| Colleges & Universities • American University |
General Information
NFT Map: |
19 |
Main Campus: |
4400 Massachusetts Ave NW |
Phone: |
202-885-1000 |
Website: |
Overview
Congress chartered “The” American University in 1893 to fulfill George Washington’s vision of a great “national university” in the nation’s capital. If Washington rode the Tenleytown shuttle to campus today, he’d probably be impressed. Though it seems sometimes like half of the AU student body is from Long Island, New Jersey, or the Philly suburbs, the school’s 12,000 students hail from more than 150 countries. This diversity, along with its location in the nation’s capital, makes AU a popular place to study public policy and international affairs. With few Wednesday classes and a heavy internship focus, AU is something of a foreign affairs, NGO, and Hill staffer factory. AU students brag that while Georgetown’s stuffed shirts end up at DC think tanks, their grads actually go out and get their hands dirty. Indeed, it’s often the school’s idealistic crowd that most resents the “brat pack” contingent of diplomat kids and OPEC heirs, who enroll more out of interest in DC’s nightlife than in changing the world. AU’s idealists went into full protest mode in 2005 to force former University president Benjamin Ladner to resign after improperly charging the school for more than $500,000 in personal expenses, including a personal French chef, vacations in Europe with his wife, and his son’s engagement party. While searching for a less ostentatious leader, AU’s board of trustees started a new fundraising drive, appropriately called “AnewAU.”
Nestled in tony upper northwest DC, AU’s leafy quad gives it a classic liberal-arts-school look. But its picturesque campus doesn’t lack in intrigue: work on the Manhattan Project started out in AU’s McKinley building, because its unusual architecture ensured that any mishap would cause the building to self-implode and therefore limit any widespread repercussions.
Tuition
In the 2013–2014 academic year, tuition and fees were $20,325 per semester, with room and board on top. Graduate student tuition, fees, and expenses vary by college.
Sports
AU’s Eagles play a nice range of NCAA Division I men’s and women’s sports, including basketball, cross-country, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and track and field. Male-exclusive sports include golf and wrestling, while women play field hockey, volleyball, and lacrosse. The men’s basketball team wins every year but has trouble drumming up fan interest; it’s a running joke that mid-season you’ll find more students waiting for AU’s shuttle to the Metro than in Bender Arena. A few years ago, the Eagles left the Colonial Athletic Association to join the Patriot League in hopes of using the league’s championship as an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. In 2008, the move finally paid off, as the Eagles’ Men’s Basketball team landed a number 15 seed in the Big Dance (albeit losing to number 2 seed Tennessee in their first match-up). In 2009, they won the Patriot League Tournament, and student Derrick Mercer was named the 2009 Patriot League Player of the Year and an Associated Press All-American. AU’s impressive 2009 season and NCAA Tourney berth gave DC residents hope that they’ll have a new perennial Tournament team to root for in the coming years.
Culture on Campus
AU operates its wildly wonkish and popular radio station, WAMU 88.5 FM, broadcasting NPR programs as well as locally produced shows like The Kojo Nnamdi Show and The Diane Rehm Show. Similarly, the University seems to score a speech a week by an inside-the-beltway celebrity, including appearances by Pulitzer Prize–winning columnist David S. Broder, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and former President Jimmy Carter. Bender Arena appears to have lost its appetite for the big-time acts it used to feature, now hosting smaller performances by the likes of Jimmy Eat World and The Roots. The Katzen Arts Center at AU opened in late 2005, bringing all of AU’s arts programs under one roof, including its Watkins collection of over 4,400 modern works of Washington-area art.
Department Contact Information
Admissions |
202-885-6000 |
College of Arts & Sciences |
202-885-2453 |
Kogod School of Business |
202-885-1900 |
School of Communication |
202-885-2060 |
School of International Service |
202-885-1600 |
School of Public Affairs |
202-885-2940 |
Washington College of Law |
202-274-4000 |
Washington College of Law Library |
202-274-4350 |
Office of Campus Life |
202-885-3310 |
Athletic Department |
202-885-3000 |
University Library |
202-885-3232 |
| The Catholic University of America |
General Information
NFT Map: |
14 |
Address: |
620 Michigan Ave NE |
Phone: |
202-319-5000 |
Website: |
Overview
Lesser known than its Washington rivals but equal in academic distinction, CUA was established in 1887 as a graduate research institution where the Roman Catholic Church could do its thinking, and its undergraduate programs began in 1904. It remains the only American university founded with a papal charter. With a board of trustees still brimming with US cardinals and bishops, the school is the national university of the Catholic Church.
