University of Virginia Library

RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING INDEPENDENT STATUS FOR GEORGE MASON
COLLEGE

After extensive discussion, the following resolution was adopted:

• WHEREAS the Board of Visitors, responding to the needs of the people of Northern Virginia and the Commonwealth at large, and to the gift of a tract of land from the City of Fairfax, founded George Mason College in 1957 as a two-year division of the University and since then has fostered its development to a four-year institution, fully accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and offering the master's degree in certain fields; and
• WHEREAS under the aegis of the University at Charlottesville the College has become a flourishing institution offering undergraduate degrees in 22 fields and an increasing number of programs leading to the master's degree; and
• WHEREAS further gifts of land from the Counties of Fairfax and Arlington and the Cities of Alexandria and Falls Church have made possible the development of an approved Master Site Plan for the accommodation of an enrollment of 15,000 students by 1985; and
• WHEREAS the Board takes pride in the achievements of George Mason College, and is willing to continue to participate in developing it; and
• WHEREAS the Board of Visitors is gratified by the recommendations for increased financial support for George Mason College by the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia; and
• WHEREAS the State Council of Higher Education has reaffirmed its policy that State four-year institutions of higher education be operated under separate governing boards and has requested this Board to re-examine its relationship to George Mason College; and
• WHEREAS the Advisory Board of George Mason College to the President of the University has recommended the establishment of the College as a separate State institution of the Commonwealth of Virginia to be known as "George Mason University"; and
• WHEREAS the present Chancellor of George Mason College will retire on July 1, 1972, and the College will benefit from additional time as a new institution to select an administrative head;
• NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by The Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia that a recommendation be and it is hereby made to the Governor and the General Assembly of Virginia that legislative action be taken to establish George Mason College as a State institution of higher education of the Commonwealth separate from the University of Virginia, effective March 1, 1972, or as soon thereafter as is feasible, in order that the College, as a separate institution, may undertake the selection of a president at an early date.