Interview with Flora Jones by Claytee D. White, July 19, 2007. Jones discusses her upbringing in Mississippi and her employment at the University of Nevada Las Vegas in the Admissions Office.
Oral history interview with Michael Newcomb conducted by Stefani Evans and Claytee D. White on July 12, 2024 for the Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports project. In this interview, Michael Newcomb recalls his childhood in Connecticut and watching the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels games on television. In 1990, Newcomb moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to attend UNLV. He worked as an usher at outdoor athletic events at Caesars Palace and The Mirage, and eventually became supervisor and then personnel director of the company. Newcomb talks about starting work at the Thomas & Mack Center in 1996 managing the parking lot and the events. He recalls the experiences and people who have shaped his nearly 30 years at the Center, as he became Executive Director in 2011. Newcomb discusses events at Sam Boyd Stadium and its eventual closure. He describes the community-wide effort required to host such major events as the National Finals Rodeo and Cowboy Christmas, the Super Bowl, the NBA AllStars Weekend in 2007, NBA Summer League since 2004, Team USA Basketball in 2006, and plans to host the Final Four in 2028. He closes the interview recalling how the T&M was a reunification center after the 1 October shooting in 2017 and again on December 6, 2023, as other buildings on the UNLV campus were evacuated. Digital audio available.
Archival Collection
Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports Interviews
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Collection Number: OH-03922 Collection Name: Game On! The Oral History of Las Vegas Sports Interviews Box/Folder: Digital File 00
Oral history interview with Amelia Davis conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on July 8, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Davis, a Graphic Designer and Creative Coordinator for Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement, walks across campus daily from the UNLV Foundation building to the Student Union. On December 6, 2023, Davis took her walk earlier than usual. As she began her return from the Student Union and crossed in front of Beam Hall, she recalls students pouring out of the building, running and purposeful, but not noisy. When she asked a student what was happening, the student responded, "Shooter, shooter, shooter." Davis recalls how she and her colleagues locked the building with employees and students inside once she arrived back from the Student Union. Davis talks about letting go and crying only that evening when her friend picked her up at Target and hugged her. She talks about taking Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and Stop the Bleed courses and going to the shooting range to become comfortable with firearms. She also describes how the shooting began a long stretch of work, family, and health-related stressors. Digital audio and transcript available.
Archival Collection
UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shooting interviews
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: OH-03923 Collection Name: UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shooting interviews Box/Folder: Digital File 00 (Restrictions apply)
Oral history interview with Stacey Fott conducted by Claytee D. White and Stefani Evans on July 18, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Fott describes being at her desk in UNLV Special Collections and Archives when the first alert sounded. The building provided a sense of safety, and Fott continued to check on students while the Library was locked down. Her husband, who also works on campus, used his scooter to take Tropicana to their nearby home. After the evacuation of the Library, occupants were sent to Thomas & Mack. She walked home after inviting others to use her home as a pick-up location because it was near campus yet out of the zone where traffic was not allowed. Fott returned to campus the next day to move her car. She recalls passing Beam Hall felt too overwhelming, so she walked between Wright Hall and the Law School to Lot N behind Lied Library. After some reflection, Fott's anger is subsiding but arises every once in a while. She was able to go home to her husband and cats, but recognizes that a number of colleagues will never go to that physical home again. Digital audio and transcript available.
Archival Collection
UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shooting interviews
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: OH-03923 Collection Name: UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shooting interviews Box/Folder: Digital File 00 (Restrictions apply)
Oral history interview with Christine Salas conducted by Claytee D. White on July 30, 2024 for the UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shootings project. In this interview, Salas recalls what she witnessed on December 6 while working in the World Languages department in UNLV’s Beam Hall (BEH). After going to retrieve something left in the copy room, she heard three gunshots on the floor above her, footsteps running away from the shots, more footsteps, and someone yelling, "Active shooter!” The first text alerts came minutes later. She shut the door to the windowless copy room, texted her sister, let another faculty member in, and waited with them in what seemed like the longest hour of her life. They heard pounding on the doors and feeling someone trying to break in, but finally saw an arm of the police officer who had broken through, telling them to walk a certain way. Salas speaks fondly and shares memories of her murdered colleague, Professor Naoko Takemaru. Salas speaks to her lifelong love of soccer, her past trauma and a close friend's recent death and describes her sense of safety being ripped away, her confusion, therapy, and the healing process. Digital audio and transcript available.
Archival Collection
UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shooting interviews
To request this item in person:
Collection Number: OH-03923 Collection Name: UNLV Remembers: an Oral History of the 6 December 2023 Shooting interviews Box/Folder: Digital File 00 (Restrictions apply)