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Supporting, facilitating, and promoting engagement
between the university and its many communities
November/December, 2024
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Rebel Advocacy Training - UNLV & the 83rd Session of the Nevada Legislature
The 83rd Session of the Nevada Legislature will convene on Monday, February 3rd. The Office of Government and Community Engagement is looking forward to partnering with many of you in an effort to advocate for legislation important to UNLV, and to ensure our resources and participation are leveraged for the benefit of all Nevadans during this year's Session. In preparation for this year's Session, Government and Community Engagement is...(more)
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UNLV Expert: The Future of Transportation
“Tell me the numbers, I’ll take care of the politics.” Shashi Nambisan, director of the Transportation Research Center (TRC) at UNLV, recalled a pivotal discussion in the early 1990s with then-County Commissioner Bruce L. Woodbury about the transportation needs of a region on the precipice of substantial growth. The discussion also included leaders from Clark County Public Works and the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern...(more)
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A Primer on UNLV's Academic Health Center and Why It Matters
Nevada faces significant health challenges, with critical disparities evident in both access to care and health outcomes. According to the Center for Disease Control, Nevada ranks poorly in key health metrics, including mental health (45th in the nation), while its citizens experience some of the highest rates of chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease, and stroke. These disparities are...(more)
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In the Battle for the Fremont Cannon
Rebels Make It Happen
UNLV rolled over in-state rival UNR before 40,122 fans at Allegiant Stadium on Saturday, November 30th, to post the program's first 10-win season in 40 years. With the win, the Rebels earned a spot in the 2024 Old Trapper Mountain West Football Championship Game vs. Boise State on Friday at 5 p.m. PT, marking a rematch of the 2023 game staged in...(more)
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UNLV Vice President of Government & Community Engagement Constance Brooks with Assemblywoman Brittany Miller and Boyd Alum and Clark County Assistant Public Defender John Piro | |
President Keith E. Whitfield with Governor Joe Lombardo and Nevada’s First Lady, Lieutenant Governor Starvos Anthony and Nevada’s Second Lady, President of Western Nevada College Kyle Dalpe, and Vice President of Truckee Meadows Community College Elena Bubnova. | President Keith E. Whitfield with Assemblywomen Brittany Miller and Danielle Monroe Moreno | |
The Nevada Legislature Interim Committees
The 20-month period between the Nevada Legislature’s biennial sessions is referred to as the "interim." During this time, interim committees created by the Legislature work on issues that arise between sessions. Learn more on the Interim Committees website.
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Rebels in Action - Government | |
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11/13/24 – UNLV’s College of Fine Arts and UNLV Film hosted an in-depth panel discussion with Warner Bros. Studio Nevada regarding the collaboration with higher education institutions in our region which has the capacity to transform our community by illuminating film and arts education, diversifying our economy, and transforming creative industries in Nevada.
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11/14/24 – The UNLV Office of Government and Community Engagement hosted Rebels Speak: A Town Hall Conversation with Legislators, featuring UNLV alumni and representatives, Assemblyman Howard Watts and Senator Fabian Donate, and provided an opportunity for UNLV students, staff, and faculty to provide feedback about issues concerning the Rebel community in advance of Nevada’s 83rd Legislative Session.
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11/15/24 – Leo Benavides (UNLV Government & Community Engagement) and Michelle Paul (UNLV PRACTICE) joined City of Las Vegas Councilman Brian Knudsen and a delegation from Nevada, including Senators Rochelle Nguyen and Roberta Lange, and Assemblywoman Danielle Monroe-Moreno, for meetings at the University of Oregon’s Ballmer Institute to learn about a Bachelor’s Program for Children’s Behavioral Health.
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11/18/24 - More than 200 UNLV faculty and staff, elected officials, and community leaders gathered in the Strip View Pavilion at the Thomas & Mack Center for a launch celebration of the Nevada Academic Health Center at UNLV debut. The center will serve as a model for medical care and interdisciplinary research, and address a long-standing priority in Nevada.
