Judge Randy M. Clapp

KATY – Judge Randy M. Clapp, who presides over the 329th Judicial District Court in Wharton County, will deliver the keynote address during the University of Houston-Victoria fall commencement ceremony on Dec. 11.

 

“Judge Clapp is a longtime supporter and advocate of UHV,” Interim President Don Smith said. “He is very familiar with the university from his time as a member and past chairman of the President’s Regional Advisory Board. We are pleased that he accepted our invitation to address our graduates at this significant milestone in their lives. He will be an inspirational speaker and role model for our graduates as they begin using their education to make a difference in their communities.”

 

Clapp was appointed in 2007 by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to his current position. Prior to that, he was an attorney and partner at Duckett, Bouligny & Collins LLP in El Campo and served in the U.S. Army as a captain in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps in Fort McClellan, Ala.

 

“I am deeply honored to be asked to address UHV’s graduates,” he said. “I hope to inspire them to always reach for their dreams. Being inspirational at a graduation ceremony is not an easy task. I hope that my message will be interesting, insightful, wise, thought-provoking and brief. I know from experience that brevity will be its most endearing quality to most who will listen.”

 

Clapp serves in numerous community organizations. He is director and past president of the El Campo Economic Development Corp., and a member of the Board of Trustees and past chairman of the West Wharton County Hospital District. He is past chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wharton County Junior College, and is a board member of both the Texas Healthcare Trustees and the Northside Education Center. He is a member of First Presbyterian Church, where he serves as an elder, trustee and sings in the choir.

 

In addition, he is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit and the Electric Cooperative Bar Association. He is a member and past president of the Wharton County Bar Association.

 

Clapp graduated magna cum laude from Trinity University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and received his law degree with honors from the University of Texas, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif.

 

He received the UHV People Who Make a Difference Award in 2001. The Memorial-Hermann Hospital System named him the 2003 Distinguished Trustee, and the Masonic Grand Lodge of Texas gave him its Community Builder Award in 2001.

 

Clapp and his wife, Melba, have six grown children and two grandchildren.

 

UHV holds two graduation ceremonies each year. Spring commencement is in Victoria, while the fall ceremony is held in Katy to better accommodate the number of UHV students who take classes at the UH System at Sugar Land and the UH System at Cinco Ranch.

 

The Dec. 11 commencement ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. in the Leonard E. Merrell Center, 6301 S. Stadium Lane. For more information about UHV graduation, contact special events coordinator Nancy Gresham at 361-570-4351 or greshamn@uhv.edu.