UNLV students, faculty and staff board RTC buses to get off campus after a fatal shooting on the UNLV campus Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. Many students, faculty and staff were trapped on campus as roads were shut down and dorms were closed.
Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023 | 1:13 p.m.
A group has created a petition calling for the cancellation of the remaining finals and classes at UNLV following Wednesday’s campus shooting that killed three people and wounded one.
Red Desert Collective, which describes itself on Instagram as “a principled Marxist-Leninist organization,” created the petition Wednesday on change.org, a website where people can create petitions.
As of this morning, the petition had 961 of its goal of 1,000 signatures.
“In the midst of tragedy, as we wait for answers from the authorities, students who are still trying to grapple with today’s tragic events were already alerted by several professors and department chairs regarding their upcoming classes and finals, which are set to go ahead as planned,” the petition says.
“Rather than worrying about their friends, their community, or even their own wellbeing, these students instead worry about their grades, projects, and finals,” it says.
At the time the petition was created, Red Desert Collective said students were still “stuck in the Thomas and Mack (Center) and the Las Vegas Convention Center waiting to reunite with their families.”
A gunman opened fire Wednesday at UNLV’s Beam Hall, causing students to flee and shelter in place after the university sent out an alert warning of an active shooter.
The gunman was killed in a shootout with campus police, authorities said.
The Associated Press identified him as Anthony Polito, 67, who previously worked at East Carolina University in North Carolina and had unsuccessfully sought a job at UNLV.
All classes and activities at UNLV have been canceled through Sunday.
The university is “currently evaluating campus operations for next week and will update faculty, staff and students accordingly after a further assessment is made,” UNLV President Keith Whitfield said in a statement Wednesday.
Whitfield said today he was working to determine timing of the remainder of the semester, including finals next week and the winter commencement. He said he expected to issue an update on Friday.
The petition argues that “to allow for proper time to grieve and cope, UNLV must cancel all upcoming classes, cancel all upcoming finals, and pass all students impacted by these tragic events.”
On the UNLV Reddit thread, a Google document with an email template directed at Whitfield and UNLV Provost Chris Heavey has also been making the rounds.
The templated message asks that “all in-person classes be canceled and all finals be either canceled, moved completely online or given a pass for bereavement considerations.”
It also asks that students and faculty be connected to counseling services; an honorary vigil be held for the victims; and the UNLV administration advocate for the passage of gun safety bills in the 2025 legislative session.
It was unclear if the petition and email template are related.
