Flower wreaths are shown in front of photos of slain UNLV professors, from left, Patricia Navarro-Velez, Cha-Jan JerryChang, and Naoko Takemaru, during a memorial vigil at UNLV Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. Three UNLV professors were killed and another critically wounded when a gunman opened fire in Beam Hall on UNLV campus Wednesday, Dec. 6.
Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023 | 6:43 p.m.
Perhaps, UNLV President Keith Whitfield said, others are feeling like he does right now — struggling to understand how last week’s mass shooting happened and feeling that their sense of security and home has been upended.
But being plunged into that darkness revealed the brightness of friends, colleagues and community, he said Wednesday at a campus vigil honoring those killed in the shooting.
“Fear and anger must never rule our actions,” Whitfield said. “But rather, let us move forward by using hope and fortitude.”
Campus has been all but shut down since the attack, although graduation will go ahead as planned next week because celebrating student achievement honors the lives lost, Whitfield said.
People will need to continue to be there for each other and not be defined by the tragedy, he said.
“We are strong. We are resilient,” Whitfield said. “And we are UNLV.”
Four people, all UNLV faculty members, were shot Dec. 6 — three fatally and one injured critically — when a gunman entered Beam Hall, a building of classrooms and offices in the heart of campus. University police killed the gunman at the scene.
Professor of Japanese studies Naoko Takemaru, 69; accounting professor Patricia Navarro Velez, 39; and management information systems professor Cha Jan “Jerry” Chang, 64, were killed.
One week later, almost to the hour, hundreds of people packed the lawn around UNLV’s rose garden to remember them.
Gloribert Roque-Melendez, a lecturer in the accounting department, had much in common with Navarro Velez. Both are native to Puerto Rico and started their accounting industry careers in its capital, San Juan. Both earned their master’s degrees at the same university in Ohio. After Roque-Melendez was a guest in Navarro Velez’s class, her new friend encouraged her to also teach at UNLV. She suggested Roque-Melendez be a marshal at graduation, so she too could see the joy in her students graduating.
Roque-Melendez considered Navarro Velez family who made it easy to spend holidays away from home because she was at home whenever they were together.
“She was brilliant. She was kind,” Roque-Melendez said. “She was genuine. She was loving.”
Ashley Weckesser, a former student of Chang’s, said his counsel was invaluable as she made the transition from the liberal arts to a graduate program in business. He was always available and provided encouragement and patience as he inspired confidence in students, she said.
“I never knew what people meant when they said that someone had kind eyes,” she said. “Now I know.”
Deborah Arteaga, a professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, said Takemaru’s unassuming manner belied her unique, leading research into gender bias in the Japanese language.
Takemaru was a sociolinguist, studying how language is used in society. She was an expert in how women are referred to, poorly, in the Japanese language. She also taught advanced language skills.
“Over many cups of tea, Naoko and I discussed different fields of linguistics and our own research,” Arteaga said. “Because of Naoko’s violent murder, we lost not only one of the best human beings I have ever known, but also a first-rate sociolinguist.”
Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Patricia Charlton said UNLV is in Las Vegas’ fabric, and it was made better by the professors’ contributions.
“It is truly not a coincidence that UNLV is located in the center of Las Vegas,” she said. “It is truly the heart and the soul of our community.”
Rev. Gard Jameson of the Interfaith Council of Southern Nevada said people could honor the late professors by being as they were remembered — smile more, be kinder and more patient.
“Takemaru Sensei, Pat, Jerry, we bow to you,” Jameson said. “We are humbled by what you have taught us as persons and as scholars and as children of the divine.”
Rabbi Sanford Akselrad of Henderson’s Congregation Ner Tamid said the mourners Wednesday gathered on sacred ground.
He offered a call-and-response prayer from the Jewish faith that guides “the gentle dance between memory and mourning and missing.”
“At the rising of the sun and at its going down, we remember them. At the blowing of the wind and in the chill of winter; at the opening of the buds and in the rebirth of spring, we remember them,” he said, the mourners chiming in with more voice as they found the rhythm of the prayer. “At the blueness of the skies and in the warmth of summer; at the rustling of the leaves and in the beauty of autumn, we remember them. At the beginning of the year and when it ends, we remember them.”
When people return to UNLV next month to gather and learn, Akselrad said, the lost will live as they are remembered.
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