focused on living my life as best I can. Giving back; honoring Dave’s memory. Trying to be the best husband and father I can be. Remembering what’s important in life. Life is short, and things can happen very dramatically and suddenly, and turn your life upside down. Memorials are for the people who are left behind,” he says.

Mason alumna Jenna St. John. Photo courtesy of Jenna St. John

Jenna St. John, MFA Creative Writing ’08, is a dancer and actor. And now that she can add filmmaker to her bag of theatrical tricks, she’s a bona fide triple threat.

On Sunday, July 31, St. John will premiere her first full-length movie at the Cinema Arts Theatre in Fairfax, Va., not far from her old Mason stomping grounds.

St. John wrote and coproduced the movie, called “Conquering the Rose,” and has a supporting part in this dark drama filmed in Northern Virginia and Maryland.

“It feels awesome, but also a little nerve-racking,” she says of the thought of seeing her work on the big screen for the first time. “I’ll probably be watching the audience more than the movie.”

The plot goes something like this: Drenching rains uproot the coffin of an aspiring dance student who took her own life. Dramatically reminded of her death, members of the small college town where the film is set grapple with the circumstances that led the student to suddenly commit suicide. Among the residents most affected by the student’s death is an art professor whose obsession with her leads to turmoil in his own life.

St. John, who plays the deceased girl in flashback scenes, says she originally had plans to write novels for a living, which is why she enrolled in Mason’s creative writing program. However, she says, she soon learned in school that she wasn’t the novelist she thought she was.

So, after graduation, she turned a novel she wrote for her MFA thesis into a screenplay and showed it to a few filmmakers in the area. They liked what they read, and after a few re-writes, the making of “Conquering the Rose” took off.

St. John, who has acted in several independent movies and teaches ballet at Joy of Motion Dance Center in Washington, D.C., says she had worked previously with many of the people who ended up working on her movie.

A scene from St. John's new movie, "Conquering the Rose." Photo courtesy of Jenna St. John

With the help of fellow Mason graduate PJ Megaw, BA Theater ’09,  (actor) and current Mason film and video studies major Ian Albetski (associate producer), the movie was shot in Alexandria, Va., and Arlington, Va., as well as in Baltimore and several other Maryland locations.

Some of the funds to make “Conquering the Rose” came from family, friends and through the online fund-raising site, Indiegogo.com. (St. John wouldn’t divulge what it cost to produce.) However, the bulk of the financing is riding on St. John herself, as she took out “multiple” bank loans to help make the film a reality, she says.

“It was kind of a realization,” she explains, “that it was up to me to make my dreams come true, and I couldn’t rely on others to make it happen for me.”

As for the movie’s future, St. John says producers have begun submitting the film to festivals throughout North America, including Toronto, Sundance and the Ivy Film Festival at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

If the film is accepted by festival organizers and well received by audiences, a movie distributor will pick it up, she hopes, and release it in other theaters or on DVD.

Movie deals aside, though, she still must get through the premiere and the reviews that will invariably follow.

“It’s a little daunting to spend so much time on something and then let the critics see it,” she says. “But that’s part of being a filmmaker.”

Cinema Arts Theatre is located at 9650 Main St. in the City of Fairfax. The premiere on July 31 begins at 8 p.m. A Q-and-A with filmmakers will take place afterward. Tickets are $6 and may be purchased through the theater’s website.

William S. Consovoy, JD '01. Photo courtesy of School of Law

Come this fall, a group of Mason law students will be assisting on cases before the most powerful court in the land.

In a partnership with the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Wiley Rein, Mason’s School of Law will launch the Supreme Court Clinic, a program that will offer pro bono legal representation for clients attempting to have their cases heard by the high court.

Over two semesters, a dozen law students will work alongside Wiley Rein attorneys, learning the ins and outs of Supreme Court litigation. Heading up the program on Wiley Rein’s end will be two Mason law school alumni, William S. Consovoy and Thomas R. McCarthy.  Consovoy once clerked for Justice Clarence Thomas, and McCarthy clerked at the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District. Both now work in Wiley Rein’s Appellate Group.

“George Mason was an obvious choice for us,” says Consovoy, who, along with McCarthy, graduated from law school in 2001. “We wouldn’t have done this with any other school.”

Thomas McCarthy, JD '01. Photo courtesy of School of Law

What will these fortunate students do? For starters, they will identify cases of interest and draft legal briefs, such as a petition for certiorari, which is a request to the Supreme Court to decide a case, and a merit brief, a formal argument presented to the court after it has agreed to accept a case.

In addition, students will receive classroom instruction, research legal issues and attend at least one Supreme Court argument per semester.

High pressure, yes. But according to Daniel D. Polsby, dean of the School of Law, this is what these future attorneys signed up for.

“Our students eagerly seek field experiences,” he says, “and this program will give them new opportunities to observe and participate in the business of the highest court in the land.”

With the promise of working hands-on with real cases, the clinic is designed for advanced students, according to McCarthy.

“Many of them will be a year away from graduating,” he says. “We received 50 applications, and we accepted 12 students … these are high-caliber students.”

Consovoy says the cases the students will be assisting on will run the gamut, including those involving civil and criminal law. And the students will have a say in which cases they take on. “We want them to do things that they are excited about,” he says.

According to both attorneys, though, the type of cases are secondary to what they hope the students will take away from the clinic, including an education in federal litigation, an appreciation for Supreme Court advocacy and a better understanding of the direction they may want to take their careers in the future.

“Each student will take away something different,” Consovoy promises. “But we know it will be rewarding in many different ways.”

Steven Monfort with a clouded leopard.

With mocha-brown furniture, stacks of paperwork and mementos from a career stretching a quarter-century, Steven Monfort’s office is not unlike any other home away from home for a senior government worker who has reached the occupational heights he has.

But just outside his office, Monfort, PhD Environmental Science and Public Policy ’93, has something that sets his workspace apart — herds of some of the most endangered animals in the world.

Monfort is director of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI), a 3,200-acre verdant outpost in Front Royal, Va., where scientists are pooling their mental might to find ways to preserve and expand species on the brink of extinction.