That said, CUA is by no means a seminary. Sixteen percent of its 3,500 undergraduates represent religions other than Catholicism, and although shadowed by the colossal Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception (the largest church in America), the laissez-faire campus lacks the in-your-face piousness to which other orthodox colleges subscribe. The 193-acre campus is the largest and arguably the most beautiful of the DC universities. Prominent alums include Susan Sarandon, Ed McMahon, Jon Voight, Brian Cashman (GM of the New York Yankees), and Maureen Dowd.
Though mostly religious, CUA’s student body sometimes tries hard to prove otherwise. “Catholic U: Don’t Let the Name Fool You” has been a popular motto of a ruddy-faced breed of students that knows how to pick the beer glasses up and put the books down. With a flourishing party scene, CUA is well-represented among DC’s various watering holes. And no, Mr. Joel, Catholic girls do not always start much too late.
Tuition
Tuition for the 2013–2014 year came to $19,000 per semester. If you need a place to eat and sleep, the basic meal plan and housing costs come to approximately $5,000 and $9,000 respectively. That totals about $55,000, assuming you won’t be buying any beer and books. It’s college in America, what did you expect? At least a Catholic U degree can land you a job where you can actually pay off those loans.
Sports
Formerly a member of NCAA’s Division I, the Catholic Cardinals (as in the little red bird, not the man with the incense and the big hat) dropped to Division III during the 1970s. Of all the school’s sports, men’s basketball reigns supreme. Winner of the 2000–2001 Division III National Championship, the team reeled off five consecutive Sweet Sixteen seasons before the streak came to a halt last in 2009. The women’s squad, which posted a 20-win season in 2009, is also a powerhouse within CUA’s Capital Athletic Conference, and in 2010, two members were awarded honors by the Landmark Conference. In 2013, both the men’s and women’s b-ball teams made it to postseason play. The Catholic football team may have stumbled over the last few seasons, but betting men beware: it dominated the gridiron during the nineties, ranking as high as number ten in the nation.
Culture on Campus
The Catholic U has 118 recognized student groups, and seven different leadership programs. You can sing a cappella and interact with other architecture enthusiasts, and still make it to your WCUA radio show in time to throw on that new Wale record you’ve been neglecting your work to listen to. Music geeks unite! Boasting an extraordinary music program—one of the top in the country—CUA’s Benjamin T. Rome School of Music continuously churns out gem after gem. Thanks to a recent grant, CUA music students study with some of the most renowned composers, directors, and musicians working on Broadway today. The school stages over 200 musicals, operas, chamber concerts, and orchestral and choral performances throughout the academic year. For listings, including Department of Drama productions, visit performingarts.cua.edu.
