LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Of the over 30,000 students that flocked to the first day of UNLV classes on Monday, some returned to the building where three professors lost their lives last year for the first time since.
Frank and Estella Beam Hall holds the Lee Business School, where classes have not been held since December 6, 2023. The deadly shooting provoked $5.1 million in security upgrades, including $2.6 million to hire private security officers for the fall semester.
UNLV President Dr. Keith Whitfield said during a mid-August tour of the hall that their intention was to make the building look like it did on any other day, but some students were still reminded of that day.
Maverick Garing, a business student, has spent eight months processing how the identity of his second home was changed. He re-entered it Monday as a senior.
“What’s your first feeling when you go inside again?” 8 News Now Reporter Ryan Matthey asked, standing in front of the building. “There’s no way the doors are open right now,” Garing said. “Being back is a surreal, weird experience, honestly. I don’t know how to feel about it.”
The new plants and paint on the walls may stand out, but the other upgrades are meant to blend in. President Whitfield believes it’s necessary some are seen.
“Part of this is the psychological piece of it, and the other part is the structural piece of it,” Whitfield said inside Beam Hall Monday morning. “The safety piece is a perception so we’re trying to do things that will increase perception.”
He added some students and staff he greeted Monday were “struggling more” than others. Arnold Vasquez, the university’s interim police services director, directed them to help.
“Everybody goes through this process differently. We have the resiliency center here that has been incredibly involved with our recovery, as well as our rebel recovery program,” Vasquez said, standing near the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada’s Resiliency & Justice Center table inside the atrium Monday morning. “We’re always here for them whether they see us sometimes or not.”
Approaching a year later, students say they want to focus on their upcoming academic year. Garing, for one, said he is “90 to 95%” recovered from the tragedy that shook his world. He said he was supposed to attend class inside that building the day of the shooting and instead stayed home while recovering from an injury.
“I still remember sometimes how I was quote-on-quote spared,” Garing said. “There’s no escaping from that reality, but at the same time, I think it’s important for me to decide that, hey, there’s still hope.”
President Whitfield has previously stated that bringing these upgrades across all campus buildings will cost at least $38 million. He intends to ask for that amount from the Nevada Legislature, which does not meet again until February.
Whitfield went on to say the university is on track to have the highest enrollment for a single semester in UNLV’s history at over 32,000 students. The university’s website shows the most recent record of 31,171 enrolled students in 2019.
