Mason Compatriots - Guidelines and Restrictions - International Programs and Services

Guideline and Restrictions for the Mason Compatriots program.

The main purpose of the Mason Compatriots program is to connect Mason students across cultures to enjoy a variety of activities together.

The Mason Compatriots program is NOT a tutoring program, and although participants are encouraged to share their language(s) with each other, language exchange/practice is NOT the primary purpose of this program.

Respecting Culture, Identity, and Political and Religious Beliefs
Participants must be respectful of the culture, identity, and political and religious beliefs and perspectives of their buddy, and if applicable, respect their buddy’s decision to not have (or keep private) their own political and religious beliefs and perspectives, and respect the decision not to discuss elements of their own or their buddy’s culture or identity. We hope for the Compatriots buddy to be an opportunity for open and respectful dialogue between buddy pairs on many different topics, but also recognize and respect (and encourage our Compatriots to recognize and respect) that each student comes to this opportunity at different levels and stages of readiness to discuss various topics.

Prohibiting of Proselytizing, Recruitment, Solicitation, and Other Exploitation
Participants must confirm in the application form that you do not have any intentions to proselytize* their buddy (or his/her affiliates) for a religion or system of beliefs, recruit or solicit their buddy (or his/her affiliates) for business deals, business opportunities, or monetary profit, or otherwise exploit the buddy program.

[ * Definitions of PROSELYTIZE for the purposes of the Compatriots program: attempt to convert someone from one religion to another; attempt to convince someone to change their religion or adopt a religion; attempt to persuade someone to join a religion or religious activities; pressure someone to conform to certain religious beliefs or behaviors; share unsolicited religious materials or information with the intention or hope that the recipient will decide join a religion or religious activities as a result; invite someone to a religious event or activity with the understanding that their participation is required for the continuation of the friendship/acquaintanceship or that you will only be willing to meet them at such events or in such environments.]

Participants must also confirm through the application form that they will not introduce their buddy (or his/her affiliates) to others whose known or suspected intention is to proselytize for a religion or religious activities, or recruit/solicit for business deals/opportunities, and that they will not bring their buddy into any environment where they will be approached for or exposed to proselytizing for a religion, recruitment or solicitation for business deals/opportunities, or other interactions or transactions that would constitute an exploitation of this program.

Reporting
If a participant attempts to recruit, solicit, or proselytize you (or your affiliates), you are asked to report this immediately to the Program Coordinator. Participants engaging in these activities, or exposing their buddy to these activities, will be immediately terminated from the program.

IMPORTANT NOTES:
Mason Compatriots is not an English tutoring program. Applicants should be able to speak English well enough to have conversations. Generally, this would mean an undergraduate student admitted into a degree program at Mason, or an advanced-level Academic English student.

Although we cannot respond to specific requests for buddy connections, we do our best to connect students based on their interests. Please keep in mind that our ability to connect students is dependent on the number and type of applications received, so you may not be connected immediately.