Not Your Typical Zoo

At any given time, the facility, which is off limits to the public, is abuzz with dozens of scientists and students studying and caring for as many as 40 different species, including red pandas, red-crowned and white-naped cranes and maned wolves, to name a few.

Though numbers fluctuate, typically several hundred animals call SCBI’s pastures and barns home.

“We’re not like a typical zoo,” Monfort points out. There are no cages, cotton candy stands or tour buses at SCBI.

“Most zoos have a Noah’s ark paradigm, where they have two of everything. That is great for the public to be exposed to a variety of different species — sort of the wonders of biodiversity — but it’s very difficult, if not impossible, to do science on animals when you have really small numbers of them.”

He adds, “Science and discovery really underpin everything we do here.”

A Trailblazer at Mason

An administrator, veterinarian and one of the Smithsonian’s point men in the world of biological preservation, Monfort was one of the first people to graduate from Mason with a doctoral degree geared toward zoo administration. Since then, he estimates, another two dozen have followed in his footsteps at Mason.

While at Mason, Monfort was already fully ensconced in the world of animal science. He began working for the Smithsonian in 1986, where he rose through the ranks as a veterinarian and scientist, spearheading research into animal hormones and reproduction and heading up many of the National Zoo’s conservation efforts.

In 2006, he became the zoo’s associate director for conservation and science. Four years later, he was named director of SCBI, and Mason’s College of Science named him the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.

Among his achievements at SCBI was his work with Mason officials to create the Smithsonian-Mason Semester in Conservation Studies program, which gives students the opportunity to spend a semester at the institute studying biological conservation.

“I ask them what they want to do and most say, ‘I want to make a difference,’ or ‘I want my life to have a meaning,’” he says of the students, adding that “what we try to do is immerse them in this living laboratory.”

Fighting the Good Fight

As director, Monfort spends most of his time poring over budgets and signing off on the documents that keep SCBI running. When not in the office, he’s likely at the zoo in Washington, D.C., or on the road, speaking on behalf of the Smithsonian on efforts to conserve biological diversity.

Recently, he was instrumental in creating the Global Tiger Initiative, a joint effort with the World Bank to bring nations together to save the world’s tiger population. He’s also been a catalyst in establishing numerous other conservation initiatives, including the Sahara Conservation Fund, Conservation Centers for Species Survival and the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project.

“We are fighting the good fight here,” he says.

After 25 years with the Smithsonian, including a brief stint as acting director of the entire National Zoo system in 2009, Monfort says he still gets the urge sometimes to pinch himself at how lucky he is to get to do what he does: save species.

“For me, this is a dream come true.”

This profile originally appeared in a slightly different format in the spring 2011 issue of the Mason Spirit.

Barbara Summers, vice president and chief nursing officer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Photo courtesy of Barbara Summers

When Barbara Summers talks about her work, she frequently uses the word “passion,” and passionate she is. Summers has spent the past 13 years working at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the top cancer centers in the country.

As vice president and chief nursing officer at MD Anderson, Summers, who has a BSN, MSN and PhD in nursing from Mason, is responsible for the professional welfare and training of almost 3,000 nurses.

Working in an area with many schools of nursing, she also serves as head of the Nursing Division there, where she has devoted her career to developing nurses clinically. Occasionally, she will also teach in a classroom setting.

Summers first grew interested in oncology nursing early in her career, just after completing her BSN at Mason.

“I was intrigued by the complexity of [the patients’] clinical courses,” she says. She believes working in oncology requires a lot of creativity, and that’s what drew her to clinical care and ultimately a master’s degree in the field.

“[Cancer care] is really about healing the whole person,” says Summers, who was inducted into the American Academy of Nursing as a fellow in 2009.

“In many instances, the patient feels otherwise healthy, but so much of the treatment has the potential to cause side effects. It is important to evaluate how each individual patient is doing and develop a plan that optimizes support for them. These are challenges where nurses can play a role.”

Summers also has worked with nurses internationally.

“It is always fascinating to hear about nursing practices elsewhere,” Summers says. “Despite our geographic and cultural differences, it is still easy to find a common ground in nursing, and that’s a very special thing to be able to share.”

In 2009, Summers was recognized by Mason’s College of Health and Human Services with its annual Alumna of the Year Award. She traveled to the Fairfax Campus last year with her husband, George Summers, BA ’77, whom she met in a speech communication class at Mason.

It had been almost 13 years since Summers had been on campus, and she says she was astounded when her assistant handed her a campus map in preparation for her trip. “I knew that the university had been growing, but I still was surprised by the changes and impressed with the level of sophistication.”

While on campus, Summers met with former classmates and gave a talk to alumni and faculty in which she shared her personal journey in nursing and described the opportunities that helped shape her career.

“Work is such an important part of my life,” she says. “One of the things I like best about this job is that I can make a difference in the lives of these nurses and the patients they care for.”

She adds, “To find work that is your passion — that is a gift.”

This article originally appeared in a slightly different format in the College of Health and Human services magazine, Dimensions, vol. 17, 2011.

By Art Taylor

Eric Johnson, MA English '05

How many times does the word “magic” appear in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”? And how many references to “mother” appear in “Hamlet”?

If you went to your bookshelf and took down that large volume of Shakespeare’s complete works, you probably would have a long day ahead of you.

If, instead, you went to Open Source Shakespeare, a website created by Eric Johnson, MA English ’05, your search would take mere milliseconds.

Johnson first had the idea for Open Source Shakespeare in 2001, when he was working at the Washington Times newspaper, first as a web designer and then as a theater reviewer, while pursuing a master’s degree.

Though he enjoyed looking up quotes from Shakespeare’s plays on the web, he was surprised to find that a single comprehensive and accessible Shakespeare site didn’t exist online.

“The ones that were comprehensive were not free, and the free ones were not comprehensive,” he wrote in his master’s thesis, adding that even the best of these was not searchable and easy to use — seemingly a must for scholars at all levels.

So he set out to build it himself.

And if that doesn’t seem like enough of a challenge, Johnson did it in the middle of the desert when he was a Marine reservist, trying to keep his laptop from getting dusty.

“I was one of the first folks in Iraq in 2003 and then was redeployed to Kuwait later that year,” Johnson said in a recent interview. “As we waited to return home, I found myself with time on my hands.”

The site he created has a number of benefits for Shakespeare scholars, college students, casual readers and both theatergoers and Shakespearean actors.

“What I really wanted was to create something useful for a broad range of users,” he explained.

“The concordance [search tool] helps users choose a key word in a soliloquy, for example, and then find how Shakespeare used that word elsewhere in the play — or in any of the plays. And there’s another feature for actors learning lines: they can simply see all the lines from the character they’re playing, plus the cue lines.”

The "Chandos" portrait of William Shakespeare, housed in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The site has received high marks from scholars. And it has grown in popularity, as well. Open Source Shakespeare has hosted more than 1.8 million visitors since June 2006.

Johnson continues to refine the site: a mobile version debuted in mid-2009, for example, and future developments will incorporate social media.

In addition to his work on this project, Johnson has gone on to make headlines in other areas. While working in the State Department’s Office of eDiplomacy, he spearheaded the development of Diplopedia, an internal database of articles about political leaders, business issues and more, to serve the diplomatic corps.

As with Wikipedia, the site allows users not just to access information, but to add their own material — a move that initially prompted security concerns but now has won great support. In 2008, he was invited to speak at Wikipedia’s annual conference.

Johnson now works as a senior consultant at Navigation Arts, a web design company based in Northern Virginia, where he leads project teams working with such organizations as the Corporation for National and Community Service (the parent organization of Americorps) and the Advisory Board Company, a health-care consultancy, among others.

But ties to Mason remain strong, and one of the biggest projects on the horizon involves a broadening of the Open Source Shakespeare project to include many more writers, focusing on widely read, widely taught public domain texts and ultimately including more user-generated contributions.

“For example, a professor could mark up ‘Paradise Lost’ with class notes that he wanted his students to see,” says Johnson.

“Or someone who’s been going to plays in New York for 40 years will certainly have something to add. Once we have people talking to one another online about these texts, we should be able to capture a lot of knowledge from people who love particular authors and know a lot about them.”

To support this work, Johnson and English Department faculty members Eric Anderson, Robert Matz and Alok Yadav have applied for a digital humanities grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other English Department faculty members serve as project consultants.

Johnson has proven unusual in blending his interest in the humanities with his skills in cutting-edge technologies.

“In my experience, when someone is not technically inclined but deep into literature, the tendency is to see the literature as the real value and the technology as an appendage,” he says.

“And the technical people think that the technical aspect holds the real value, because anybody can bang out words. That seems to me a hindrance to success. Keeping the technical component on an equal footing with the humanities — that’s my goal.”

This article originally appeared in a slightly different format in the English Department newsletter Not Just Letters.

By Catherine Ferraro

Janet McGraw. Photo courtesy of Janet McGraw

“I think some people tend to give up on teenagers, but they are really just on the brink of realizing their potential,” says Mason theater alumna Janet McGraw. “They just need an extra push from someone who believes in them.”

McGraw, fellow alumna Dannie Synder and current theater student Patricia Talmadge share a passion about two things: the theater and helping at-risk teens. Now, after starting their own theater company, Peripeteia Productions, the trio has found a novel way of combining these interests.

Originating from Greek, the word “peripeteia” means an unexpected change of fortune or a turning point. Peripeteia Productions uses a combination of exercises, playwriting and performing that educates teens about conflict-resolution skills and positive lifestyle choices.

The three co-founders hope these techniques will help teens build self-confidence and realize that they have the power to change their thinking and, thus, the conditions in which they live.

“We wanted to work with teenagers because both Patricia and I have always felt very invested in helping kids who have come from difficult backgrounds and who need some guidance in their lives,” says McGraw. Talmadge herself had a troubled childhood and adolescence.

Patricia Talmadge. Photo courtesy of Patricia Talmadge

The idea for the company originated as a class assignment when McGraw, BA Theater ’10, and Talmadge, currently a senior theater major, were enrolled in THR 440: Advanced Studies in Directing and Dramaturgy last spring. Students were tasked with creating their own theater companies, complete with mission and vision statements and season programs that put the missions into action.

By a stroke of luck, the pair struck up a conversation with Snyder, BA Film and Video Studies ’10 and BA Theater ’10. She had recently returned from Manchester, England, where she was studying the same topic: theater’s role in the community. Together, the trio discovered a void in the Washington, D.C., area of companies that provided participatory theater experiences to at-risk teens.

“In England, theater plays a huge role in the community and is often used as a tool to bring people together and help them overcome oppressive conditions,” says Snyder. “I was still very much interested in this idea when I returned to Mason, and working with Janet and Patricia presented the perfect opportunity to put this idea into action right here in the Northern Virginia area.”

The three were also inspired by the work of Augusto Boal, Viola Spolin and Michael Rohd, who are renowned for using theater to help bring people out of oppressive conditions and confront the reality in which they are living.

Dannie Snyder. Photo courtesy of Dannie Snyder

Once the plan for the theater company had been completed on paper, the group began transitioning from the classroom to the real world — a task that proved challenging. Having to quickly learn about the business side of running their own company, the group sought the services of an attorney, who helped guide them through the steps of creating a board of directors and bylaws, as well as incorporating a nonprofit organization.

Last summer, they launched a three-week pilot program with the Girls’ Outreach program at Argus House, an Arlington, Va.-based organization that serves girls ages 13–17 with troubled pasts.

On a volunteer basis, McGraw, Talmadge and Snyder spent one day a week with the girls, taking them through exercises and role-playing activities that helped to address areas of conflict in the girls’ lives.

“After each exercise, we talked with the girls about the activity they had just seen and whether or not the situation was handled effectively,” says Talmadge. “From the beginning to the end of the program, we noticed positive differences in the girls and hope that they take the conflict-resolution skills they have learned throughout the program and apply them to their lives.”

