‘An island of safety’: UNLV’s Beam Hall, site of fatal shooting, reopens

UNLV’s Beam Hall — which has been closed to the public since three professors were shot and killed on Dec. 6 — reopened Tuesday morning with new security and armed officers.

The building has five new cameras, an alert telephone in every classroom and requires an access card to get upstairs. It also has a front desk staffed with a security guard and a patrolling guard. In addition to security updates, the damages from Dec. 6, which included broken doors and fire alarms, have been repaired.

Beam Hall, where UNLV’s Lee Business School is located, will operate at half capacity this semester, with 160 classes. Each class will have another section in an alternate location, meaning that no one has to take a class in the building, according to Director of Public Affairs Francis McCabe.

Interim Director of University of Police Arnold Vasquez said he wanted students to know that UNLV is a safe campus.

“This is an island of safety, and we want them to feel confident. We want them to feel that they do not need to walk and be concerned about their safety,” he said.

But while President Keith Whitfield said he is confident that these efforts would help in responding to incidents, he acknowledged that they could not have prevented the Dec. 6 shooting.

“We live in a world that’s a dangerous world,” Whitfield said, adding that there have been several school shootings since the one at UNLV. “This is something within our society. We don’t ever want to get used to it, but we have to understand that this is an issue.”

Pilot program

Bill Robinson, a professor of economics, said that while he is thrilled about Beam Hall’s opening, he is nervous about some physical security.

“I remain disappointed that we have done so little in terms of physical security improvements for campus. For example, no new locks, no analysis of the problems in public facing offices, no significant installation of new cameras. It is not clear that the notification systems have been fixed across campus,” Robinson wrote in an email to the Review-Journal.

Beam Hall is the only building at the university with updated security measures. Whitfield said that the university cannot spend money on efforts it is not confident will increase security, and Beam Hall’s initiatives will act as a pilot program for possible implementation in other buildings. He added that the university plans to go to the legislature with “big asks” for more improvements, which would total around $38 million.

He added that although the possibility of closing UNLV to the public was considered at some points, it was not really plausible, and such a closure does not act as much of a deterrent from violence. Whitfield said that with 70% of students being from the area, making it a closed space would be weird.

“This is part of the city. This is connected to the city,” Whitfield said.

July incidents

But Beam Hall is not the only place on campus that has experienced issues. Last month, police arrested Tyrone T. Williams for allegedly fondling and robbing a woman at UNLV’s Greenspun Hall on July 26. After initial alerts, the school did not communicate with faculty or students, as it was considered an isolated incident, according to McCabe.

On July 11, University Police Services arrested a man who was reported to have been carrying a concealed weapon on UNLV’s campus. In an email to the Review-Journal, Robinson questioned what he said was a lack of communication about the incident.

J. Daniel Chi, who serves as the chair of the finance department at UNLV’s business school, said that going back to Beam Hall is an important part of the healing process after December’s shooting.

“I think that’s healthy, that’s part of the healing process, provided there’s necessary security measures,” he told the Review-Journal.

Robinson, meanwhile, said he would like to see more mental health resources available.

“I remain equally disappointed with the lack of sufficient attention to the mental health needs of students, staff, and faculty. We need to do much more.”

Vasquez said that the most important thing for people to remember is that everyone is responsible for caring for each other, and they should speak out if they see something.

“We are not going to be inconvenienced. If somebody picks up the phone and calls the police, that is our job. That is what we signed up to do. We will come out and we will address those concerns and those issues and make sure that it is safe. And it might not be anything, but that’s okay,” Vasquez said.

A previous version of this story incorrectly reported which July incident Bill Robinson was referring to in his email to the Review-Journal.

Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com.