LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – UNLV’s Beam Hall is expected to remain closed to the public for the spring semester following the campus shooting in December, according to the university’s president Keith Whitfield.
The announcement was made on Friday as part of an update on the university’s website.
Students, faculty, and staff will return to campus for the spring semester on Jan. 16 more than a month after the shooting.
On Dec. 6, 2023, Professor Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang, 64, of Henderson; Associate Professor Naoko Takemaru, 69, of Las Vegas, 69; and Assistant Professor Patricia Navarro Velez, 39, of Las Vegas, were killed during the shooting.
“Even though we continue to make progress on building repairs in Beam Hall, we also understand the intense emotional trauma that exists for our colleagues who work in the building, and for students still recovering from the impact of the Dec. 6 tragedy and its aftermath. So in consultation with faculty, staff, and leadership in the Lee Business School and College of Liberal Arts, and with our Facilities and Business Affairs teams, Provost Heavey and I have made the decision to keep Beam Hall closed to the public for the spring semester,” Whitfield stated online.
All classes previously scheduled for Beam Hall this spring have been reassigned to other classrooms on campus or to remote instruction.
Faculty and staff will have the option of working in their offices, working remotely, or using hoteling spaces in other buildings but Beam Hall will remain locked and accessible only to occupants and their personal guests for the semester. Other services and programming typically in Beam Hall will be relocated for the semester.