With the pilot program at Argus House under their belt, the group plans to branch out to other organizations and run programs, this time for a fee, that last from six to 12 weeks. They hope to work with the boys’ program at Argus House; Vanguard, a substance abuse facility; and area detention centers.

Although Peripeteia Productions will tailor its curriculum specifically to the needs of the group or facility, its program is generally structured with three main sections: a team-building stage, a creation stage and a rehearsal stage.

In the team-building stage, participants explore internal and social conflicts using a variety of theater exercises. The creation stage allows participants to discover a story they wish to share with the world. Finally, the rehearsal stage involves using their playwriting and improvisational skills to create a staged production that will be performed for a local audience.

“Our ultimate goal is to eventually establish program directors in cities across the country and perhaps even globally,” says McGraw. “If this program helps even one teenager realize their potential and teaches them how to overcome their current situation, we will consider it a success.”

By Catherine Ferraro

Located 25 miles south of Washington, D.C., the Occoquan Workhouse, now a historical site and museums in Lorton, Va., represents an important, and often unknown, era in women’s history.

Alumna Judy Kelly stands next to the exhibit she designed for the Occoquan Workhouse Suffrage Museum. Photo courtesy of Judy Kelly

In 1917, women began picketing the White House as part of a campaign to win the right to vote. After being arrested, many of these women were brought to the Occoquan Workhouse, which was generally used to detain women arrested for soliciting, prostitution, disorderly conduct and drunkenness.

At the workhouse, the picketers were physically abused, forced if they refused to eat and made to live in filthy conditions.

As a tribute to these courageous women, Mason alumna Judy Kelly, who graduated in May 2010 with a Bachelor of Individualized Study (BIS) degree with a concentration in women’s social movements, created a permanent exhibit for the Women’s Suffrage Museum at the Occoquan Workhouse as a capstone project when she was a student. The museum stands on the same site where the suffragists were imprisoned.

“Torture at the Workhouse” sheds light on the grisly conditions in which the suffragists lived and how their actions helped contribute to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

According to Kelly, who is the program assistant at Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Greater Prince William, since the exhibit was unveiled on March 31, 2010, there have been more than 10,000 visitors to the museums (a second museum is devoted to prison life).

“When I first visited the Occoquan Workhouse and museums, I noticed that there was very little evidence of the atrocities that occurred there in the early 1900s,” says Kelly. “It became very important to me to create an exhibit that would inspire the public, particularly young women, to appreciate the actions of the suffragists in helping to influence the freedoms we enjoy today.”

Kelly began the project by conducting extensive research on the time period and chose to focus the exhibit on some of the main leaders of the National Woman’s Party: Lucy Burns, Dora Lewis, Alice Paul and Rose Winslow.

These women were considered to be more radical than other suffragists when, in 1917 during the height of World War I, they picketed in front of the White House in an attempt to convince President Woodrow Wilson to take a greater interest in women’s rights.

The women were soon arrested and transferred to the Occoquan Workhouse. The women’s terms of imprisonment ranged from three days to seven months. For those who protested their imprisonment by refusing to eat, prison guards forcibly fed them by inserting a tube through their nose and into the esophagus.

When this treatment became public knowledge, President Wilson, prodded by extreme pressure and embarrassment, pardoned the suffragists in November 1917. It would take another three years until the 19th Amendment was finally ratified on Aug. 18, 1920.

When Kelly began planning her exhibit, she sought the advice of friends, colleagues and museum curators about the most effective ways to capture the intensity of the suffragists’ treatment through an exhibit. She even spent time at local museums watching visitors in action as they moved from one exhibit to the next.

“Through my observations, I learned that the average museum visitor gives an exhibit about 30 seconds before they move on,” says Kelly. “It was very important to me to create a simple display that could communicate a powerful message and engage a variety of senses.”

To make the exhibit as historically accurate as possible, Kelly examined photographs from the time period to help replicate the materials used in the exhibit. Then, Kelly scoured the area, going from basements in Baltimore to antique stores in Mount Vernon, Va., to find silver frames, tin cups, black lace-up shoes and coarse fabric that would help transport the visitor back to the year 1917.

At the heart of the exhibit is a depiction of a suffragist strapped to a wooden chair being forcibly fed by the prison matron and prison guard. The life-sized mannequins are enclosed behind bars in a prison cell, wearing clothes and makeup and using supplies indicative of the early 20th century.

On the walls surrounding the main display are storyboards that describe the time period, the force feeding and its significance. In addition, photographs of the four suffragists are displayed nearby and include information about their roles in the National Woman’s Party, their imprisonment and a personal quote about their experiences.

Accompanying the photographs are audio recordings of re-created conversations between the suffragists and the prison guards. Re-creating the suffragists’ voices was an important component of the exhibit, notes Kelly, because visitors can experience a deeper connection with the suffragists and better understand their pain and determination.

Visitors are invited to touch both the tube used in the force feeding and the rough fabric of the suffragist’s clothing. In addition, the colors of the suffrage flag — purple, white and gold — are carried through the display to unify the different parts of the exhibit.

“I hope this exhibit inspires people of all ages and genders to recognize that the efforts of these brave women happened not very long ago and that, although women have come a long way, we still have so much farther to go to gain equality,” says Kelly.

“If the suffragists’ actions shown in this exhibit encourage just one person to continue fighting for what they believe in, I will consider this project a success.”

More information about “Torture at the Workhouse” can be found here.

Jamie Konstas. Photo courtesy of Jamie Konstas

Some little girls dream of being a teacher or a nurse. Some fantasize about becoming president or an astronaut. Jamie (Girolamo) Konstas, BS Integrative Studies ’00, knew she wanted to work for the FBI.

Ten years after graduating from Mason’s New Century College (NCC), Konstas is living her dream. She serves as a critical information link between law enforcement agencies across the country and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), where she is detailed by the FBI’s Crimes Against Children Unit.

Early in her career as an intelligence analyst, Konstas recognized that child traffickers seemed to have a network, calling each other from other cities to find out where they could work or areas to avoid.

