Alumni Newsletter

Senior of the Year is awarded annually by the George Mason Alumni Association. In nominating Apenteng, her academic advisors at the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution—Isaac Jasper, Jan Walker, Averi Jordan—wrote: “From her academic to her professional success, Celine has shown she is leaving the university as an ambassador of the best George Mason has to offer. Throughout her college career, Apenteng, who is a member of the Honors College, was active in Student Government, serving as student body vice president in 2022-23 and as speaker of the student senate. She also was a member of President Gregory Washington's Student Advisory Board and co-chair of the Student Advisory Council for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Apenteng started out as an intern at the Carter School’s John Mitchell Jr. Program for History, Justice, and Race, which focuses on promoting a more informed public, political, and academic dialogue on the intersections between historical memory, justice, and racial reconciliation. She continues her work with the program as a fellow, documenting the impact of lynching incidents on African American communities and conducting historical archiving to preserve evidence of racial terror. Read more.

American University announced the establishment of the Abdul Aziz Said Chair in International Peace and Conflict Resolution at the School of International Service (SIS). SIS Professor Mohammed Abu-Nimer was selected to serve as the inaugural chair holder to advance the development and adoption of faith-informed peace interventions.“It’s very meaningful for me to be the inaugural chair,” said Abu-Nimer. “I shared a journey with Professor Said for over 22 years since I joined AU. We worked together very closely, sharing many ideas and the values and views on building [programs] and supporting diversity and inclusion both in our own AU community and in conflicts around the world. It’s an exciting and honorable occasion for me.”

Raquel Gonzalez, MS ' 12, is a queer, Latinx, first-generation college graduate who has championed social and racial justice as a government executive, organizer, and leadership development practitioner. As a strategy, operations, and culture consultant, they help organizations operationalize DEIJ goals, improve employee engagement, optimize recruitment processes, and plan for equitable growth.They have been recognized as George Mason University’s (GMU) 2022 Graduate of the Last Decade, the 2022 Community Mentor with the Public Leadership Education Network, a 2022 National LEAD trainer for New Leaders Council, a 2021 Political Partner with the Truman National Security Project, and one of The Hispanic Coalition of New York’s 2018 ‘40 Under 40 Rising Latino Stars’.