LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Students and staff were all back on campus at UNLV as the fall semester began Monday.
“This is what a university is about,” UNLV President Keith Whitfield told FOX5 as he manned a free lemonade stand inside a packed Beam Hall. “That vibrance. People are here, people are going to classes for the first time.”
Whitfield acknowledged the importance of setting up the stand in the building where a shooting killed three faculty members and injured another.
“It’s to say, for BEH, you guys are coming back,” Whitfield said. “I’m here with you. And the whole university’s with you.”
Those inside Beam Hall saw the building full of people for the first time since that shooting. A greater number of security and police in the building and across campus, which the university promised over the summer, was noticeable.
“I’ve seen a lot more police cars and security around the building, and more attention around the students,” junior Teba Abbas noted.
“I’ve seen so many security already on campus, especially pulling through the parking garage,” Makayla Armandi echoed. “I feel very safe here.”
Armandi recalled safety being a focus of Rebel Ready Week, which wrapped up Friday.
“They definitely had police officers come in and talk to us during orientation and give us the whole rundown,” she said. “Especially as a student-athlete, I feel very protected that I have other resources that I know certain numbers that I can contact and all that, and I’m sure other students feel that way, too.”
Whitfield plans to keep that sense of security going moving forward.
“I want to make sure that people are okay so that they can get to what they’re here for, which is to get a great education,” he said.
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