At the time, Konstas says, law enforcement didn’t have the same level of organization. Her work through the Innocence Lost National Initiative, a partnership among the FBI, NCMEC, and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, has helped by forming 38 task forces and working groups. She works closely with these groups to share information on children.

“Part of my responsibility is to get all the reports on missing kids,” says Konstas. “We get that information to law enforcement so they know who they need to be looking for.”

Technology has been critical to information sharing. What used to be done via phone and e-mail between officers is now online, according to Konstas, and information can be shared directly between agencies, as opposed to being filtered through an FBI field office.

“By giving them direct access to each other, they are able to build stronger cases, which have resulted in stronger prosecutions and sentences,” she says.

The network Konstas helped establish has resulted in the conviction of 600 traffickers and the rescue of 1,135 child victims. As a result of her efforts, she was honored in October 2009 with the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Excellence in Information Technology. In September of this year, she was awarded a Service to America Medal from the Partnership for Public Service.

Two significant operations have led to these honors. The first came in 2005 when the FBI and local law enforcement partnered to dismantle a nationwide trafficking network that was working out of a truck stop in Harrisburg, Penn. Known as the Precious Cargo case, 21 people were eventually indicted. In the end, Konstas’s work with task force members from the Pennsylvania State Police and the Internal Revenue Service identified 150 victims, 45 of them who started prostituting as children. Some were as young as 12.

“We were able to piece the case together and show that these [traffickers] all worked collaboratively, set pricing, and sold and traded victims within their network,” she says.

While many of those indicted during Precious Cargo pled guilty, two individuals chose to go to trial. Both were convicted and received 35- and 45-year sentences.

Another effort that has earned Konstas recognition is Operation Cross Country, a weekend sting operation that attempts to recover as many child victims as possible. In the first four weekends of the operation, nearly 200 children were recovered.

For all her success, Konstas looks back to Mason as the place it began. Among the first students to enroll in New Century College, she chose the program because of its hands-on learning opportunities. One of her internships through NCC was at NCMEC, where she met the FBI agent assigned to the organization.

“I thought she had the absolutely best job in the world,” Konstas says.

Konstas’s childhood aspiration to work for the FBI came true a few months after she graduated from Mason. By 2005, she was in her dream job at NCMEC. “Everything just sort of lined itself up,” Konstas says.

She credits her husband, Perry Konstas, BA Philosophy ’00, with providing the support she needs to do such difficult work. The couple, who met as Mason students, has a daughter and a son.

This story originally appeared in the Fall 2010 Mason Spirit magazine.

Lee Thomas. Photo courtesy of Lee Thomas

Just as a sculptor needs his hands, a TV broadcaster needs his face. So when Lee Thomas, BA Speech Communication ’91, found patches of white on his scalp, he was understandably concerned. Thomas was subsequently diagnosed with vitiligo, a chronic condition that affects the skin’s melanin, the pigment that determines the color of your skin, hair and eyes.

For his job at WJBK FOX 2 Detroit, where he is an entertainment reporter and anchor, Thomas began covering the white patches on his skin with makeup, but he always left his hands alone.

“One (hand) was almost completely white,” Thomas recalls. “A kid who has (vitiligo) saw that and called me.” During the lengthy phone conversation, the 15-year-old asked Thomas to show people what he looked like without his makeup. Up until that point, it was something Thomas hadn’t seriously considered.

“My boss had been asking me for at least a year to tell my story,” Thomas says. “I was thinking she wanted to get ratings, so I didn’t.” But this teenager’s appeal made Thomas pause.

“He said to me, ‘If you show people what you look like, maybe they’ll treat me differently,’” says Thomas. “I had just been focused on getting through my day, and I didn’t think of it that way. I had already gotten past the looks, the whispers and the laughs” that came with the disease, Thomas says.

So in 2005, Thomas did a three-minute piece about the disease that ran on his station. The response was immediate. From Taiwan to Australia, people wanted to hear Thomas’ story.

Thomas appeared on “Larry King Live,” “20/20,” and “The Montel Williams Show,” to name a few TV shows that picked up on his story.

“No one had really spoken up about this disease,” Thomas explains. “Once I put it out there, everyone was interested.” He also wrote a memoir called “Turning White,” which he based on journals he had been keeping.

Thanks to his degree from Mason, Thomas was well-prepared to be the center of attention.

“Everything that happened to me at Mason made me who I am,” Thomas says. He credits his time on the Forensics Team under the direction of professors Bruce “Doc” Manchester and Sheryl “Docette” Friedley with polishing his oration skills.

“I won second in the nation for prose,” Thomas reminisces. “Nationals were in Peoria, Ill., that year. I also qualified for dramatic duo. I still remember my part,” he laughs, spouting off some Shakespeare.

Lee Thomas at work in WJBK FOX 2 Detroit. Photo courtesy of WJBK

Thomas began his television career at Mason, too. He started a show on GMU-TV called “Rhythm Mason,” but he got his start at the station answering phones. “That job taught me how to go and make the job for myself.”

“GMU-TV was like my family,” Thomas says. “I don’t think I would’ve made it through college without it.”

Thomas now spends his downtime traveling around the country speaking about the disease and telling his story.

“I’ve gotten nothing but an overwhelmingly positive response,” Thomas says. “It’s the most real experience I’ve had as a communicator. I see tears in people’s eyes, and their faces change.

“I’m trained to communicate for my living,” says Thomas. “I think I was meant to speak for a lot of people who are in hiding and need someone to speak up on their behalf.”

This story originally appeared in a slightly different form in the fall 2010 Mason Spirit magazine.

By Catherine Ferraro and Corey Jenkins Schaut

Each year, more than 1,500 American students are given the opportunity to study, teach or conduct research in countries all over the world through the U.S. Fulbright Student Award.

This year, five of those Americans are Mason alumnae who will fan out across the globe in pursuit of very different interests.

One of the winners is Patricia Rivera, BA Government and International Politics ’03 and MS Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’07.

Rivera will travel to Brazil in February 2011 to conduct research for her project, “Community Organizing and Girl Empowerment as a Conflict Prevention Strategy.”

