GMU Community Demands a Public Search for Our Next President

Thomas M. Davis, Rector of the GMU Board of Visitors

The George Mason University chapter of the American Association of University Professors and Transparent GMU understand that the basic tenets of transparency and shared governance are integral to the success of our University and the public good.

As we endeavor to search for a new President to lead GMU, we call on Rector Tom Davis and the BOV to commit to an open, competitive search process by providing a public forum for the community at large to vet the finalists for the position.

Please join us and sign our petition for a public forum. Together we can uphold our commitments to transparency and shared governance at our public institution of higher education!

In Solidarity,
AAUP@Mason & Transparent GMU

The basics:

  • Open, public searches of executives were standard in public higher education until the process was privatized and made secretive by search firms roughly a decade ago.
  • The George Mason University Faculty Handbook provision 1.2.5 clearly states: "The search and selection process must include opportunities for the General Faculty to meet with candidates who are finalists for the presidency."  
  • In 2012, when Ángel Cabrera was named President of George Mason University by the Board of Visitors (BOV), he had not been vetted by the faculty, students, staff, or the broader Virginia community he would serve. Indeed, the secret search and his installation were in direct violation of the GMU Faculty Handbook.
  • Tom Davis, Rector of the GMU Board of Visitors, has so far refused to uphold our Faculty Handbook and commit to a PUBLIC SEARCH. This is troubling. We must demand a fair and public process is implemented.  
  • See our campaign page to read our presidential search brief and learn more.


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GMU AAUP

To: Thomas M. Davis, Rector of the GMU Board of Visitors
From: [Your Name]

Dear Rector Tom Davis:

Transparent GMU and the GMU chapter of the American Association of University Professors demand that the Board of Visitors uphold the basic tenets of transparency and shared governance and conduct a public search for the next president of GMU.

We demand that all finalists for the position of President of George Mason University must be subjected to a public search where faculty, staff, students, and the community-at-large can adequately vet and scrutinize the finalists during a public forum and provide feedback to the Board of Visitors.