# George Mason University George Mason University is a public university in Fairfax, Virginia, that has become the most prominent example of [[Koch Network]] influence in American higher education. Through decades of strategic funding, [[Charles Koch]] and allied donors transformed Mason's economics and law programs into leading centers for [[Libertarianism]], [[Public Choice Theory]], and law-and-economics scholarship. The university hosts the [[Mercatus Center]], a Koch-funded policy research center that functions as a deregulatory think tank, as well as the [[Federalist Society]]–aligned Antonin Scalia Law School (renamed after a Koch-linked donation). The GMU model—where donor money shapes faculty hiring, research agendas, and curriculum—has drawn scrutiny as a case study in how [[Dark Money]] can reshape academic institutions to serve ideological goals, building on the intellectual tradition of [[James Buchanan]] and the [[Chicago School]].