UHV security gets donation for golf cart
The University of Houston-Victoria campus security team has a new golf cart thanks to a donation from a Victoria couple.
Billy and Carolyn Whitfield recently donated $11,000 to the university for the purchase of the golf cart. The cart is being used to patrol the area around the UHV residence halls in Jaguar Village on the Houston Highway.
“We are glad to be able to help the university,” Carolyn said. “We know higher education is a tool that leads to the betterment of our nation, state and city. We want our donation to help create and maintain a safe living and learning environment for the students.”
The donation is a much-appreciated addition to the UHV security team’s resources, said Travis Gundelach, a UH Police Department sergeant. The university already has a cart used at the main UHV campus on Ben Wilson Street, but it isn’t safe to take the cart across the Houston Highway to the residence halls.
“Security officers at Jaguar Village have had to do their patrols on foot, which can get uncomfortable and tiring during bad weather,” Gundelach said. “This cart will reduce fatigue and risk of injury as well as improve response times for any incidents that may occur at the residence halls.”
The golf cart is a model specifically designed for police and security applications, Gundelach said. It has a hard cab with a windshield that flips down and a rear window flap that can be opened with a zipper. The cart also has LED lights on the roof for traffic direction, door panels that fold back and custom UHV decals.
“UHV is grateful for this donation and the interest the Whitfields have shown in the university,” UHV President Vic Morgan said. “The cart already is benefiting our security team, and it is a comfort to know that our supporters are willing to invest in all areas of the university as it grows into a destination university.
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.