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11/19/24 –An exhibit, "The Holocaust: Reconstructing Shattered Humanity," presenting items from 1920s-1940s documenting the rise of the Nazi Party, its attempted genocide, liberation efforts, and the Nuremberg trials, opened at the Governor’s Office in Las Vegas. The exhibit, curated by graduate students in the UNLV History Department, reflects a partnership between the Governor’s Office, Nevada Center for Humanity, and Reid Public History Institute.
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11/22/24 - UNLV President Dr. Keith E. Whitfield joined his counterparts from Nevada State University, Desert Research Institute, and College of Southern Nevada for a Presidents Roundtable discussion moderated by The Nevada Independent’s Jon Ralston to share insights on how election outcomes may impact higher education, research initiatives, and workforce development in Nevada.
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12/4/24 – Vice President of Government and Community Engagement Constance Brooks attended the swearing in ceremony of former US Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, who was elected to serve as the new Mayor of the City of Las Vegas
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12/4/24 – Vice President of Government and Community Engagement Constance Brooks attended the swearing in ceremony of the recently elected Ward 5 Councilwoman Shondra Summers Armstrong
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President’s Holiday Village Provides Southern Nevada Families With a Little Extra Holiday Cheer
A ho, ho, holly jolly good time was had at UNLV on Saturday, Dec. 14, as the campus — in partnership with United Movement Organized Kindness (UMOK) and other community partners and volunteers — hosted the annual President’s Holiday Village at UNLV. A variety of efforts across campus have aimed to make the holiday season a little brighter for those less fortunate in Southern Nevada. Over the past four years, these efforts have joined together in what has become a campus and community-wide tradition.…(more)
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Preserving the Stories of Las Vegas Casino Workers and Dreamers
More than 800 unique videos chronicling the lives of Las Vegas casino workers have been revitalized through a recent digital preservation project by UNLV Special Collections and Archives. The digitization work on “Doubling Down: Preserving the Stories of the Workers and Dreamers Behind the Las Vegas Casino Industry” was made possible by a Recordings at Risk Grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources. The project was one of 17 selected for funding during this cycle of the Recordings at Risk grant program. With generous funding from the Mellon Foundation, Recordings at Risk grants support the preservation of rare and unique audio and audiovisual content of...(more)
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UNLV Opens Storefront at Junior Achievement's Biztown and Finance Park
At Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, young students can practice being a company’s CEO — or even a university president — for a day during a mock-city experience. UNLV has partnered with Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada, a nonprofit organization providing lessons in financial literacy, career readiness, and entrepreneurship to positively impact the lives of students. Junior Achievement has more than 100 chapters in the United States, and Southern Nevada’s chapter reaches over 20,000 students annually throughout Clark County with the help of...(more)
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Rebels in Action - Community | |
11/12/24 – UNLV joined Paradise Teacher Preparation School’s parent meeting to discuss medical, dental, and mental health services available at UNLV, and to provide the latest research relative to the significance of attending school regularly and helping their children develop healthy habits for academic success. | |
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11/13/24 – UNLV joined 60 community partners for the City of North Las Vegas’s Noble November event, which connected attendees with referrals for employment, medical, dental, legal, and substance abuse resources. | |
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11/15/24 – UNLV Government and Community Engagement and UNLV Athletics provided students attending the Young Women’s Leadership Academy with UNLV t-shirts to wear on College Day. | |
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11/16/24 – UNLV Government and Community Engagement supported the UNLV Farmer’s Market to distribute food to 176 families in need. The Farmer’s Market takes place the second Saturday of each month in front of the Stan Fulton building on the main campus, and has become a lifeline for those who reside in the neighborhoods surrounding UNLV and beyond. | |
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11/16/24 - UNLV hosted its 10th annual Summit on Nevada Education where educators and policy makers from across the state gathered to address challenges faced by Nevada’s schools, including efforts to address mental health needs, expanded opportunities for students, and to improve the education of incarcerated individuals. This year’s summit included the first inductions into the UNLV College of Education Hall of Fame. | |
