Zoe Cross, Candidate for Vice President of Mason Square Campus
Graduate Degree Program: Juris Doctor (JD), Antonin Scalia Law School (full-time student)
Expected Date of Graduation: May 2028
Campus of Academic Department: Mason Square (Arlington)
Campus(es) of Classes, Work, and/or Residence: Mason Square (Arlington)
Biography and Candidate Statement
My name is Zoe Cross, and I am a first-year J.D. candidate at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School at the Mason Square campus. Before law school, I graduated from the University of Maryland with degrees in Criminology & Criminal Justice and Psychology, with a minor in counter terrorism studies. I’ve spent the last several years building community-centered initiatives, improving institutional processes, and working directly with agencies focused on public safety and youth advocacy. Those experiences shaped not only how I lead, but how I show up for the people I represent. I currently serve as the Founder and Executive Director of infOasis (www.inf0asis.com), a student-built media literacy initiative that won first place in a national DHS-sponsored competition and now teaches media literacy for free to college students across the country. I have also served in roles ranging from national-security oversight at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Office of the Inspector General to juvenile justice compliance work for Maryland’s Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services. Across each position, my work has centered on listening to communities, understanding how systems impact them, and designing practical ways to improve their experience. I’m running for vice president of Mason Square because I want to bring that same energy to our graduate and professional community. Mason Square has a unique identity within GMU: we are connected to law, policy, technology, and public service in a way that gives us enormous potential, but we’re also geographically separate in ways that can make students feel disconnected from the larger graduate community. I want to help close that gap. I would bring to this role the same qualities that have defined my work so far: I am responsive, organized, and deeply committed to elevating voices that often go unheard. Mason Square deserves strong representation, someone who knows how to build systems, advocate for student needs, and turn conversations into action. I would be honored to have your vote as vice president and help make our campus as connected and engaged as it deserves to be!
Availability and Commitment to the Time and Expectations of the Position
Yes, I will be fully able to meet the time commitments and expectations of this position. The Vice Presidents of Regional Campuses are expected to commit approximately 5 hours per week during the academic year, and I am confident I can exceed that expectation when needed. For the 2025–2026 academic year, I will be a full-time law student based entirely at Mason Square. My class schedule will be concentrated on weekdays, leaving consistent availability for biweekly Executive Board meetings, monthly General Assembly sessions, regular meetings with GAPSA advisors, and campus engagement programming. I have strong time-management systems in place from balancing law school coursework with previous roles that involved research, community engagement, and organizational leadership. Outside of class, my primary ongoing commitment is my work with infOasis, which is fully student-run and flexible. My responsibilities there are project-based, allowing me to adjust workload around GAPSA duties. I am not working externally during the academic year, and I do not hold any obligations that conflict with the meeting schedule outlined in the candidacy packet. I am committed to showing up consistently, meeting deadlines, being accessible to the students I represent, and fulfilling every responsibility required of the vice president of Mason Square.