Department Contact Information
Undergraduate Admissions |
202-319-5305 |
Graduate Admissions |
202-319-5057 |
Athletics |
202-319-5286 |
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music |
202-319-5414 |
The Columbus School of Law |
202-319-5140 |
Conferences and Summer Programs |
202-319-5291 |
Hartke Theatre Box Office |
202-319-4000 |
Metropolitan College |
202-319-5256 |
The National Catholic School of Social Service |
202-319-5458 |
Public Affairs |
202-319-5600 |
The School of Arts and Sciences (undergrad) |
202-319-5115 |
The School of Arts and Sciences (grad) |
202-319-5254 |
The School of Business and Economics |
202-319-5236 |
The School of Canon Law |
202-319-5492 |
The School of Engineering |
202-319-5160 |
The School of Nursing |
202-319-5400 |
The School of Philosophy |
202-319-5259 |
The School of Theology and Religious Studies |
202-319-5683 |
Summer Sessions |
202-319-5257 |
| Colleges & Universities • Gallaudet University |
General Information
NFT Map: |
11 |
Address: |
800 Florida Ave NE |
Phone: |
202-651-5050 |
Website: |
Overview
Gallaudet is the premier university for the deaf and hearing-impaired, and the only university in the world where deaf students and those without hearing problems mingle. It is a campus where English and American Sign Language (ASL) coexist. Students can choose from more than 40 majors, and all aspects of the school, including classes and workshops, are designed to accommodate deaf students. Even the hearing students, who make up about 5% of each entering class, must always communicate through visual means.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet co-founded the American School for the Deaf in Hartford, CT, in 1817 as the first such school in the country. Forty years later, his youngest son, Dr. Edward Minor Gallaudet, established a school for the deaf in DC. In 1864, that school became the world’s first and only liberal arts university for the deaf. In 1988, I. King Jordan, the University’s first deaf president, was appointed after students, backed by a number of alumni, faculty, and staff, shut down the campus, demanding that a deaf president be appointed. In 2006, students took over the campus again, this time to block Jane Fernandes from being selected university president because, although born deaf, Fernandes grew up speaking and did not learn American Sign Language until she was 23. Dr. Jordan himself accused students of rejecting Fernandes because she was “not deaf enough.” Gallaudet’s mismanagement of the protests, as well as its low graduation rates, led the Commission on Higher Education to postpone re-accreditation, noting concerns about weak academic standards, ineffective governance, and a lack of tolerance for diverse views.
Tuition
In the 2013–2014 academic year, tuition and fees (including room and board) for US residents comes to about $15,138 for undergraduate programs and $15,813 for graduate programs. For international students from developing countries, the price of admission is $18,494 for undergraduate and $19,507 for graduate programs, and for international students from non-developing countries, it is $21,850 and 23,200, respectively.
Sports
The birth of the football huddle took place at Gallaudet. Legend has it that prior to the 1890s, football players stood around discussing their plays out of earshot of the other team. This posed a problem for Gallaudet’s team; they communicated through signing and opposing teams could see the plays that were being called. Paul Hubbard, a star football player at the university, is credited with coming up with the huddle to prevent prying eyes from discovering plays.
In 2007, thanks to improved performance in club football (including an undefeated 2005 season) the Bison football team returned to NCAA Division III football for the first time since the mid-1990s. With its return to NCAA football, Gallaudet now boasts 13 NCAA Division III teams and several intramural sports teams.
In the summer, Gallaudet runs popular one-week sports camps, where teens from all over the US, as well as the local area, stay on campus and participate in basketball and volleyball activities. Check the website for details.
Culture on Campus
Gallaudet’s Dance Company performs modern, tap, jazz, and other dance styles incorporating ASL. Gallaudet also produces several theater productions every year, all of which are signed, with vocal interpretation. The school is smack in the middle of a neighborhood quickly transitioning from rough to trendy. Check out the nearby theaters, coffeehouses, and farmers market before gentrification smoothes out the hard edges.
Department Contact Information
Admissions |
800-995-0550 |
Graduate School and Professional Programs |
800-995-0513 |
College of Liberal Arts, Sciences, and Technologies |
202-651-5224 |
Department of ASL and Deaf Studies |
202-651-5814 |
Financial Aid |
202-651-5292 |
Gallaudet Library |
202-651-5217 |
Registrar |
202-651-5393 |
Visitors Center |
202-651-5050 |
| The George Washington University |
General Information
NFT Map: |
7 |
Address: |
2121 Eye St NW |
Phone: |
202-994-1000 |
Website: |
Overview
Once considered nothing more than a second-rate commuter school for graduate and law students, GW, like the city it inhabits, has enjoyed a massive boom in popularity over the past ten years. The school has close to 11,000 full-time undergraduate students and nearly 14,000 graduate students stomping around Foggy Bottom in search of wisdom and love. Over the last decade, the school has embarked on large-scale construction projects and has unveiled new academic buildings, a renovated fitness center, and a television studio where CNN’s Crossfire was filmed until it was cancelled in 2005. The GW “campus,” for lack of a better word, now stretches its tentacles far into Foggy Bottom, leaving some neighbors none too pleased.