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Lonnie Wright
Conduct brain surgery while blindfolded. Build a Las Vegas Strip resort without a single power tool. Defeat the 1990 NCAA championship-winning Runnin’ Rebels while playing a man short. Pulling off any of these ridiculous feats seems less difficult than answering this question: Where in the world does one begin to explain why Lonnie Wright is deserving of being a 2024 UNLV Alumni of the Year honoree? This seemingly simple question is impossible to answer because Wright’s UNLV- and community-related accomplishments and contributions are so vast and so varied that there is no obvious...(more)
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EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT
Satish Bhatnagar
It’s Las Vegas, circa 1974. The Huntridge Theater near downtown is the go-to spot for the latest films. Locals flock to the Boulevard Mall (the only one in the city) to shop for the latest fashions. And, Elvis is still headlining a series of shows at the International Hotel (now known as Westgate Las Vegas Hotel & Casino). A few blocks south, student enrollment at UNLV numbers less than 10,000, and the math department is housed in the William D. Carlson Education Building. Inside, a young Satish Bhatnagar is teaching his first math class as a recently hired assistant professor. Now, jump ahead 50 years…(more)
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COMMUNITY PARTNER SPOTLIGHT
Regional Transportation Commission
Many Southern Nevadans associate the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada (RTC) with city busses, but the RTC is so much more than that. UNLV has benefited from its partnerships with the RTC for many decades now. These partnerships provide opportunities for UNLV students to extend their education beyond the classroom and further research that improves our economy and helps save lives. As Southern Nevada’s population continues to grow, the RTC is continuously working to identify transportation challenges while simultaneously promoting sustainability, air quality improvement, enhanced mobility and increased quality of life in the region. Learn more about the RTC and the many ways it works to improve our quality of life on its website.
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UNLV Film Launches Movie Review Podcast 'The Film Dept.'
The UNLV Department of Film recently debuted its new movie review podcast — The Film Dept. — featuring three film connoisseur students responding to screenings of recent films. The student hosts screen the films at The Beverly Theater, Las Vegas’ first and only independent film house, storytelling arena, and live music venue, and then record their observations and critiques in the UNLV Film podcast studio. Executive producers and film professors Adam Paul and Roudi Boroumand led the podcast's creation to give students more options to express themselves outside of...(more)
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UNLV Professors Live on Through Memorial Scholarships
On the morning of Dec. 6, 2023, Sonia Plascencia Zacarias was sitting in professor Patricia Navarro Velez’s accounting class on the fourth floor of Beam Hall. It was the week before finals, and her class ended two minutes late at 11:17 a.m., she remembers. She left to meet her younger sister, then a UNLV freshman, so that they could walk together to Lied Library to study. No one knew then the events that would unfold a short time later. At about 11:53 a.m., the computer screens in Lied Library displayed an alert of an active shooter on campus. Plascencia’s first thought was that it was a drill. But...(more)
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A Mindful Approach to a Calmer (and Healthier) Life - Advice from UNLV Professor
Feeling a little out of sorts as you read this? Take several deep breaths, slowly inhaling and exhaling. Move your shoulders up and down. Focus on being present in the moment. After a short time, you should start to feel a bit more aware of your surroundings and your feelings. This simple act of resetting? It's called mindfulness, and consistently engaging in this practice not only can reduce stress, but help improve your physical and emotional health. “It is a core skill for building attention control,” said Nicholas Barr, assistant professor in the UNLV School of Social Work. “Mindfulness is...(more)
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Rebel Recovery Program
Since the December 6th tragedy, the Rebel community continues to experience kindness, support, and encouragement from so many. We would like to express our sincere appreciation and gratitude for all those who have helped and inspired us as we continue our recovery process. Don’t forget to check-in for the latest updates as we continue to progress on our Rebel Recovery Program. Please visit the UNLV Strong website to learn more.
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Invitation to Support Our Work
Great universities and great communities go together, and this is certainly true for UNLV and Nevada. The needs in our communities are many and there is so much more we can do to help solve some of our most pressing challenges. But, we cannot do it without you. We invite you to support our work by visiting the website, clicking the “UNLV Fund” option, and then selecting “Community Engagement” from the options listed. Thank you for your consideration!
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