Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV’s Whitfield: ‘Something special about this university’

UNLV State of the University Address

Wade Vandervort

UNLV President Keith Whitfield speaks during a State of the University address Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022.

UNLV State of the University Address

UNLV President Keith Whitfield speaks during a State of the University address Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Launch slideshow »

UNLV President Keith Whitfield spent part of his annual state of the university address on Tuesday raving about the students and professors who are thriving at the institution.

For instance, UNLV is one of two universities with multiple participating scientists on the NASA Mars Fleet, he said. The other: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I recently came to realize that I’d fallen in love with this university,” Whitfield said. “As I’ve come to learn more about its faculty, staff and students, I’ve developed a deep affection for who we are, what we offer, and how we make things happen. That is the kind of community I was born to be a part of. Don’t get me wrong, we’re by no means perfect. And we have many challenges. But there’s something special about this university, and what it offers, especially to our students.”

Then there’s the research Edwin Oh, a professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine who leads an effort to sample wastewater to test for COVID-19 variants. Oh’s research is one of the many ways the university has partnered with the Southern Nevada Health District and Nevada over the past two years to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s a perfect example of how research university can benefit communities it serves,” he said.

Whitfield also outlined the university’s outreach programs, including an online resource powered through artificial intelligence that looks like the president and connects students to things like financial aid, housing, dining, and organizations.

Whitfield showed on a video a UNLV student speaking with the virtual version of himself.

Whitfield said the university believes a program like this is the first of its kind in the U.S.

“I know some of the responsibility for connecting with the students falls on me, and I’m trying to be more available to them,” he said. “President Whitfield will continue to adapt and expand his capabilities.”

Whitfield said he remains connected to students of color through panel discussions and engagement outreach. In answering a question about his support for the Black student community, he said the university has the anti-Black racism task force and the Minority Serving Institution task force.

“There’s a number of task forces that are all supporting our Black students to be here to be able to thrive,” he said.

The president also said he hopes to increase the number of internships for students at local business partners or large-scale companies like Microsoft and Google. He said that “practical knowledge, that real-world kind of knowledge, is something that goes on your resume, and can be the thing that helps guide you, and helps actually get you into that first job and for the future.”