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As Mason faculty members reflect on their experiences teaching during a global pandemic, they say they’ve learned some lessons they’ll bring into the return to a more traditional academic year.

Can enemy groups learn to develop compassion for one another? That was the question Carter School professor Daniel Rothbart set out to answer in his research at Rondine, a two-year “laboratory for peace.” Now, the results are in. “This is the first in-depth case study of compassion among civilians who live in conflict zones,” said Rothbart, who collaborated with 91���� professors Thalia Goldstein, Marc Gopin and Karina Korostelina. “We hope this is a model that can help create new practices for peacebuilders to cultivate compassion.”

91���� researchers are collaborating with Fairfax County on an autonomous shuttle program that is the first of its kind in Virginia.

Activism runs in Laila Mokhiber’s blood. Well before she became the director of communications at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA USA), Mokhiber was a child holding protest signs in human rights demonstrations. Before then, her mother held her as a baby in the gallery of the Supreme Court, as her father argued to incorporate Arab Americans into the Civil Rights Act in 1987. The 91���� alumna has also made a name for herself. In 2020, she was named one of the top 40 influential Arab Americans under 40 by the Arab America Foundation.

Showcasing a collection of more than 100 native and non-native trees and shrubs, the 91���� Arboretum earned Level II accreditation from ArbNet, the only international accreditation program specific to arboreta.

91���� hosted its third annual collegiate hackathon, PatriotHacks, the weekend of April 16. Nearly 350 students from all over the world spent 36 hours attending workshops, panels, and participating in technology activities and challenges.

As K-12 school districts throughout the country reexamine their early reading programs, Seth Parsons, a 91���� education expert, said schools should invest in teacher development and training to reach all students.

91���� has been named a military friendly institution by Viqtory, Military Friendly for the 10th year, an important distinction for a university committed to veterans and other nontraditional students.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam last week lifted the mask requirement for people who have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. As a public university, 91���� is complying with the Governor’s order, eliminating face covering and distancing requirements for all fully vaccinated people, effective today, June 2. 

Kaiser Permanente, one of the nation’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans, has committed $175,000 to advance 91����’s community health initiatives.

The longitudinal study is an important effort seeking to improve the health of young adults.

A repeated donor has gifted an additional $2 million to Emergent Ventures India to help in the country's fight against COVID-19.