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December 15, 2023

Dear Wolf Pack Family,

We are on the homestretch of the fall semester with the official end of the semester coming on Dec. 22. This is a very busy time for our entire University, and I wish to take a few moments to express my sincere gratitude for the work you’ve done over these past several months.

We often look at our time working, living and studying at our University in semester-sized increments. Although this mindset helps us forge confidently ahead in meeting deadlines, accomplishing major tasks and making discernible progress in our personal and professional lives, sometimes we can also benefit from taking a big step back, focusing for a moment on the larger picture, and realizing what all of this work can come to mean.

The impact of our work can be measured in a variety of ways. Perhaps one of the most vivid and compelling examples occurred on Saturday, when our Winter Commencement Ceremonies in Lawlor Events Center saw the conferral of more than 1,800 degrees and certificates. It was a time to celebrate the realization of lifelong goals of our graduates, and to sincerely acknowledge the loss of three University of Nevada, Las Vegas faculty members who were killed during the Dec. 6 mass shooting on the UNLV campus. We wore scarlet and gray in honor of our friends at UNLV last Friday, and we held a campus vigil for those lost at UNLV in front of the Joe Crowley Student Union on Dec. 11. And in the days and weeks to come, we need to continue to do all we can to help our friends at UNLV find healing during this challenging time.

All of this is a reminder that life is exceedingly precious. The gift of the human condition, as we saw during Saturday’s Commencement, is that we all have it within us to shape a better future.

Given the events in the world over the past several months, it is also important to remember that our campus needs to continue to be a place where acceptance, understanding and diversity of perspectives and experiences are welcomed. Our campus community’s core tenets are based on the idea that we value freedom of expression and that we are also well aware that we must provide a sense of belonging and safety for our people who represent a wide range of identities and beliefs. We do this by making it clear that we do not condone speech or actions that threatens, hurts or directs hate toward any individuals or groups of people. Acts of violence, hate, antisemitism, Islamophobia or discrimination have no place in our world.

I hope the upcoming winter break provides you all with the chance to rest, to reconnect with those who are important to you, and to return to campus in January with excitement for another new year at the ÍƼöÐÓ°ÉÔ­´´.

Finish strong, Wolf Pack. And thank you for the work you’ve done this past year. It has made our University proud.

Go Pack!

Sincere regards,

Brian Sandoval
President