More than 460 UHV students ready to graduate on Saturday
 |
| Graduates pose for a photo at the Leonard E. Merrell Center in Katy before the 2013 University of Houston-Victoria fall commencement ceremony. The 2014 fall commencement will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Merrell Center. |
KATY – A total of 468 students are scheduled to walk the stage Saturday in the University of Houston-Victoria fall commencement ceremony and will hear from a successful author and publisher of Hispanic literature.
“I applaud all of these students for their hard work and dedication,” UHV Interim President Vic Morgan said. “Their perseverance has paid off, and they have reached a major milestone in their lives. I wish them well as they continue their journey toward even more success.”
The ceremony will begin at 11 a.m. at the Leonard E. Merrell Center, 6301 S. Stadium Lane in Katy.
The keynote speaker will be Nicolás Kanellos, the Brown Foundation Professor of Hispanic Literature at UH. Kanellos is the author or editor of more than 30 books and the founding publisher of noted Hispanic literary journal The Americas Review. In 1979, he started Arte Público Press, the largest nonprofit publisher of literature in the U.S.
Kanellos previously visited UHV and gave a talk on Sept. 4 as part of the UHV/American Book Review Reading Series. During commencement, he plans to speak about dealing with the baggage people carry and how to unpack those bags and fill them with success.
Roger Welder, a UH System regent from Victoria, will bring greetings on behalf of the UH System Board of Regents. UH System Chancellor Renu Khator also will offer remarks during the ceremony.
Elsa Soto Leggett, UHV Faculty Senate president, will serve as grand marshal of the ceremony. Morgan will confer the degrees and the deans of each of the four schools will award students their diplomas. In addition, the outstanding students from each school will be recognized.
After the commencement, the UHV School of Nursing will hold a pinning ceremony for its graduates at 2 p.m. in the Merrell Center. The ceremony will recognize 83 nursing graduates. UHV School of Nursing faculty members will pin 43 Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduates, 32 Second Degree BSN graduates and four Master of Science in Nursing graduates. The school also will recognize three students who have earned post master’s certificates and one student who completed a MSN/Master of Business Administration dual degree.
The keynote speaker for the pinning ceremony will be Vicki Brownewell, the vice president and Chief Nursing Officer for Houston Methodist West Hospital. She is in charge of all clinical operations for the fifth and newest hospital in the Houston Methodist System, and she sits on the UHV School of Nursing Dean’s Advisory Board.
For general information about UHV commencement, contact special events coordinator Nancy Gresham at 361-570-4351 or greshamn@uhv.edu. Students who have graduation questions should contact Ahmet Aksoy, UHV Student Services coordinator, at 361-485-4474 or aksoya@uhv.edu.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