Unlike their counterparts over at Georgetown (who smugly refer to GW as a school for the Georgetown waitlist), GW students understand the meaning of having a life outside of academics. They love their city environs; they seem surprisingly street-smart; they take full advantage of government and congressional internships; and they venture farther afield when it comes to socializing. (Tuesday nights being the exception, when local bar McFadden’s is invaded by what seems to be the entire student body.) But GW students aren’t all play—the libraries, which stay open 24 hours, are never empty, and each year students are selected to be Rhodes, Truman, Marshall, and Fulbright scholars.
While many undergraduates hail from similar upper-middle-class backgrounds, 139 foreign countries are represented in the student body. Collectively, students have a motley appearance, further differentiating them from the Lacoste poster children of Georgetown. Tuition-wise, GW is the city’s most expensive school, and with the deep pockets comes more than a few pompous attitudes. Bigshot alums include J. Edgar Hoover, Jackie O, Kenneth Starr, General Colin Powell, as well as four presidential children.
Tuition
Tuition for the 2013–2014 school year costs $47,290, with an additional $10,850 for room and board. Add on personal expenses and books, for a whopping yearly total of around $62,250.
Sports
The university’s fight song, “Hail to the buff, hail to the blue, hail to the buff and blue,” provides hours of double-entendre fun for the students and it seems to work for the athletes, too. The university’s 22 NCAA Division I teams, known as the fighting Colonials, usually place well in their A-10 conference, especially in basketball: in 2007 the men’s team won their first Atlantic Ten Men’s Basketball Championship since 1976, and over the last 19 years, GW has won nearly 75% of all games played and made the NCAA Tournament 15 times.
Culture on Campus
The Robert H. and Clarice Smith Hall of Art is a modern facility that features five floors dedicated to the study and practice of art. Students participate annually in two major shows, and faculty members also display their art on campus.
The Department of Theatre and Dance produces two dance concerts, three plays, and one musical each year. These productions are performed either in the 435-seat Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, or the 1,490-seat Lisner Auditorium (don’t miss the Dimock Gallery of Fine Art on the first floor). If you’re unaffiliated with the university, tickets to performances will probably cost between $15 and $30. For more information on performances presented by the Theatre and Dance Department, call 202-994-6178.
For information on tickets for the Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre, call 202-994-7411. For information on tickets for the Lisner Auditorium, call 202-994-6800.
Department Contact Information
Undergraduate Admissions |
202-994-6040 |
Athletics |
202-994-6650 |
Campus Bookstore |
202-994-6870 |
College of Arts & Science |
202-994-6210 |
Elliot School of International Affairs |
202-994-3002 |
Financial Aid |
202-994-6620 |
Gelman Library |
202-994-6558 |
Graduate School of Education |
202-994-2194 |
Law School |
202-994-6288 |
Registrar |
202-994-4900 |
School of Business |
202-994-8252 |
School of Medicine |
202-994-3501 |
Student Activities Center |
202-994-6555 |
University Police (emergency) |
202-994-6111 |
University Police (non-emergency) |
202-994-6110 |
Visitor Center |
202-994-6602 |
| Colleges & Universities • Georgetown University |
General Information
NFT Map: |
18 |
Main Campus: |
37th & O Sts NW |
Phone: |
202-687-0100 |
Website: |
Overview
Georgetown University was founded the same year the US Constitution took effect, making the school not only the nation’s oldest Catholic and Jesuit university, but also about the same age as most of the neighborhood’s socialites. But seriously, Georgetown is the most prestigious college in town, and a “feeder school” for the federal government and foreign-policy community. Alumni include former president Bill Clinton, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and broadcast journalist/Kennedy heir/Former Mrs. Schwarzenegger Maria Shriver. The campus sets the tone for the neighborhood around it—beautiful, old, and distinguished. A few blocks away, the endless strip of bars on M Street provide most of the Georgetown nightlife.
Georgetown’s long history is not without its eerie episodes. According to campus rumor, the attic of Healy Hall is haunted by the ghost of a priest who died while winding the clock in the building’s famous spire. During the Civil War, the university’s buildings became bunkers and hospitals for the Yankee troops. Once the war ended, the school adopted blue and gray as its official colors to symbolize the reunification of North and South. More recently, it became part of Hollywood history by providing the setting for a scene from The Exorcist, a novel by alum William Peter Blatty. The creepy “Exorcist stairs” can be found on campus at the junction of Prospect and 36th Streets.
