NFL
By: Brock Vierra
For those who follow my work, I from time to time have mentioned that I am a graduate of UNLV. A proud alumnus, my experiences and relationships at UNLV helped shaped the man I am today. At this excellent and oftentimes disrespected academic institution, I was privy to the plethora of resources made available by the hard work of others, others like Carol C. Harter. See, Carol Harter proudly served UNLV as President from 1996 to 2005, making her the university’s longest-serving president and in her time in charge, she spearheaded massive projects that continue to benefit the campus today. Now why are we talking about Harter? Carol Harter passed away last week at the age of 82. I wanted to take a moment to speak on the woman whose efforts put forth the facilities that I enjoyed so much and who cultivated an environment that was easy to assimilate into and helped me reinvent myself as an eighteen-year-old.
I first enrolled at UNLV in 2017 and during my first semester, my walks from my dorm room (shoutout Williams Hall room 161) were quite noisy as construction on the new Hospitality Hall was underway. A singular project that would change the trajectory of the school’s most decorated program hails in comparison to the 17 buildings built under Harter’s tenure. One of the most impactful projects was the creation of Lied Library. Placed in the heart of campus, it is the epicenter of UNLV. A state-of-the-art facility with workspaces and computer labs that have all been used to hammer out assignments, it was a home away from home for weary students. I often times found myself in there to work but to also take advantage of the resources it had. I couldn’t afford cable so I was able to watch every sports game around on those computers. I didn’t have a printer and for three cents a page, the Library pumped out all the copies I needed. I would quickly walk in on my way to class to get a quick hit of air conditioning or to grab the pen/ pencil I would eventually lose later on that day. My first podcast was recorded in the multimedia room. My first script was printed in that library. My first film project was filmed there. That place was everything. The Library had the state’s first automated book storage and retrieval system which was a marvel to look at, it had a film catalog that doubled as a cinephile’s wet dream and in those sacred halls sat the white boards I used to plan out my next projects and to make my very valid point on why Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah should’ve been drafted by the Raiders with their first-round pick. That library was everything to every student that has ever attended UNLV.
She was also responsible for the creation of the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs where I got my first experience in reporting as a crime reporter. That place is a gem. School-run radio stations, multi-media rooms, classrooms, student lounges where I’d often times find myself eating Firehouse Subs inside. It was incredible. I also had multiple classes in the Carol Harter Classroom Building Complex and one of the reasons I was able to earn a little bread while in school is due to the William S. Boyd School of Law needing someone to work security at the law library. In between of my rounds, that was the place where I drew up both my first stories and my first player evaluations/ mock NFL draft. Those things made me who I am today.
When Harter stepped down from the Presidency in 2006, her work with UNLV was not done. She once again was spearheading another project, this time it was the Black Mountain Institute, a literary think tank that employed passionate and knowledgeable individuals who would eventually find their way into the English Department. That was the start for me. English 232. Professor Wendy Wimmer. She was part of the institute and worked as an educator for the University. Throughout my educational career up to that point, it was a race to the finish. Set assignments and exams that make up the grade, a grade that often times didn’t reflect the effort put forth by the student due to its narrowminded evaluation of both the work and the person behind it. It changed with Wimmer. She had a points goal as her grading standard and made assignments worth certain points. You had to hit your goal and you had a choice of what assignments you wanted to do to achieve that magic number. No longer was I forced to read a book and write an essay. Instead I got to experiment with poetry, POV writings from characters in the book, arguing the cultural and societal influences that impacted the author. I wrote short stories, scripts and songs. I wasn’t curtailed by a prompt or an agenda. I got my A but I also was exposed to a new way of thinking and my creative juices were unlocked and were finally allowed to flow. The Black Mountain Institute continues their work until today.
Due to her work, I found a voice. Harter is responsible for changing the lives of so many students and with the limited time we have on this earth, Carol Harter made the most of hers. She established a law school, a journalism school, a medical school. She took UNLV’s graduate programs to another level and the foundation she laid during her time in charge helped UNLV become a Tier 1 University that has made multiple strides in their ambitions as a research institution. Carol Harter was a dedicated servant, a lover of UNLV and the people of Las Vegas. A trailblazer, an educator, a friend to many. Her life will be remembered by the things she built and the titan she was. Rest in peace and go Rebels forever.
