UNLV to close nearly half its classrooms for October presidential debate

UNLV will shut down nearly half the classrooms on its main campus when the school hosts this year’s final presidential debate on Oct. 19, a week before midsemester grades are due.

In a memo distributed Friday by Provost Diane Chase, faculty were told not to hold classes inside the Carol C. Harter Classroom Building Complex on the eve of the debate, beginning at 4 p.m. The three-building complex houses almost half of the classrooms on the campus at 4505 S. Maryland Parkway. The complex is adjacent to the Thomas & Mack Center, where the debate will take place.

“While the debate is an incredible opportunity to highlight the university and its faculty, staff and students, it will require all of our ongoing patience and flexibility,” Chase wrote in the email.

The classroom complex will shut down on debate day and reopen the next morning. Faculty have been asked to make other arrangements if classes were scheduled there during the closures.

According to the memo, evening classes in other campus buildings won’t be affected, nor will online classes and classes on satellite campuses.

Instructors across campus have been encouraged to move classes away from the school on debate day and create “alternative experiences” so students can attend and “reflect on debate-related activities and viewing events.”

Administrators are bracing for jammed parking lots that week, and the school plans to offer a shuttle service for faculty, staff and students. Officials say they’ll release more details about parking alternatives in early October.

Contact Ana Ley at aley@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5512. Follow @la__ley on Twitter.