LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — UNLV students returned to classes on Tuesday, marking their first time back on campus after the tragic shooting on Dec. 6.
During the incident, a gunman entered UNLV's campus, killed three faculty members, and injured one at Beam Hall.
Gina Hernandez, a freshman at UNLV, shared her observations about the atmosphere on campus.
“I can just tell my friends are all moving differently, not intentionally, but when something traumatic happens, your mind just runs differently,” Hernandez said.
She added that the incident has changed how she views going to school.
“You think the worst of things now," Hernandez explains. "I feel like that's the only thing because I am a very young student, and I am a girl walking around on campus.”
In response to the tragedy, Beam Hall will remain closed for the rest of the year. Business classes are being shifted online or to another building.
Hernandez and other students Channel 13 spoke with said they are ready to move forward.
“I’m just ready to get my next semester started and kind of have a fresh start,” she said.
Other students also voiced their desire to move past the challenging times.
One student told our anchor Joe Moeller, “Personally, for me, I just want to keep going and get a new start to the school year.”
Another big topic in students' minds is safety.
"Conversations need to be had with these higher-ups about enforcing our safety," said UNLV student Ethan Phul.
UNLV hired a private security company to help provide security for students as they walk to class. The armed officers could help escort students and staff to class and other areas of campus. On Tuesday, the officers were seen with a black and yellow jacket walking around campus and inside buildings.
"We want to make sure that we have a presence," said UNLV President Keith Whitfield. "They're not our cops, but they will provide additional safety."
Whitfield said other immediate changes that students and staff will notice will be to the doors and locks.
"The first thing that we have been doing is working on the doors, being able to provide locks on the doors," Whitfield said.
He adds that the university is also working to get better lighting around campus.
"Lighting is a huge issue as well, particularly on that section of campus," he said. "That is something that we started looking into — how can we extend the lighting that we already started doing and more?"
While some of the changes are immediate, Whitfield said other security measures are still being considered, which include surveillance cameras that can detect firearms and one-way glass windows.
"We are not going to close off our campus. We are always going to have people coming and going, so one way in which we can try to get to the safer level is to have this latest technology to be able to do this," he said.
Meantime, Phul said he welcomes the new protections but believes additional security measures are needed as soon as possible.
"I would think that it's important, especially for the professors, to get them like a keycard that gives them restricted access to their own office, not make it so that any person can walk into the professor's office," Phul said.
UNLV also has two committees that will look at the current security procedures and will make recommendations accordingly.
