Oct. 30, 2007

Danielle Turner is one of Mason's finest. As a senior government and politics major scheduled to graduate in December, Danielle is a member of the Mason Cross Country and Track teams and serves as the President of the Student Athlete Advisory Council. She is a great asset to not only Mason athletics, but the George Mason University community.

Danielle arrived at Mason in the fall of 2004 and is a competitive student-athlete in the distance events for the George Mason women's track and field and cross country teams. This native of New Bern, North Carolina ran the team's top times in the 3000- and 5000-meter races during the 2005 indoor season. She topped those times during the 2006 indoor season and set new personal standards in the 3000-meter run and the 5000-meter run with times of 11:29.64 and 21:51.70, respectively. She also ran well during the 2006 outdoor season, setting personal bests for the outdoor season in the 1500-meter run (5:33.50), 3000-meter run (11:40.72) and the 5000-meter run (19:55.03). Recently, she was the second Patriot to cross the finish line at the 2007 CAA Cross Country Championships, recording a time of 24:49.00. Additionally, Danielle and the cross country team made numerous community service efforts over the years. Last year, the cross country team participated in making strides against Breast Cancer. This year, their community service efforts focus on volunteering with the Fall Fiesta on Mason's Prince William Campus and helping with the Salvation Army Christmas Tree in Tyson's Corner which sells ornaments for charity.

Outside of athletics, Danielle holds an active interest in international politics and development. As a junior, she studied abroad in Cork, Ireland where she interned at the Center for Sustainable Livelihood researching the conflict of water resources. In addition to her schoolwork and internship in Ireland, Danielle also volunteered for the Rose Project to raise money to help build a maternity clinic for HIV positive mothers. Providing this service to HIV positive mothers would decrease the risk of passing HIV from mother to child over the course of the pregnancy and during labor. Along with a group of her peers, Danielle raised approximately 20,000 Euros (over 28,000 US dollars) in about four months.

After graduation, Danielle plans to intern in the DC area in her related field and then begin graduate school in the fall of 2008, focusing her education in international development and politics. She would ultimately like to get involved working for the United Nations and takes a particular interest in how countries work together to solve global issues.