I know someone that's a Rebel and he said, everyone gets an A on their final

[theking]

UNLV cancels finals as shooting upends semester and campus grapples with traumatic stress

This fall semester Abigale Hennings had finally hit a stride at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The pandemic had disrupted the 23-year-old’s education in 2020-21 when she went part time for a full academic year because virtual learning had become too difficult.

She returned to full-time classes in the fall of 2021 and, in recent months, was looking forward to finally graduating during a winter commencement ceremony Dec. 19. Then a gunman — an academic who had applied for a job at the university — opened fire in a building Wednesday, killing three faculty members and wounding a visiting professor, throwing the campus into a state of emergency and grief.

“It takes away the joy of all of us making it, ” said Hennings, a music major.

On Friday the university, acknowledging the trauma students and faculty have experienced, canceled on-campus, in-person finals. Instead, faculty and students have flexibility to decide how to end the semester.

Optional online finals or take-home projects can be taken to improve grades; otherwise students will earn a grade based on their work before Dec. 6, the day of the shooting. Students will also be given the opportunity to receive credit for their class without a grade.

“Your resilience amidst near insurmountable adversity continues to amaze me,” UNLV President Keith E. Whitfield said in a letter to the community. “In the short time since Wednesday’s incident, I’ve met with some of you to listen and to learn, and I acknowledge the pain, fear, and anxiety that many are experiencing right now. I feel it too.”

Graduation ceremonies will go on as scheduled Dec. 19 and 20.

“The milestone moment of commencement is the most special day on the university calendar, and it’s in difficult times like these that we can and should celebrate our graduates’ academic dreams fulfilled,” Whitfield said. Students who choose not to attend can participate in May 2024 ceremonies.