Student Life

Rodick, above, was a fan of Dr Pepper growing up. After competing in a scholarship contest, the company is now contributing to her education. (Photo by Lindsey Denny)

Unbeknownst to Carley Rodick, her Facebook, cell phone and e-mail inboxes began filling up just moments after being handed a check for $123,000. While many offered enthusiastic congratulations, some messages were hate mail sent by complete strangers.

“I guess they felt as though I had just been lucky in winning or that the prize should have been divided between more people,” said Rodick.

As one of six children in her family, the burden of paying for college had fallen upon Rodick. With the university’s financial aid cut and her denial from a federal work-study program, the scholarship couldn’t have come at a better time.

Dr Pepper had always been a staple in the refrigerator of the sophomore nursing major’s home in Fredericksburg, Va. That is why when the company offered an instant-win game requiring entering codes online that were printed on the inside of lids, Rodick’s mother zealously saved bottle caps and encouraged her daughter to enter.

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This past Monday, Feb. 15, marked the first homecoming pageant in Mason history that won't crown a Mr. and Ms. Mason. Citing the university's diversity as the primary root of the change, the contest will crown one gender-neutral "Mason Majesty." Last year, Richard Malebranche, second from the left, was crowned Mr. Mason. Ryan Allen, center, also known by drag-queen name Reann Ballslee, was crowned Ms. Mason.
(Archived photo of last year's pageant by Grace Kendall)

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This year, not only will the homecoming queen be without a vagina — homecoming will be without a queen.

Starting this year, following last year’s crowning of drag queen Reann Balslee as Ms. Mason, homecoming will no longer have the Mr. and Ms. Mason competition, but will opt for just one winner, known as Mason Majesty.

“We, [being] Student Activities and Program Board, discussed that we wanted to be more inclusive to all persons on campus — no matter how they identify . . . [The removal of the Mr. and Ms. Mason competition] has been in discussion for years,” said Assistant Director of Programming in Student Activities Michelle Davis, noting that it was not brought about specifically because of a drag queen winning the Ms. Mason title last year.

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On-campus residents aren't the only ones going stir-crazy. Commuting students, a majority of the students at Mason, are feeling the effects of 'Snowpocalypse' and 'Snowverkill,' and most of them are shoveling
(Photo submitted by Mason student Julia Compton, who lives off campus)
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While Patriots on campus are snowed in with at least a few amenities, many off-campus students are stuck with nowhere to go and little to do.

Off-campus students were left stranded in the wake of one of the area’s largest storms in history; throughout Fairfax city, roads and sidewalks were either poorly plowed or completely untouched.

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