Student & Alumni Achievements
The following is a representative collection of UHV student and alumni accomplishments:
Angelica Ybarra (2013) was hired as the director of clinical advocacy in the Division
of Public Health and Medical Education at the Texas Medical Association in Austin.
Victoria Mayor Paul Polasek (1990) gave the keynote address at UHV’s two spring 2014
commencement ceremonies in Victoria.
Kelsey Decker won the Top Student Paper Award in Rhetoric and Communication Theory
from the Texas Speech Communication Association.
Catherine Bardwell (2014), Jesica Isbell (2014), Amy Seributra (2014) and Daniel
Zamora won first place at the spring 2014 Bachelor of Business Administration
Conference by attaining the first perfect score in conference history.
Angela Stewart received a travel grant to attend the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools Commission on Colleges’ annual meeting in Atlanta.
Manan Sharma (2013) was promoted to a vice president position at JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Kathy Oehlke (1977, 1992) joined the UHV President’s Regional Advisory Board as a
voting member.
Betsy Logan (1985), a junior high art teacher in Auburn, Ala., served on the National
Coalition for Core Art visual arts writing team, which rewrote national art standards.
Leslie New submitted a grant proposal that earned Joe M. Pirtle Elementary School in
Temple $1,500 from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s Youth Literacy Grant
program.
Kerry Mix (2005, 2006) was named the 2014 Coastal Bend College Distinguished Alumni
Award recipient. Mix is the San Jacinto College South Campus dean of enrollment
services.
Ryan Fontanella was selected to attend a competitive seminar at Stanford University
that examined the Gilded Age and its modern parallels.
A marketing company owned by Christine Hollinden (1985) was ranked on the Houston
Business Journal’s Houston Fast 100 list and its Top 10 Fastest-Growing Houston-Area
Woman-Owned Businesses list.
Stephen Kaufman (2011), president and CEO of Zeus Mortgage Ltd., gave the keynote speech
at UHV’s fall 2013 commencement ceremony in Katy.
A poster designed by Veronica Gonzalez won a Best of Student Design award at the American
Advertising Federation-Victoria ADDY Awards.
Stacey New (2012) organized a historical event and rededication ceremony for a Civil
War monument at the Refugio County Museum.
Student government association officers Laura Caldwell, Eliseo Olvera, Moses Olukoya
and Benito Salazar attended workshops and met with leaders of other universities at the
American Student Government Association’s National Summit just outside of Washington, D.C.
Ashlen Brown (2012) published a novel, “The Secret of Blackjack Woods,” about Bigfoot.