Specifically, she will be trying to highlight the participation of women and young girls in community organization peace-creation programs to help eliminate violence in “favelas,” which are shanty towns or slums, in Rio de Janeiro.

“This award is very important to me because it will allow me to contribute to the field of conflict resolution and gender studies,” says Rivera. “In addition, I hope that my research will both empower women and highlight the role they play in the creation of peace in Brazilian favelas.”

Lauren-Claire Kelley, BA English ’10, is another Fulbright winner.

Kelley left in September to travel to the town of Matera in the Basilicata region of southern Italy, where she will spend eight months. Kelley is working as an English teaching assistant to instructors at two local high schools specializing in classical studies and science.

Specifically, Kelley will assist the instructors with lesson plans and share with students her own stories about American culture through folklore.

“Since I eventually want to teach Italian at the high school or college level, this is a great opportunity to immerse myself in the language and culture,” says Kelley. “Furthermore, this Fulbright allows me to begin research on the efficacy of using folk narratives and fairy tales to teach another language.”

She adds, “I look forward to enriching my understanding of the multifaceted process of learning a foreign language, while at the same time helping Italian speakers learn the quirky, vigorous and always-surprising elements of the English language!”

Carol Petty, BA Sociology ’10, is also working as a foreign language assistant. She left in August to spend nine months in Duisburg, Germany.

Petty is spending much of her time conducting ethnographic research on the sociology of education, specifically examining the relationship between language education and a student’s ability to excel in other fields of study.

“As a student who has studied a foreign language, I am very interested in learning more about the positive effect that speaking more than one language can have on one’s abilities in other academic fields,” says Petty.

“Moreover, foreign language courses allow students, often for the first time, to interact with a culture different than their own. The Fulbright program allows me to pursue my academic interests while at the same time contributing valuable research to my field.”

Erica Porter. Creative Services photo

Erica R. Porter, BS Chemistry ’10, received a Fulbright to study tuberculosis at the Pasteur Institute in France.

“I combined my love of science with my desire to help sick people,” Porter says, speaking of her choice to major in chemistry with a concentration in biochemistry at Mason, where she received scholarship support and was in the Honors College.

“When I think about conducting research with one of the world’s leading scientists in the field, I can’t help but get excited,” Porter enthuses. “It’s an experience I never imagined for myself.”

While an undergraduate, Porter participated in a research apprenticeship in molecular microbiology and biochemistry through the College of Science’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases. Her research has focused on the biochemistry of the bacteria Francisella tularensis.

Porter also attended the Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program at Harvard Medical School and the Amgen Scholars Program in Undergraduate Research at the University of Washington.

When she returns from France, Porter plans to enroll in an MD-PhD program.

Azita Ranjbar. Creative Services photo

In January 2011, Azita Ranjbar, MS Peace Operations Policy ’08, will travel to Tajikistan, where she will spend the year working with a local nongovernmental organization called the League of Women Lawyers based near the border of Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

While in Tajikistan, Ranjbar, who also holds bachelor’s degrees in international relations and religious studies from the College of William and Mary, will conduct research for her project, “Informal Justice Systems in Tajikistan and the Impact on Women’s Rights.”

Her research will focus on the existence of multiple legal systems within one geographic area (commonly known as legal pluralism) and its impact on women’s rights.

Specifically, Ranjbar is interested in determining the relationship between traditional conflict-mediation practices and state law with regards to women’s rights. She also wants to identify critical legal challenges facing Tajik women and how they navigate the formal and informal legal systems.

Ranjbar traveled to Tajikistan for the first time last year when she completed an International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) fellowship.

IREX is an international nonprofit organization that provides leadership and innovative programs to improve the quality of education, strengthen independent media and foster pluralistic civil society development.

As an IREX fellow, Ranjbar conducted research on economic and legal challenges facing women who are married to migrant workers.

She has also spent time in Afghanistan examining women’s access to justice systems.

“The Fulbright program provides a valuable opportunity to conduct independent research on a topic on which very little research has been done in post-Soviet Tajikistan,” says Ranjbar.

“In addition, this funding will allow me to work side-by-side with nongovernmental and grassroots organizations that are doing incredible work with local communities, contributing greatly to cultural understanding.”

Scott Alan Smith has a "Dr. Everyman" look that has helped him cinch a number of dramatic roles. Photo courtesy of Scott Alan Smith

If you saw Scott Alan Smith, BA English ’86, on the street, you might do a double take. Maybe you would recognize him from his salad days at Mason, but more than likely you would’ve caught him in one of his guest roles on a number of different television drama series.

His resume is impressive. From critical darlings such as “Big Love,” “Entourage” and “True Blood” to smash hits such as “House” and “CSI: New York,” Smith manages to stay pretty busy.

One of his recent roles was playing a doctor on an episode of “CSI: Miami.” The common theme in most of his TV acting gigs? “I get to play the lawyers and doctors and distraught upper-middle-class fathers,” Smith says.

He recalls an audition he had for “The Practice.” “As I was leaving, I overheard one of the [casting directors] say, ‘He looks just like my gynecologist.’” He booked the job.

But Smith wasn’t always Dr. Everyman. Before he moved to Los Angeles, he got his start right here at Mason. Smith took a forensics class with Bruce Manchester and credits the professor, now retired from the Department of Communication, with sparking his interest in performing. Manchester, who coached the forensics team at Mason for 19 years, encouraged Smith to pursue a career on the stage.

Smith worked with Arthur Peterson, an artist in residence at Mason and an actor who played the Major on the television soap opera spoof “Soap,” on a student-directed project his senior year. After graduation, Smith stayed in the area and continued training at Arena Stage. He was cast in a production at the Studio Theater in Washington, D.C.

From there, he earned an MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and made his way to Hollywood. While he continues to act on stage and in television and films, Smith has made a name for himself behind the scenes, as well.

Smith during a rehearsal of "Lady," which he directed in 2008 at the Road Theatre Company. Photo courtesy of Scott Alan Smith

Beginning in 1997 with a one-act play, Smith has found himself in the director’s chair on many occasions. He recently directed the Road Theatre Company’s West Coast premiere of “Lady” by playwright Craig Wright, who created television’s “Dirty Sexy Money.”

