George Mason The Pulse

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‘SENIOR OF THE YEAR’ BEGINS I-SEC MASTER’S PROGRAM

2024 DEGREE CELEBRATION SPEAKER & ALUM IS ‘RESTAURATEUR OF THE YEAR’

G eorge Mason’s 2024 Senior of the Year, Celine Apenteng , joins the Schar School as a Master of International Security student through the university’s accelerated master’s program. The Silver Spring, Maryland, native graduated in the spring with a bachelor’s degree in conflict analysis and resolution with a concentration in global engagement, and a minor in intelligence studies. Throughout her college career, Apenteng, who was 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. Outside of the classroom, Apenteng interned at the White House in the Office of Public Engagement and at U.S. Department of State. —Reporting by Collen Kearney Rich

T he keynote speaker for the Schar Schools’ 2024 Degree Celebration, alum Rose Previte , was named the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Restaurateur of the Year. Previte credits her 2007 Master of Public Policy degree for her success in opening her first restaurant in 2014, Washington, D.C.,’s famed Compass Rose, a perennial entry on major “best restaurants” lists. Since then, her No White Plates company includes, in addition to Compass Rose, the Michelin-starred, fire-based cuisine of Maydān, the Middle East-themed Medina, and the Eastern Mediterranean Kirby Club in the Mosaic District of Fairfax, Virginia, as well as Go There Wines, which brings to market wines created by women and underrepresented winemakers. “One thing I always appreciated about Mason in my graduate studies was the diversity of the classroom,” she said. “I ended up appreciating the range of opinions in every classroom, which I don’t think is common at other schools in the area where there’s so much leaning one way or another.”

The engaging classroom experience led to real-life public policy work. While at Mason, she traveled to New Orleans to assist on an independent study on how the city could recover after Hurricane Katrina. She also interned for D.C. City Council member Jack Evans, who was leading the effort to fund a new Major League Baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals. After completing her Mason degree, Previte earned a fellowship that allowed her to work for the Arlington County manager for a year. From there she relocated to New York City and worked for the speaker of the city council before moving to Russia with her husband, David Green, who became NPR’s Moscow correspondent. —Buzz McClain

JENNIFER N. VICTOR

JENNIFER VICTOR NAMED NCAPSA TOP MENTOR I n October, the National Capital Area Political Science Association (NCAPSA) awarded Schar School associate professor Jennifer N. Victor its 2024 NCAPSA Pi Sigma Alpha Award. The award recognizes meaningful contributions to their students, their institution, or their profession through their work to mentor undergraduate students. NCAPSA is the official political science association for the National Capital Area, including the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and West Virginia. —Buzz McClain

ROSE PREVITE

18 | The Pulse Winter 2024

The Pulse Winter 2024 | 19