Dear Students,

As we finish the semester and celebrate the graduation of thousands of UNLV students today and tomorrow, it’s a good time to reflect on your educational journey and what it will take to get across that same finish line. We are here to help.

This semester has been hard, especially the last month. What happened on our campus Dec. 6 was terrifying and tragic. We’ve seen these shootings occur at other universities, and we hoped such violence and heartbreak would never come to ours – but it did. The trauma of that event impacted everyone at UNLV. It knocked all of us back on our heels and raised questions about where we go from here.

We have to push forward.

As we look to the future, our efforts will focus on rebuilding and healing. Over the winter break, we will repair the physical damage on campus. We are also evaluating what measures can be taken to make our campuses safer, both in the short term for the spring semester, and in the long term. We’ll be providing an update after the New Year and be ready to welcome you back when classes begin Jan. 16th.

We also want to remind everyone in our campus community to attend to their emotional and psychological needs. We encourage you to use campus and community resources if you need them, which are available on the UNLV Strong website. There is nothing wrong with asking for help.

We cannot and will not let Dec. 6 define UNLV. We will forever cherish the three faculty colleagues we lost, but we will not let that terrible day in history determine our future. Our goal as a university is clear: to further build an exciting, nurturing, and secure environment for all who come to learn and work at UNLV.

We are UNLV Strong, and we will move forward to achieve our goals together. We are proud and resilient, and we encourage you to stay the course with us. That includes finishing what you started at UNLV and earning your degree. It’s important for your future. We look forward to you continuing your educational journey with us.

Be well and see you soon.

Warm regards,

Keith E. Whitfield, Ph.D.
President

Chris L. Heavey, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost