Madison Kimbro and Julia Romero
20 minutes ago
UNLV hosted a mental health town hall for students and staff on February 27, 2024 (KLAS)
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Less than three months after a deadly shooting on UNLV’s campus. Students, faculty, and staff gathered Tuesday for a discussion about mental health.
“If you want people to be vulnerable, you have to be vulnerable yourself,” UNLV President Keith Whitfield said.
President Whitfield led the discussion on mental health. Whitfield, who is in his second year, said things look much different now after the campus shooting in December that left three employees dead and one seriously injured.
“Last year was interesting because there were a lot of panel discussions and not a lot of interaction,” he said. “We wanted a space where students could talk about what was going on, talk to their peers, and have some normalcy.”
Topics at the town hall included the flight or fight response to stress and how people deal with trauma.
Adriana Carrillo, a junior at UNLV, recalled the difficult time she and her fellow students had during the chaos of the shooting.
“It was really heavy. I was upset and angry because I was hearing about things like this happening at different times all over the country,” she said.
Since then, Carrillo has been able to take advantage of the resources around her and is grateful that the university provided them.
“Having a space to release your mental health and express yourself is a privilege,” Carrillo added. “I feel so lucky to not only be part of a generation where we’re talking about mental health, but also to be an advocate for it.”
President Whitfield also added that UNLV had the highest number of students returning from the fall to spring semesters ever.