He’s also tried his hand at playwriting, co-writing “King of the Moon,” which his wife, Elizabeth Sampson, directed at the Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles. That play was made into a film that premiered at the 2004 Tribeca Film Festival.

But don’t ask him to pick one: acting or directing. “Do I have to? One so informs the other,” Smith says. “Being a director has made me a better actor and vice versa.”

And Smith can add another hyphenate to his repertoire — he has been teaching a text analysis course at Pepperdine University since last spring.

One of the perks of his profession? Meeting all the actors and actresses he’s admired throughout his career. “You’re surrounded by your heroes, and you get to work with them,” he says. “Getting to direct Ed Harris [in for the LA Phil's 2005 Season Opening Gala at Disney Hall] was a real highlight for me.”

And despite his success, Smith hasn’t forgotten where he got his start.

“Mason is where I fell in love with my life’s work,” he says. “And being able to go into D.C. and get my start there — it was invaluable and it all came from Mason.”

This article appeared in a slightly different form in the Spring 2010 issue of the Mason Spirit.

Muna AbuSalyman. Photo courtesy of Muna AbuSalayman

“If you’re living in an iron shack and drinking contaminated water, education isn’t going to be your priority,” says Muna AbuSulayman, BA English ’96, MA English ’96.

The mother of two daughters, AbuSulayman has long carried passions for improving educational opportunities and life circumstances, particularly for women in the Middle East.

These driving forces have put her on a fascinating — and varied — career trajectory that includes stints in higher education, the media and philanthropy.

AbuSulayman started her professional career as an English literature lecturer in her native Saudi Arabia.

On a whim, she applied to work on an Arab-language television program called “Kalam Nawaem,” a talk show similar to “The View,” in which four cohosts explore societal issues.

Nine years later, she is a well-known television personality in the Middle East. She left the program two years ago and is currently developing a news magazine-style series that will explore how cutting-edge ideas might influence the Middle East.

AbuSulayman has been able to use her media experience as a platform to expand awareness of societal issues.

She notes that many people in the Arab world do not have the same information resources as people do in Western countries.

AbuSulayman believes that television programs can be used as a teaching tool and drive dialogue in a culturally sensitive way.

“I’d like for people to take one piece of knowledge from my show that would really affect them,” AbuSulayman says. “Something to make them a better person or a more productive citizen.”

In addition to her media presence, AbuSulayman has had a global effect on philanthropy.

She is the executive director of the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Kingdom Foundation, the charitable arm of Kingdom Holdings, a global investment company established by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal.

The foundation funds projects that focus on interfaith dialogue, alleviating poverty and natural disaster relief.

AbuSulayman is personally and professionally passionate about women’s rights and improving educational opportunities in the Middle East.

Her work in these areas has earned her a global spotlight. Last fall, AbuSulayman spent four months as a Yale World Fellow, a program that develops emerging global leaders.

While at Yale, AbuSulayman explored pay equity for women, particularly women who choose to step out of the workforce to concentrate on caregiving roles. The subject grew out of her personal struggles as a working mother.

“Women should be able to make the choice to stay home and not be penalized for it,” AbuSulayman says. “Being there for your children is important to their well-being.”

She notes the lesser retirement benefits for women who choose not to work, as well as the diminished career opportunities for those with gaps in their work history.

She observes that supporting caregivers offers societal benefits that can be quantified in such ways as improved childhood nutrition and lowered juvenile delinquency rates.

In the roles that AbuSulayman has taken on, she credits her English degrees from Mason as having helped prepare her intellectually for any challenge.

“Literature is really a microcosm of the world,” she says. “Studying it allows you to be interdisciplinary.”

She continues to believe in the power of education to advance cultures, particularly in the Middle East.

She advocates translating English-language journals into other languages, particularly Arabic, so that students from high school and on can have access to this broad knowledge base.

But even with education as a high priority for AbuSulayman and the foundation, she views meeting basic needs as paramount.

This article appeared in a slightly different form in the Spring 2010 issue of the Mason Spirit.

Joshua Lawton-Belous

While Independence Day is considered the most patriotic day of the year, recent Mason graduate Joshua Lawton-Belous shows his support for the country and those who serve it every day.

To recognize his efforts and the contributions he has made to the City of Fairfax, city officials chose Lawton-Belous as the Honorary Grand Marshal of the 2010 Independence Day Celebration. The event took place in the Fairfax Historic District on Saturday, July 3, beginning with a parade at 10 a.m. An evening show of fireworks concluded the celebration.

As a U.S. Army veteran, Lawton-Belous understands the challenges faced by members of the military when returning home from active duty. After six years in uniform and two tours in Iraq as a medic, he returned to the Northern Virginia area. He has been making a difference in the lives of veterans ever since.

“Being recognized for the work I’ve done feels very rewarding, but even without the recognition I would still be doing everything I can to support veterans and current service members,” says Lawton-Belous.

“Veterans need a different kind of support than most people, and not everyone understands this. One of the most important things that veterans need to readjust to civilian life after returning from a combat zone is to connect with people who understand what they have gone through. Seeing a veteran make this connection and transition easily is the only reward for which I am looking.”

Lawton-Belous’ career in the military began exactly one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. He enlisted in the U.S. Army with the 1st Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment of the 1st Armored Division, and eventually became a staff sergeant.

In 2003, his unit fought in Baghdad, Sadr City and Karbala and earned the Presidential Unit Citation. In 2006, Lawton-Belous was again deployed to Iraq, where he was wounded and sent home to recover.

During his recovery, Lawton-Belous founded the nonprofit organization Education for Virginia Veterans. The organization worked with Veterans Society chapters at several universities in the area to lobby Virginia legislators on behalf of the state’s military personnel and veterans.

In 2007, Lawton-Belous enrolled at Mason, and this spring he earned a BA in history with a minor in business.

While at Mason, he served as vice chair of the Mason Veterans Center Project Task Force and helped develop a proposal for resources that would help student veterans. These efforts led to the creation of Mason’s Office of Military Services and the growth of the university’s veteran-related programs.

