Gabriella Grabovska

Balancing Oars and Advocacy: Schar School Senior June Johnson’s Leadership Journey

Andrew J Schappert — Thu, 23 Oct 2025 16:50:23 +0000

Balancing Oars and Advocacy: Schar School Senior June Johnson’s Leadership Journey Andrew J Schappert Thu, 10/23/2025 - 12:50

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Phillip Mink

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“I didn’t know rowing existed in high school. There was no team in my area because we didn’t have a river near us,” said June Johnson, a senior International Security and Law major in the Schar School of Policy and Government and an Honors College student. Now a coxswain on ��’s women’s rowing team, the Warrenton, Virginia, native balances her sports career, passion for law, and activism for athletes’ mental health.

June Johnson: ‘My grandma would tell me how great [George Mason] students treated her, how great the faculty was, [and] how that experience was so empowering for her.’ Photos by George Mason Athletics

For the uninitiated, the coxswain position is the boat leader, steering and motivating rowers for speed. Which suits Johnson perfectly.

Johnson’s success started with a lucky coincidence.

“When I came to George Mason, they had a booth for rowing, and I thought ‘hmm, maybe I should try that,’ so that’s how I got into [rowing],” Johnson said.

And now, more than two years later, she finds that “it’s really been the best experience,” she said. “The coaches are incredible and my team is super supportive.”

For Johnson, sports and leadership go far beyond the boat, as she is also a leader in the athlete advocacy space. She runs the A-10 Conference Student Athlete Advisory Council and advocates for mental health support for young athletes.

That advocacy is built on “finding the balance of helping grow people’s leadership [abilities] to the point they are able to speak on [advocacy] platforms, and making sure their needs are met as well as bringing together people who are already confident and want to speak up,” Johnson said.

Having realized law school would be her goal as early as her freshman year of college, Johnson emailed Assistant Professor Phillip Mink, the director of the Patriot Pre-Law Program in the Schar School, and, seeing untapped potential, expressed interest in bringing more activity to the organization.

“I was initially skeptical of June’s plan to reorganize the club,” Mink said. “I didn’t know her, and she seemed awfully young to have such grand plans. But then she started talking, and her energy level was palpable. She was so fearless, confident, and articulate that I immediately felt comfortable with her leadership.”

After getting on board, Johnson helped find a team of dedicated board members and got to work. “It was a great first year, and we did nine events each semester,” said Johnson. She is now president of the program.

Having graduated from high school early, Johnson wasn’t sure where to go for college. Her grandmother, Shirley Metzger, BS Social Work '01, a George Mason alumna, stepped in to help.

Johnson as coxswain: ‘It’s really been the best experience. The coaches are incredible and my team is super supportive.’

“My grandma would tell me how great students treated her, how great the faculty was, [and] how that experience was so empowering for her,” Johnson said. She couldn’t resist applying.

When asked how she is able to manage so many commitments, Johnson said, “I have such a great support network.”

She believes having people that you can trust and talk to makes a big difference, and she is lucky to have that. “Careful planning and love for what you do” are the other two ingredients of success, she added.

From advocacy for mental health to pre-law resources, Johnson always does the most that she can and helps those around her build a supportive community.

“Everything I do is because I love people in my life,” Johnson said.

Topics

Patriot Pre-Law Program

International Security and Law

Schar School of Policy and Government

Schar School Featured Stories

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Honors College

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Student Athlete

Intelligence Q&A: The Audience Had Questions, Hayden Center Professors Had Answers

Andrew J Schappert — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 19:13:06 +0000

Intelligence Q&A: The Audience Had Questions, Hayden Center Professors Had Answers Andrew J Schappert Mon, 02/13/2023 - 14:13

Earlier this month, several Schar School of Policy and Government professors working in the Michael V. Hayden Center for Intelligence, Policy, and International Security took the stage at ��’s Van Metre Hall for a first-of-its-kind event: The entire program was devoted to questions from the audience. Some 165 audience members attended live, with another 300 watching via YouTube stream. (Distinguished Visiting Professor and former acting and deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell, who had been called away at the last minute, lost his internet connection early in the program.)

A Voice of America reporter interviews Michael V. Hayden ahead of the panel Q&A. Photos by John Hollis/Office of University Branding

Voice of America records Andrew McCabe before the Hayden Center’s forum.

The program was lively, informative, provocative, and, overall, a success. In less than two hours, the speakers covered countless compelling and timely topics as the audience led the direction of the conversation. What follows is a brief recap. You can see the replay here.

The first question was directed to the center’s founder and namesake, Michael V. Hayden, who was making his first on-stage appearance since suffering a stroke in 2018: “What is keeping you up at night these days?” His answer was succinct: “China, China, China.” Expressing his concerns about national security, he emphasized that the U.S. intelligence agencies need more information to accurately surmise China’s global intentions.

It has been a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started; an audience member wondered what the future holds for that beleaguered country and the international support it desperately needs. While talking about the role of the U.S. in defending Ukraine’s independence, Hayden said “we are good but we can do better…we should do more, not eventually but now.” He also predicted this spring to be hard for the country but reassured that Ukraine will eventually win.

A Schar School Democracy Lab Learning Community student expressed his concerns about the rampant theft of technology from U.S. sources and asked about the steps the country is taking to prevent it from happening. While it’s well-known that the cybersecurity industry has been growing steadily in the last few years and specialists are making significant advances, Visiting Professor and former CIA officer David Priess replied that “innovative government and innovative private sector is not enough. We need to cooperate with international partners.” To which Hayden Center Director and former CIA Chief of Staff Larry Pfeiffer encouraged students to explore technology “and don’t be afraid of it.”

Global tension abounds, particularly in China-Taiwan relations. In answering a question about that delicate hot spot, the intelligence experts on stage agreed that after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the probability of the escalation in China and Taiwan is much lower than it was a year ago. The sentiment delivered was that the U.S. should be in no rush to interfere in a meaningful manner.

Another Democracy Lab student wondered how U.S. intelligence is countering advances in foreign surveillance technology. Distinguished Visiting Professor Andrew McCabe, former acting director of the FBI, replied that the issue, “a slow-burning and considerable threat, hasn’t received the attention it deserves over the last 10 years or so. We’re very vulnerable to the tyranny of the urgent, so we run to the latest diplomatic kerfuffle.”

In short, government intelligence agencies, he suggested, struggle to advance in the way that private sector does and communication between public and private entities needs to be refined.

Of course, there was a Chinese spy balloon question. Surprisingly, the general opinion among these former intelligence leaders was that the entire situation was not that big of a deal and that the news media exaggerated it.

Hayden, for one, said “in this situation, [President Biden] did what he was supposed to do,” in shooting down the balloon and showing his support for the decisions made by those serving in his government.

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Andrew McCabe

Michael V. Hayden

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Schar School News February 2023

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