Community Partnerships Community Partnerships Community Partnerships

Community Partnerships

Each year, community members and businesses rise to the challenge to give to and partner with UHV to create opportunities that benefit everyone.

In 2020-2021, UHV was fortunate that 1,088 unique donors contributed to 97 scholarship funds, academic programs, construction and building projects, and other initiatives. Gifts totaling $2,896,065 ranged from $1 to $2 million, the largest gift in the university’s history. In addition, the second-largest number ever of UHV faculty and staff made financial contributions to the university with 225 employees making a gift. 

Here are some examples of community partnerships that took place in 2020-2021:

  • The second annual UHV History Day featured keynote speaker Hilary Green, an associate professor of history at the University of Alabama and a Vann Professor of Ethics in Society. She gave a free, virtual lecture titled “Confederate Monument Removals: Contextualizing the Post-George Floyd Moment.”
  • The UHV Library hosted events for students and the community to draw attention to national Banned Books Week. Events included a Virtual Read Out that featured videos posted on social media of employees reading from challenged and banned books. Blind Date with a Banned Book encouraged library patrons to check out books that were wrapped in brown paper with only the genre and the reasons the book was censored or banned written on the outside.
  • UHV served as an early voting site for the first time as a convenience to both students and community members ahead of the 2020 general election.
  • The Albert and Mary Dick Charitable Trust made two donations totaling $15,000 to the UHV Student Emergency Fund, which provides grants to students experiencing sudden hardships that could prevent them from staying in school. Students must apply for assistance, and grants are for $300 or less.
  • The UHV Small Business Development Center used funds provided by the federal coronavirus aid bill to offer a free Master Class virtual series to help area small business owners learn ways to have their businesses survive and thrive during the pandemic.
  • For the first time, UHV Career Services partnered with Townsquare Media, a radio, digital media, entertainment and digital marketing solutions company, to provide internship opportunities for students majoring in communication.
  • The UHV Center for Regional Collaboration partnered with Texas Rural Funders and Connected Nation Texas on a project to help rural communities in DeWitt, Lavaca and Refugio counties get broadband internet service for their residents.
  • Faculty, staff and students volunteered throughout the spring to help the Victoria County Public Health Department provide COVID-19 vaccine clinics at the Victoria Community Center. Volunteers greeted people, provided clerical support and directed attendees to vaccination stations.
  • The top three winners of the annual Black History Month Poster Contest for area fifth-graders were awarded UHV and Victoria College scholarships and swag bags. The theme for the contest was “Black Politicians: Then and Now.” Prizes and certificates were delivered to the top winners at their respective schools. The contest is a partnership between UHV, VC and the Victoria Black History Committee.
  • The Cuero Community Foundation made a $5,600 donation to the university to provide scholarships for Cuero High School teachers to take graduate courses so that they would be certified to teach UHV dual-credit courses to their students.
  • UHV International Programs hosted a free, virtual version of its annual International Festival, showcasing different countries, cooking demonstrations and crafts from different cultures to community members, and UHV faculty, staff and students.
  • A new internship agreement with Citizens HealthPlex fitness and wellness facility allowed students studying kinesiology to gain real-world experience in exercise science careers.
  • More than 60 graduating students brought their families to campus for the Jaguar Ring Celebration, where they had photo opportunities with celebratory signs, the UHV mascot and the box that held the class rings after it was blessed by jaX, the university’s real-life jaguar mascot at the Texas Zoo. Students also got to take home a swag bag with custom-made UHV cookies and dunk their hands in a mixture of red dye and water from the Guadalupe River to turn their hands red for 24 hours to signify their time at UHV.