Question: Which school was founded first, Virginia Commonwealth University or George Mason University?
Context: The George Mason–VCU rivalry is a college sports rivalry between the VCU Rams of Virginia Commonwealth University and the George Mason Patriots of George Mason University.  Both universities are present members of the Atlantic 10 Conference, and for a majority of their rivalry history, members of the Colonial Athletic Association. George William Johnson Jr. (July 5, 1928 – May 30, 2017) was an American academic and academic administrator who served as the President of George Mason University from 1978 to 1996.  Johnson is credited with transforming George Mason University from largely a commuter college into a nationally recognized research university during his 18-year tenure as president.  Under Johnson, total student enrollment doubled from 10,000 in 1979 to more than 24,000 students in 1996.  Johnson also oversaw the addition of 34 new academic programs (including 11 doctoral programs), the creation of GMU's first doctoral programs, and the establishment of the George Mason University School of Law (now known as the Antonin Scalia Law School) in 1979. George Mason University (Mason) is the largest public research university in the U.S. state of Virginia.  The university was founded as a branch of the University of Virginia in 1949 and became an independent institution in 1972.  Four campuses are located in Virginia, with another in Songdo, South Korea inside the Incheon Free Economic Zone.  Three of the four campuses within Virginia are within the Northern Virginia section of the Piedmont, and one is in the Blue Ridge Mountains region.  On-campus housing options exist at all campus locations except Arlington.  The university recognizes 500 student groups as well as 41 fraternities and sororities.  Today, the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education R1 research institution is recognized for its programs in economics, law, creative writing, computer science, and business.  Mason faculty have twice won the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. The Northern Virginia Astronomy Club was founded in 1980 by student amateur astronomers of Thomas Jefferson High School (Annandale, Virginia) and George Mason University in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C. with a focus to make astronomy available to the public.  It was incorporated in 1991.  Monthly meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. at the George Mason University on the second Sunday of each month.  Monthly observing sessions (see star party), are held at dark sky locations with which the club has prior arrangements. George Mason University (Mason) School of Business is the business school of George Mason University, a state university in Virginia, United States.  The School of Business has campuses located in Fairfax, Arlington, and Herndon, VA. The George Mason Patriots men's soccer team is a varsity intercollegiate athletic team of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, United States.  The team is a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, which is part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I.  George Mason's first men's soccer team was fielded in 1968.  The team plays its home games at George Mason Stadium in Fairfax, Virginia.  The Patriots are coached by Greg Andrulis. Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is a public research university located in Richmond, Virginia.  VCU was founded in 1838 as the medical department of Hampden–Sydney College, becoming the Medical College of Virginia in 1854.  In 1968, the Virginia General Assembly merged MCV with the Richmond Professional Institute, founded in 1917, to create Virginia Commonwealth University.  In 2015, more than 31,000 students pursue 226 degree and certificate programs through VCU's 13 schools and one college.  The VCU Health System supports the university's health care education, research and patient care mission. Antonin Scalia Law School, previously George Mason University School of Law, is the law school of George Mason University, a state university in Virginia, United States.  The law school is located in Arlington, roughly fifteen miles east-northeast of the university's main campus in Fairfax. Kayvan Najarian is an Iranian-American scientist, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics and Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.  He is also currently the director of the M-CIRCC's (Michigan Center for Integrative Research in Critical Care) Bioinformatics Signal and Image Analysis Core.  Previously, he was the Associate Professor of Computer Science at School of Engineering of Virginia Commonwealth University, Affiliated faculty of Emergency Medicine at School of Medicine of Virginia Commonwealth University, and Associate Director of Virginia Commonwealth University Rehabilitation Engineering Shock (VCURES) center.  He is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, is a reviewer, referee or member of dozens more committees, journals and councils.  He received his B.SC.  in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, his M.Sc.  in Biomedical Engineering from Amirkabir University of Technology, and his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of British Columbia. The School of Integrative Studies (formerly New Century College) is housed within George Mason University's College of Humanities and Social Sciences and is located on the main campus of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.  The School of Integrative Studies was founded as New Century College in 1995 in response to the Commonwealth of Virginia's call for a "University of the 21st Century."
Answer: Virginia Commonwealth University