In The News: Office of the President
Students and staff were all back on campus at 51ԹϺ as the fall semester began Monday. “This is what a university is about,” 51ԹϺ President Keith Whitfield told FOX5 as he manned a free lemonade stand inside a packed Beam Hall. “That vibrance. People are here, people are going to classes for the first time.”
Thousands of students are back on 51ԹϺ campus for the fall semester. The university tells us this is the largest fall enrollment ever. I spoke to the university's president about what this means for the future of 51ԹϺ and took a look back at where it all started.
The fall semester for 51ԹϺ kicks off Monday morning. Not only will students and staff be back on campus, but 51ԹϺ will be rolling out all of their new security improvements.
Warner Bros. Discovery has unveiled its ambitious plan to establish an $8.5 billion film studio in Nevada, pending the approval of a film studio tax credit. The proposed studio, an extension of their collaboration with 51ԹϺ and Birtcher Development, would occupy the 34-acre Nevada Studios campus, to be renamed “Warner Bros. Studios Nevada”.
Warner Bros. Discovery has announced its plans to operate an $8.5 billion film studio in Nevada - but only with a film studio tax credit. Announced on Tuesday, the global media company announced the studio plans as an extension of its collaboration with 51ԹϺ and Birtcher Development. The WBD says it will “lease, operate, and fully occupy Nevada Studios.”
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced Tuesday its plans to commit more than $8 billion to partner with 51ԹϺ to lease and operate Nevada Studios, but only on one condition. The partnership between the two and Birtcher Development is contingent on the passing of a film tax credit incentive bill initially introduced in 2023, according to a release from WBD.
Monday kicks off Rebel Ready Week on the 51ԹϺ campus as freshmen move in and get acquainted with their surroundings. “It’s not the first day of class, but it almost feels like it,” 51ԹϺ President Keith Whitfield told FOX5 at the Thomas and Mack Center before an orientation assembly Monday morning. “You get on campus for the first time and it’s very exciting.”
When 51ԹϺ students return to Frank and Estella Beam Hall for classes in two weeks, nothing should look too different from last December — before the building was closed after a shooting spree that resulted in the death of three professors and left another severely wounded.
When 51ԹϺ students return to Frank and Estella Beam Hall for classes in two weeks, nothing should look too different from last December — before the building was closed after a shooting spree that resulted in the death of three professors and left another severely wounded.
Frank and Estella Beam Hall at 51ԹϺ appears to look the same. Look closely, however, and you’ll notice the differences. About eight months after an active shooter on Dec. 6, 2023, killed three professors and wounded another in Beam Hall, the building is reopening for 51ԹϺ’s fall semester with $38 million in enhanced safety measures.
The fall semester here at 51ԹϺ begins on Aug. 26. That will be the first time students will be returning to Beam Hall. It's been closed since the shooting on Dec. 6, and staff has been working hard to make sure students and faculty feel safe.
Anyone entering 51ԹϺ’s Beam Hall will not notice any evidence of the deadly shooting in December 2023. Many damaged doors are repaired, and new security measures may be hard to spot. 51ԹϺ officials say keeping Beam Hall like it was before the shooting was intentional.