This is a statue of one of the early founders of the U.S, George Mason. The statue is currently in a university which was founded in 1949, however, the statue was created in 1996. The statue is in front of the campus and is meant to be a symbol of his achievements for the country. The position of the statue is symbolic as the statue is facing the opposite direction of the statue of George Washington, another founding founder who has a statue in George Washington university that is facing away from George Mason to symbolize their rivalry and different ideas of where the nation should go. There is also a plaque in front of the statue that states his name and when the statue was created and students from the university have said that it is bad luck to stand on it while it being good luck to shine the statues shoe.
The statue is important as it memorializes George Mason and his work for the nation along with the university with his name. While the university was founded far after his death. The people of the university take pride in his history while acknowledging his faults with another memorial to his slaves behind the statue.
The statue is meant to be a symbol of accomplishment to those that are studying at the university and is meant to inspire those that are studying at the university. The statue alongside the memorial nearby is also meant to show that while people can do great things, they also have parts of their history that is generally frowned upon today. The statue isn’t very effective at communicating the accomplishments of George Mason as the university had only took the name and barely reflects the history of George Mason himself. Most of the university only acknowledge the statues presence but know very little of his history other than the memorial that is up.
