LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The fall semester for UNLV kicks off Monday morning.
Not only will students and staff be back on campus, but UNLV will be rolling out all of their new security improvements.
WATCH | The walk-through tour of Beam Hall's new security features with UNLV
The university expects to have more than 32,000 students in the fall semester, which would be their largest fall enrollment ever.
“This is a wonderful, beautiful community and I’m proud to be part of it," said Melanie Felipe, a UNLV graduate student who started taking classes as an undergrad at UNLV in 2013.
“I loved the campus. Everything was easy for me to find, the teachers were nice," said returning UNLV student Alexandria Fisher.
Felipe tells Channel 13 the deadly shooting killing 3 at UNLV December 6shook the UNLV community, but she says the resilience of that community made her want to stay.
“Us coming together as a community when December of last year happened, like that just made me feel so proud to be a Rebel and to be here in Las Vegas," Felipe said.
After the shooting, UNLV added several security enhancements around campus, specifically to Beam Hall, where the shooting happened.
I took a tour of that building two weeks ago and saw a new security desk with two security guards monitoring the building, new surveillance cameras, a new key card system and more.
How comfortable do the first-year freshman feel coming on campus?
“I love how the fact that UNLV decided to upgrade their security," said first-generation college student Santiago Martinez.
“I feel like they’re going to become even more secure, and this is just a situation that will better them," said freshman Anthony Cooper.
Both Martinez and Cooper are part of the expected UNLV record 4,600 first-year students starting school this fall.
“We had this horrible incident and look at what happened. And then we still have a higher number than usual," said UNLV President Keith Whitfield.
Felipe said it's great to see enrollment up, and she can't wait to start school again.
“I’m really enjoying being here at UNLV," Felipe said. "I’m really glad to have continued my educations with UNLV."
As UNLV students return to campus Monday, they'll have classes inside Beam Hall for the first time since the shooting.