During his senior year, he served as president of Mason’s Student Veterans Association and spearheaded the third annual Veterans 5K Run/Walk to raise money for the Veterans Scholarship Endowment. According to Lawton-Belous, the endowment helps bridge the gap between tuition increases at the university and the limited funds available from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The Scholarship Endowment Fund awards scholarships each year to Mason students who have served or are currently serving in the U.S. armed forces. Special consideration is given to combat veterans, past awards received or leadership in the community. Students must maintain a 3.0 GPA to retain the scholarship for a full academic year.

Lawton-Belous also initiated the Student Veteran Mentor Program as part of the Student Veterans Association. The program connects student veterans with mentors who are former or current military students or members of the local community. Mentors provide advice on transitioning to college or other fields in which the veteran is interested.

In addition to supporting student veterans at Mason, Lawton-Belous served as the junior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 8469, one of the largest posts in Northern Virginia. Lawton-Belous and other veterans helped raise more than $14,000 to donate to charities and other organizations in support of veterans. One of the main goals of the post, he notes, is helping veterans understand and have better access to benefits available to them.

Lawton-Belous also helped found the Virginia Veteran website in 2008. The Virginia Veteran addresses critical issues facing veterans and their families, including mental health injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, health care and GI Bill educational benefits.

Shortly after graduating, Lawton-Belous accepted a position at Booz Allen Hamilton, one of the leading strategy and technology consulting firms in the country. Although he won’t have as much free time, he notes that he will never stop supporting veterans in any way he can.

Kate Taylor with one of her handbag designs she calls "The Sophisticate." Mason costume design classes inspired her to work with fabric. Photo courtesy of Kate Taylor

Dedicated to preparing students for a wide range of careers in the performing arts, Mason’s Department of Theater stresses the importance of gaining experience both in and out of the classroom and on and off the stage.

With the plethora of learning opportunities available to nearly 100 students, coupled with never-ending faculty support, it’s not surprising that the theater program’s graduates thrive on many different pathways.

Following in the footsteps of several family members who graduated from Mason, Kate Taylor, BA Theater ’04, knew instantly that the university’s theater department would provide a great outlet to express her creativity.

“My love for acting began in high school, but when I came to Mason and enrolled in the theater program and was exposed to so many areas of the field, including costume design, screenwriting, makeup and production, my interests started to shift gears,” says Taylor. “It wasn’t until my senior year that I developed a love for costume design and printing my own fabrics.”

She credits the courses she took in costume construction taught by Howard Kurtz, associate professor of theater, and printmaking taught by Susan Goldman, adjunct professor in the School of Art, with sparking her interest in fashion design. These classes encouraged her to take up sewing again and taught her how to create her own designs and apply them to fabric.

Taylor put these skills to use during her last year at Mason when she began designing her own book bags. When she moved to Berlin, Germany, four years after graduating summa cum laude, her interest in making handbags took off.

She creates handbags in a variety of styles, shapes, colors and fabrics, and she still consults the workbook she created in Kurtz’s class that details all the various kinds of seams and finishing techniques.

When she moves to Amsterdam next month, she hopes to launch her Darley handbag line all over the world and eventually expand to offer clothes and other products.

Karin Craven discovered her calling as a wig maker after working on Mason theater productions. Now she splits her time between two theater companies. Photo courtesy of Karin Craven

Back in the United States, another theater alum, Karin Craven, BA Theater ’05, splits her time between Atlanta, Ga., and Cedar City, Utah.

As a Mason student with a variety of interests, her college career got off to a great start when she took the course Drama, Stage and Society, taught by Rick Davis, artistic director of Mason’s Center for the Arts and Theater of the First Amendment.

It wasn’t until she worked on costumes and makeup for the theater program’s “Look Homeward Angel” production that she discovered her true calling – making wigs.

Shortly after Craven graduated from Mason, Kurtz introduced her to wig masters on the Broadway productions of “Beauty and the Beast” and “Hairspray” in New York City. She also got a chance to visit the studio of wigmaker Bob Kelly, who has been making wigs for “Saturday Night Live” since 1976.

“After the trip to New York City, I felt very overwhelmed and wasn’t sure if I would be able to make it in this industry,” says Craven. “But drawing from the solid foundation I created at Mason, I realized that this was something at which I could excel. In addition, the support I have continued to receive from Howard has been invaluable. Without it I don’t think I would be where I am today.”

Craven later went on to receive a master’s degree in makeup and wig design and technology from the University of Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

For the past several years, she has been working as the wig master at Alliance Theater in Atlanta and heads the wig department at the Utah Shakespearean Festival during the summer.

Taylor Coffman has been successful as an actor, writer and producer in Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Taylor Coffman

On the West Coast, Taylor Coffman, BA Theater ’03, tries her hand at all the various aspects of theater, including acting, writing and producing. She credits the education she received at Mason with giving her the confidence to wear so many hats and achieve success as an artist.

“I came to Mason wanting to be an actor, but the theater program really stresses the importance of gaining knowledge about the entire field,” says Coffman. “In the long run, the program gave me a strong theatrical aesthetic and taught me to vary my interests so I would be prepared to handle all of the facets of the industry.”

Through the numerous acting and directing courses she took from theater professors such as Davis and Ed Gero, Coffman was actively involved in almost all of the theater program’s productions while she was at Mason.

As a sophomore, she landed her first professional acting role in “Lady from the Sea,” a play produced by Theater of the First Amendment, Mason’s professional theater company in-residence.

Soon after graduating magna cum laude from Mason, Coffman headed to sunny Los Angeles. She spent three years in late-night comedy on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and worked her way up to pulling comedy content for the show’s opening monologue and appearing on the show in comedy bits. Later, she began focusing on her own acting career goals in film, television and the stage.

In 2008, she co-founded the Mutineer Theatre Company, an organization dedicated to developing new works. Drawing on the skills she learned in Theater Professor Heather McDonald’s playwriting courses, Coffman recently completed the month-long run of “DITCH,” her first professionally produced play.

She is currently participating in the Hollywood Fringe Festival, where one of her short plays is in production.