Tuition
Tuition for the 2013–2014 academic year for undergraduate, full-time students cost $44,280. With room and board and fees, the average total cost attendance is $60,080. Graduate tuitions vary by program.
Sports
The university’s teams are known as the Hoyas because, the story goes, a student well-versed in Greek and Latin started cheering “Hoya Saxa!” which translates to “What Rocks!” The cheer proved popular and the term “Hoyas” was adopted for all Georgetown teams. Since “what rocks” did not readily translate into an animal mascot, the bulldog was chosen to represent the Blue and Gray. Georgetown is best known for its men’s basketball team, a regular top-seed in the NCAA Tournament. Former Hoya athletes include Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, and Alonzo Mourning. Georgetown is the alma mater of more than one Ewing; son Patrick Ewing, Jr. played for the Hoyas between 2005-2008 (though he had to sit out the entire 2005-06 season). Men’s sports also include crew, football, golf, lacrosse, sailing, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, and track. Women’s sports include basketball, crew, field hockey, golf, lacrosse, sailing, soccer, swimming and diving, tennis, track, and volleyball. For tickets to all Georgetown athletic events, call 202-687-HOYA. Georgetown also offers intramural sports including volleyball, flag football, racquetball, basketball, ultimate Frisbee, table tennis, softball, and floor hockey.
Culture on Campus
Although best known for its more philistine programs—government, law, and medicine—Georgetown has bolstered its fine arts program significantly in the last few years, expanding course offerings and opening the posh new Davis Performing Arts Center in 2005. The Department of Art, Music, and Theater offers majors and minors in studio art, art history, and the performing arts. Artistically inclined students can also join Georgetown’s many extra-curricular arts groups, including the orchestra, band, choir, and multiple theater troupes, improv groups, and a cappella singing groups.
Department Contact Information
Undergraduate Admissions |
202-687-3600 |
Graduate Admissions |
202-687-5568 |
Georgetown Law Center |
202-662-9000 |
McDonough School of Business |
202-687-3851 |
Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service |
202-687-5696 |
Georgetown University Medical Center |
202-687-5100 |
School of Nursing & Health Studies |
202-687-2681 |
Department of Athletics |
202-687-2435 |
| Colleges & Universities • Howard University |
General Information
NFT Maps: |
10 & 15 |
Main Campus: |
2400 Sixth St NW |
Phone: |
202-806-6100 |
Website: |
Overview
Conceived in 1866 as a theological seminary for African-American ministers, Howard University remains the pre-eminent African-American university in the nation. Although no longer a seminary, it has remained nonsectarian and open to all races and genders since its founding. Today, as a Carnegie Research institution offering a full array of undergraduate and graduate programs, including medicine, law, engineering, business, and the arts, Howard continues to serve as a dominant DC intellectual, cultural, and physical presence. Distinguished Howard alumni include novelist Zora Neale Hurston, Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison, and Shirley Franklin, the first female mayor of Atlanta. Perhaps the most well known graduate was Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, who used Howard’s campus to prepare himself and a team of legal scholars from around the nation to argue the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case.
Howard University once occupied a lone single-frame building and now has five campuses spanning more than 260 acres. The library system houses the largest collection of African-American literature in the nation. Despite its physical size, Howard is a relatively small school with roughly 10,500 students. Its national reputation belies its numbers, as recent graduation commencement speaker Oprah Winfrey would attest.
Howard’s main campus is located just minutes away from the Capitol and the White House on “the hilltop,” one of the highest elevation points in the city. The campus leads right into U Street, one of the premier catwalks of the city. The area was once the city’s center of jazz and African-American nightlife before falling on rough times. But now it’s back and considered the hippest of areas, with avant-garde fashion, deluxe condos, and over-priced everything.
Tuition
In the 2013–2014 academic year, undergraduate tuition for students living off-campus cost $21,450. Room and board is approximately $16,000. Graduate tuition, fees, and expenses vary by school and department.
