Kennedy Jackson, a UNLV theater arts major, still remembers the hummingbird she saw fluttering outside of UNLV’s Beam Hall one year ago.
She was walking back from studying for finals, and the campus was abuzz with pre-finals stress and pre-holiday anticipation. But in just a few short hours, the excitement and jitters would turn into utter fear.
On Dec. 6, 2023, Anthony Polito, 67, entered UNLV’s Beam Hall and shot and killed professors Patricia Navarro-Velez, 39, Cha-Jan “Jerry” Chang, 64, and Naoko Takemaru, 69. Polito also shot Professor Daraboth “Bot” Rith 10 times, leaving him critically injured.
After the shooting, Jackson looked up the hummingbird’s meaning and found that it symbolized protection in many cultures, and change in others — an apt description considering she and many friends were supposed to be in Beam Hall at the time of the shooting but at the last minute had changed their plans.
When she learned that her piece “Hummingbird” would be installed as one of six murals at Beam Hall to memorialize the shooting, she cried for two minutes straight.
“If someone sees my artwork, whatever interpretation they have of it, hopefully it resonates with them and they can have some peace and solace with it,” she said.
As students and professors prepare once more for final exams and the holiday season, they also grapple with the memory of a day that changed UNLV. In the year since, professors and students alike continue to struggle with increased anxiety and sadness, especially when it comes to reminders of the day.
“We know that anniversaries are particularly sensitive times for people,” psychologist Michelle Paul, who directs the UNLV PRACTICE mental health clinic, said. “Our biology is wired to help us survive, and so reminders put us in a space of being vigilant for potential danger again, and making sure that we make ourselves safe.”
A year later, the UNLV community has come together to remember those lost, and support those suffering from the memory of surviving, through art and connection.
The university will host an hourlong remembrance ceremony at 11 a.m. Friday at the Alumni Amphitheatre, where President Keith Whitfield, faculty, students and recent alumni will speak. Students and faculty from the College of Fine Arts also will deliver performances. Project Wellness, a student-led mental health initiative, will be there to support people who are struggling and direct them to further help if necessary.
Anne Weisman, UNLV’s director of well-being and integrative medicine, said it’s critical that people come together and connect with one another in their grief.
“Anniversary has become an important part of our grief and of our sharing, where we come together and we acknowledge those who are no longer with us, and we acknowledge what happened,” Weisman said.
Remembering through art
In addition to “Hummingbird,” five other pieces were installed as yearlong murals at Beam Hall’s entrance on Tuesday.
Submissions for the murals opened earlier this semester and were evaluated based on how well they honored the victims, reflected themes of healing and remembrance and supported recovery, according to the university.
“This installation allows us to honor our shared history in a way that words alone cannot,” Sarah Quigley, memorial art subcommittee chair and director of Special Collections and Archives, said in UNLV’s announcement of the exhibit. “It’s a visual expression of remembrance that speaks to the heart of our community.”
“UNLV Strong” by students Haide Calle and Anjelo Vigilia, shows a tea set with three individual cups to represent the three professors who were killed.
Vigilia also said that the flowers in the art were meant to symbolize healing. The exhibit also highlighted personal items of each professor on a table, which the artists hope will create a personal narrative: a mic for Navarro-Velez’s love of singing, the book Takemaru wrote on women’s portrayal in the Japanese language and a fishing rod to represent Chang’s liking for ice fishing.
“It definitely feels surreal,” Vigilia said of his work becoming part of the installation. “It feels good to be able to contribute.”
“Ganbatte” by Rose Jiang is dedicated to Takemaru, who the artist said “brought warmth and encouragement into the lives of the people she taught, befriended, and cared for.”
“Moment of Silence,” by visiting assistant art professor Jung Min, is meant to honor the professors’ memory with a moment of silence.
“As an Asian immigrant and a teacher at UNLV, the loss of Jerry Cha-Jan Chang and Naoko Takemaru brought the reality of loss to the forefront, making it deeply personal and all the more devastating,” the artist statement reads.
Hopena Ross’ piece aims to honor the victims through their cultural backgrounds. The art depicts Puerto Rico to honor where Velez is from, Chang as a fisherman and Takemaru as a koi fish, known in Asian culture for their ability to adapt to climates and water conditions.
“Portions of my painting were intentionally left unfinished symbolizing the sadly unfinished lives of the victims,” the artist statement read.
Camille Sweeney-Carter’s piece is meant to incorporate what the artist said was the teachers’ passion for bringing people together.
“The beautiful flame is meant to convey how each of the souls we lost were bright lights to anyone they touched,” the statement reads.
In addition to the murals, several students also drew inspiration from the Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 origami cranes. The project grew to create 4,000 cranes to honor the professors who were shot.
Colleagues remember
Colleagues close to the professors who lost their lives still struggle with the memories, especially as the year mark approaches.
UNLV Professor Rajiv Kishore, who was on a flight to India at the time of the shooting, later found out he was one of the names on Polito’s target list of whom he wanted to kill. A year later, he remains confident that had he sat in his office that day, where his chair faced away from the door, he would not be here today. When he returned to his office in the aftermath, he started thinking every day about the “brutal murder” of his office neighbor, Chang.
“I will always miss him. I will never have an answer for why he had to die that day,” Kishore said.
UNLV Professor Jason Smith spoke at a vigil last year about Navarro-Velez, with whom he worked closely. As the anniversary approaches, he said he struggles with the memory but also reflects on his dear friend.
“Emotions are closer to the surface, and that can be challenging of course as many feelings of trauma and loss are renewed, but at the same time, it’s an opportunity for us to again have at the forefront of our memories our colleagues that were lost and their positive impact in our lives,” Smith said.
More than 350 individuals and organizations have donated more than $264,000 to support endowed memorial scholarships in honor of the professors.
Community comes together
Several professors remarked on the way the community had come together in the aftermath of the shooting.
“There was nothing good about a shooting like this, but if there’s anything positive, it is that we just all came together as a strong community and supported each other,” Kishore said.
UNLV has increased its mental health resources since the shooting. The Rebel Recovery Program, launched by President Whitfield, includes town halls and safety training, among other mental health resources. UNLV also has a page on its website that offers guidelines to professors on how to teach after a traumatic event.
The university also offered reimbursements of up to $1,500 for each employee for mental health costs between Dec. 7 and Sept. 1. The total amount available for reimbursement is $300,000, according to the university.
Beam Hall reopened in August with increased security. The building has five new cameras and an alert telephone in every classroom and requires an access card to get upstairs. It also has a front desk staffed with a security guard and a patrolling guard. The building operated at half-capacity this semester, with 160 classes. Each class had another section in an alternate location, meaning that no one has to take a class in the building.
One idea that had been floated was closing the doors to UNLV. But at the reopening, Whitfield said that with 70 percent of students coming from the area, creating a closed space would be weird.
“This is part of the city. This is connected to the city,” Whitfield said.
UNLV Professor Daniel Bubb echoed the connection of the university to the city. He thanked the community for its support, and asked for people to continue to support UNLV.
“One of the things that we can look back on to see the love and the outpouring of support that comes from our community, and the tighter connections that we have as a community as a result of the tragedy,” Smith said. “But at the same time, there’s still this kind of void in our lives. We can’t ever replace or fill that void.”
Contact Katie Futterman at kfutterman@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ktfutts on X and @katiefutterman.bsky.social.