McKenzie Easter, an aspiring sculptor and dean’s list student, was invited to join faculty and administrators at the Legislature in Carson City in March. The College of Fine Arts is hoping to secure state funding for the construction of a new building. (Josh Hawkins/UNLV)
May. 5, 2023

 

Each biennium, UNLV students engage in the legislative process in a variety of ways, including participating in policy development and the bill draft process, advocating for UNLV’s legislative agenda, and serving as legislative interns and externs to assist lawmakers with various duties such as tracking bills, conducting research, and meeting with constituents. The experience takes the classroom to the community, empowering students to have real-world impact on some of Nevada’s most critical issues. The opportunity is open to all UNLV majors, though most participants are political science and law majors.

Each week during the legislative session, we introduce you to one of the many UNLV students engaging in the legislative process during the Session. This week, we are highlighting a student from the UNLV College of Fine Arts:

A Student Voice at the Legislature: The Proposed Fine Arts Building

McKenzie Easter helps lobbying efforts to secure $5.1 million in state funds for construction plans.

Sketches, layouts, dimensions? Artist renderings detailing every purpose for every square inch? That’s the technical way to envision the proposed new building for the UNLV College of Fine Arts.

But filter it through one student’s indefatigable passion? That’s the coolest way to really understand the impact it will have.

“In my opinion – and this is what I shared with legislators – it would be a beacon of hope on Maryland Parkway,” says McKenzie Easter, an aspiring sculptor and dean’s list student.

As a nontraditional undergrad at age 32, she possesses both enthusiasm and the life experience to make a compelling case for the building’s need and its future impact on individual students, the College of Fine Arts, and the community. Easter was invited to join the faculty and administrators at the Legislature in Carson City in March. She injected her enthusiasm directly into discussions as the UNLV delegation advocated for state funding. The  new building would replace the longstanding but age-afflicted home, Grant Hall, the oldest building on campus.

“It’s important to advocate for the community. It’s important to advocate for the arts students. It’s important to advocate for those who can’t advocate for themselves,” Easter says. “When I was given this amazing opportunity, I could get a student voice into legislation so they really have an idea ​​– not just from a professor’s or the dean’s perspective – but from someone who is…(more)