Sports
Howard is a member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and participates in the NCAA’s Division I. Annual football homecoming festivities continue to serve as a premier annual event in Washington (just listen to Ludacris’ “Pimpin’ All Over The World” and Notorious B.I.G.’s “Kick In The Door”). The last noteworthy sports achievement dates way back to 2003, when the women’s cross-country team ran away with the MEAC championship trophy. Other teams have a less-than-stellar record. The male basketball team ranked 319th out of 326 teams in 2004. But losing (a lot) hasn’t hurt their popularity on campus. Games still draw crowds. Intercollegiate men’s sports include basketball, cross-country, soccer, tennis, football, swimming, wrestling, and track. Women’s sports include basketball, tennis, cross-country, track, volleyball, and swimming.
Culture on Campus
The Department of Theatre Arts produces dance and drama performances throughout the school year in the Ira Aldridge Theater, which also hosts visiting professional theater troupes. Student tickets cost $8 and general admission costs $15. The season always brings in a decidedly diverse bag of productions such as the Obie Award-winning play Zooman and the Sign by Charles Fuller, and Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics. The historic Howard Theatre—which hosted greats like Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Marvin Gaye—was fully renovated and reopened in 2012 after a 32-year haitus. The intimate space also features a museum and gift shop.
Howard University Television, WHUT-TV, is the only African-American-owned public television station in the country. It has been operating for over 30 years and reaches half a million households in the Washington metropolitan area. Howard University also runs commercial radio station WHUR-FM (96.3).
Department Contact Information
Admissions |
202-806-2700 |
College of Arts & Sciences |
202-806-6700 |
School of Business |
202-806-1500 |
School of Communications |
202-806-7690 |
School of Dentistry |
202-806-0440 |
School of Divinity |
202-806-0500 |
School of Education |
202-806-7340 |
School of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences |
202-806-6565 |
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences |
202-806-6800 |
School of Law |
202-806-8000 |
College of Medicine |
202-806-5677 |
College of Pharmacy, Nursing, and Allied Health Sciences |
202-806-5431 |
School of Social Work |
202-806-7300 |
Student Affairs |
202-806-2100 |
Athletic Department |
202-806-7140 |
Founders Library |
202-806-7234 |
| Colleges & Universities • University of Maryland |
General Information
Address: |
College Park, MD 20742 |
Phone: |
301-405-1000 |
Website: |
Overview
University of Maryland’s gargantuan size masks its humble beginnings. First chartered as a small agricultural college in 1856, this public university now has over 37,000 students roaming its 1,500 acres. Between the 13 colleges, 111 undergraduate majors, study-abroad programs, and honors programs, there’s enough excitement and intellectual rigor to keep the brightest Marylanders interested. And for students who’ve been surrounded by pastoral green quads for so long it makes them want to gag, the school’s very own Metro stop will shuttle them into the vast city that awaits to the south. UMCP is the crème de la crème of the thirteen campuses run by The University System of Maryland and hosts a multitude of academic programs offering specialized courses and research opportunities. Of particular note are the University Honors and Gemstone programs, which continue to lure some of the brightest of Marylanders with dirty cheap (well, relatively) in-state tuition
Tuition
Undergraduate tuition for the 2013–2014 school year cost $8,900 for in-state residents and $27,228 for non-residents. Room and board averaged around $9,800.
Sports
While there’s never been a real dearth of Terrapin pride, it’s only skyrocketed in recent years. An ACC basketball championship win over the Duke Blue Devils, victory at college football’s Gator Bowl, and a 2003 NCAA men’s basketball Championship win have strengthened Marylanders’ love of their winning teams. With 27 Varsity teams competing at UMD, the athletic program is widely recognized as one of the best in the country for both men’s and women’s sports, and the Terps are one of only six schools to have won a national championship in both football and men’s basketball. Though it’s usually the men’s teams that hog the spotlight, 2006 ushered in the first National Championship win for the Terps women’s basketball team.
Culture on Campus
The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center hosts high-profile performers and ensembles. Past guests have included Yo-Yo Ma, the Woolly Mammoth Theater Company, and the Maryland Opera Studio. The Center is also home of the university’s symphony orchestra and jazz band. Tickets are usually free or, at most, five bucks for students. You don’t have to be affiliated with the university to attend events—just be prepared to shell out up to $30 if you’re not a student, faculty member, or staff. 301-405-2787; www.claricesmithcenter.umd.edu.
