On the morning of Dec. 6, 2023, Sonia Plascencia Zacarias was sitting in professor Patricia Navarro Velez’s accounting class on the fourth floor of Beam Hall. It was the week before finals, and her class ended two minutes late at 11:17 a.m., she remembers. She left to meet her younger sister, then a UNLV freshman, so that they could walk together to Lied Library to study. 

No one knew then that the events that would unfold a short time later.

At about 11:53 a.m., the computer screens in Lied Library displayed an alert of an active shooter on campus. Plascencia’s first thought was that it was a drill. But, when she saw people around her panicking, she instinctively tried to protect her sister. They hid in a hallway with blocked out windows until police escorted them out hours later.

By that time, a gunman had entered Beam Hall and taken the lives of three professors: Navarro Velez; Jerry Cha-Jan Chang of the Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Department; and Naoko Takemaru of World Languages and Cultures.  

“I couldn’t believe that UNLV was now part of the history of school shootings,” recalls Plascencia, who is now a master’s student in accounting. 

That incident marked the darkest hour in UNLV’s 67-year existence. But a year later, Plascencia — along with Mark Robles, a senior majoring in information systems, and Kayla Cornwell, a senior majoring in English with a minor in Japanese — are creating a new history of hope and promise. They are the inaugural recipients of the three memorial scholarships established at UNLV to commemorate the lives and service of Navarro Velez, Chang, and Takemaru. 

The endowed scholarships were funded by an outpouring of private donations exceeding $264,000. In the months following Dec. 6, UNLV received more than 350 gifts ranging in size from $5 to $50,000.

How did you feel when you learned that you received this scholarship?

Plascencia: I almost started crying. I was shocked and so excited. I am grateful that I was the one chosen for this scholarship. [She places her hand over her heart.] What are the odds? After Dr. Navarro’s death, I was lost. I didn’t know if I would continue my education. She inspired me to get my master’s.

Cornwell: My heart skipped. It makes me so happy to be able to carry professor Takemaru’s name on the final leg of my UNLV journey.

Robles: When I learned what this scholarship was about and its affiliation with Dr. Chang, I felt really privileged to accept it. I’m even more honored to be the first recipient and to know that my name will be tied to professor Chang, who, for so many years, had such a big impact on his students. I feel honored that I will be part of his legacy.

How has the scholarship affected you?

Cornwell: Getting the scholarship feels like Takemaru-sensei is continuing to help me. Before Dec. 6, she was helping me with my grammar and homework. Now, she is helping me complete my education, and helping me to realize that I can’t give up. This scholarship gave me strength.

Robles: It means a lot to know that Lee Business School saw something in me. The scholarship helped immensely at a time when I was supporting myself financially. It also helped me continue to help my family and others. I could stay committed to my leadership role in UNLV’s MIS [Management Information Systems] Society and the UNLV Involvement Center.

The months after Dec. 6 were gloomy and sad on campus. But we had to move on. I realized how many people really cared about me. It helped me turn a bad experience into something different.

Plascencia:  I looked up to Dr. Navarro. She had her CPA and beyond. She was so successful. She always had a smile. She loved her family. I can’t believe such a beautiful human being was taken away like that. With this scholarship, I am getting my master’s for myself, for Dr. Navarro, and for my parents and all of my professors who brought me up to this point.

Your scholarship is endowed, which means it will continue to make awards in perpetuity. What would you want to say to the student who receives this scholarship 50 or 100 years from now?

Cornwell: Dr. Takemaru sent our class an email on Dec. 4 last year, about a book she had published. She wrote about how her parents taught her to live, to treat everyone with compassion. Takemaru-sensei embodied that. She always treated all of us that way. You felt so close to her. I would want everyone who receives this scholarship to know that about her.

Robles: I’d say: Take pride in yourself. I hope that, when you succeed in life, you give back to UNLV and your community. Think about how you can help others and add to Dr. Chang’s legacy. UNLV wants that for you, and Dr. Chang would want that, too.

Plascencia: I would want them to know that Dr. Navarro made a positive impact in this world. I think that’s why we all come into this world.