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Non-Discrimination

Affirmative Action Policy

Affirmative Action has been a very controversial program since the federal government established it in the early 60's. Originally established as a way to get more minorities (formerly conceived as African Americans) and women into the workforce, it has expanded over the years to include disabled and other veterans, persons with disabilities and a requirement to have employers accommodate the religious needs of their employees where "reasonable."

Throughout the last 40 years, the concept of affirmative action has been adopted, modified, vilified, and molded over and over again. However, the basis of the program is extraordinarily simple: these programs, whether public or private, are efforts to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination. The legal challenges and subsequent rulings are many and varied but at the core is the deceptively simple concept that women, minorities, the disabled, and veterans should be reflected in our workforce or labor pool in rough proportion to their numbers in society or a given region.

In the eagerness in implementing the concept however, some organizations have gone too far and trampled on the guaranteed rights of other individuals. Nothing in the regulations requiring affirmative action does it require organizations to hire unqualified individuals or to make decisions solely on the basis of a person's race, or gender.

That is why here at George Mason University, we take "affirmative Equal Opportunity" in searching for qualified persons or color, women, veterans and persons with disabilities. The university aggressively seeks out qualified candidates and makes decisions about appropriate personnel and students based on the quality of their content and not other extraneous factors.

We are proud of the efforts we have created here at Mason to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination and we are proud of the diversity that is obvious to all who come to Mason. We will continue to work on making George Mason University a leader in educating all students around the globe.

"In order to attract and retain the best, most creative and diverse faculty and staff available, George Mason Univeristy is firmly committed to the principles and practices of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity. All employees of the univeristy have the responsiblity for ensuring that the principles of equity and affirmative action are implemented tot eh fullest extent possible for all positions within the university, especially as it relates to the recuitment, retention, and promotion of faculty and staff".