If orchestra or jazz ensembles are not the type of entertainment you’re jonesing for, the Student Entertainment Events (SEE) presents a variety of concerts featuring both headlining artists and local bands. Tickets of course are cheaper for students and range between $5 and $25, depending on the event. Tickets for larger concerts can also be purchased via Ticketmaster.
Film buffs can view an array of independent films and blockbusters at the Hoff Theater in the University’s Student Union. The ample theater showcases at least one feature daily and is usually free for students, $5 for non-students.
And don’t worry about things getting too boring on campus; despite the fact that sleepy College Park, Maryland is a verifiable snoozefest in comparison to nearby DC, students there are never ones to shy away from controversy. UMCP gained a bit of notoriety and quite a bit more media coverage when the student union planned in 2009 to show Pirates II: Stagnetti’s Revenge, a hard-core pornographic film. The move prompted State Senator Andy Harris to threaten to rescind university funding and University President Dan Mote to cancel the event entirely. Not to be deterred, students took to the media and eventually planned another event: a “teach-in” featuring David Rocah of the ACLU which addressed free speech, academic expression, and the role of pornography in society. This scholarly speech was followed by, what else, a screening of sections of the film Pirates 2: Stagnetti’s Revenge. Now that’s what I call learning.
Department Contact Information
Campus Information |
301-405-1000 |
Undergraduate Admissions |
301-314-8385 |
Graduate Admissions |
301-405-0376 |
Bookstore |
301-314-7848 |
Registrar |
301-314-8240 |
Bursar |
301-314-9000 |
Athletic Department |
800-462-8377 |
Ticket Office |
301-314-7070 |
Clark School of Engineering |
301-405-3855 |
College of Education |
301-405-2344 |
School of Architecture |
301-405-6284 |
School of Public Policy |
301-405-6330 |
Smith School of Business |
301-405-2189 |
Art and Humanities |
301-405-2108 |
Behavioral and Social Sciences |
301-405-1697 |
Life Sciences |
301-405-2071 |
Building Listings
1 - Central Heating Plant
4 - Ritchie Coliseum
5 - Service Building Annex
7 - Pocomoke Building
8 - Annapolis Hall
12 - Plant Operations & Maintenance Complex
13 - Shuttle Bus Facility
14 - Harford Hall
15 - Calvert Hall
16 - Baltimore Hall
17 - Cecil Hall
18 - Police Substation
21 - Prince George’s Hall
22 - Kent Hall
23 - Washington Hall
24 - Allegany Hall
25 - Charles Hall
28 - Howard Hall
29 - Frederick Hall
30 - Talbot Hall
34 - Jimenez Hall
36 - Plant Science
37 - Shoemaker Building
40 - Morrill Hall
42 - Tydings Hall
43 - Taliaferro Hall
44 - Skinner Building
47 - Woods Hall
48 - Francis Scott Key Hall
51 - Worchester Hall
52 - Mitchell Building Registration Office
53 - Dance Building
54 - Preinkert Field House
59 - Journalism Building
60 - Anne Arundel Hall
61 - Queen Anne’s Hall
62 - St. Mary’s Hall
63 - Somerset Hall
64 - Dorchester Hall
65 - Carroll Hall
66 - West Education Annex
69 - Wicomico Hall
70 - Caroline Hall
71 - Lee Building
74 - Holzapfel Hall
75 - Shriver Laboratory
76 - Symons Hall
77 - Main Administration
79 - Visitors Center
80 - Rossborough Inn
81 - Wind Tunnel Building
83 - JM Patterson Building
85 - Institute for Physical Science & Technology
87 - Central Animal Resources Facility
90 - Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building
93 - Engineering Annex
96 - Cambridge Hall
98 - Centreville Hall
99 - Bel Air Hall
102 - Agriculture Shed
108 - Horse Barn
109 - Sheep Barn
110 - Cattle Barn
115 - AV Williams
119 - Blacksmith Shop
121 - Performing Arts Center, Clarice Smith
122 - Cumberland Hall
126 - Kappa Alpha Fraternity
127 - Sigma Alpha Mu Fraternity
128 - Delta Tau Delta Fraternity
129 - Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity
131 - Beta Theta Pi Fraternity
132 - Phi Sigma Kappa Fraternity
133 - Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity
134 - Chi Omega Sorority
135 - Sigma Kappa Sorority
136 - Alpha Epsilon Phi Sorority
137 - Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority
138 - Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity
139 - Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity
140 - Health Center
148 - Manufacturing Building
156 - Apiary
158 - Varsity Sports Teamhouse
170 - Alpha Delta Pi Sorority
171 - Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity
172 - Alpha Chi Omega Sorority
173 - Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority
174 - Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority
175 - Delta Gamma Sorority
176 - Alpha Phi Sorority
201 - Leonardtown office building
223 - Energy Research
231 - Microbiology Building
232 - Nyumburu Cultural Center
237 - Geology Building
250 - Leonardtown community center
252 - Denton Hall
253 - Easton Hall
254 - Elkton Hall
256 - Ellicott Hall
258 - Hagerstown Hall
259 - LaPlata Hall
296 - Biomolecular Sciences Building
379 - Football Team Building
382 - Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility
387 - Tap Building
| George Mason University |
General Information
Address: |
4400 University Drive |
Phone: |
703-993-1000 |
Website: |
Overview
Named for the most obscure of the founding fathers, George Mason University began as an extension of the University of Virginia for the northern part of the state. In 1966, George Mason College became a four-year, degree-granting university. George Mason separated from UVA in 1972 and became an independent institution.
Currently the university offers more than 100 degree programs in both the undergraduate and graduate levels in three different locations in Virginia. Academically, Mason boasts award-winning faculty and offers unique curriculum, such as its biodefense graduate degree program. There are approximately 20,150 undergraduates and around 12,400 graduate students currently enrolled in the university.
Conveniently located in close proximity to Washington, DC, George Mason’s picturesque main campus is centered on acres of woods in Fairfax, Virginia. In addition to its law school and campus in Arlington, GMU has recently established branches in Prince William and Loudoun countries.
Tuition
Undergraduate tuition for the 2013–2014 school year cost $9,908 for in-state students, and $28,592 for all non-residents. Room and board averaged around $9,500.
Sports
Of course we can’t mention GMU without noting the successful run the men’s basketball team had in 2006. While many living outside the immediate area were scratching their heads, asking, “Where the heck is George Mason?” or getting it confused with its fellow local “George” University (George Washington University), the Patriots were surpassing everyone’s expectations and slowly crept into the Final Four. Although the GMU men’s basketball team took a brief break from the limelight following their surprise entrance onto the national stage, the Patriots returned to the NCAA Tournament in 2008 and in 2011.
So now that we got that out of the way, there are about 19 other men’s and women’s Division I teams on campus including baseball, track and field, tennis, and soccer. Mason teams belong to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
Culture on Campus
George Mason’s Center for the Arts offers a variety of musical and dance performances from celebrated entertainers like the Metropolitan Jazz Orchestra and the St. Petersburg Ballet. With several different performance spaces ranging from the larger 1,900-seat Concert Hall to the intimate 75-seat Black Box, the Center for the Arts also featured performances by its own theater company, Theater of the First Amendment, until it folded in 2012. The company had been nominated for numerous awards and was the recipient of the Helen Hayes Award.
The Film and Media Studies Program, along with University Life, show weekly films throughout the academic year in Cinema Series. Admission and popcorn are free for students and faculty with GMU ID.
Department Contact Information
Fairfax Campus |
703-993-1000 |
Admissions |
703-993-2400 |
University Services |
703-993-2840 |
Bookstore |
703-993-2666 |
Registrar |
703-993-2441 |
Patriot Computer Store |
703-993-4100 |
Academic Support Center |
703-993-2470 |
Center For the Arts |
703-993-8888 |
Patriot Center |
703-993-3000 |
School of Law |
703-993-8000 |
Arlington Campus |
703-993-8999 |
Prince William Campus |
703-993-8350 |
Loudoun Campus |
703-993-4350 |