UHV receives record-breaking support on Giving Tuesday
The University of Houston-Victoria received the highest amount of donations yet during UHV’s sixth annual Giving Tuesday campaign on Nov. 30, including a $50,000 donation to create a scholarship endowment.
The university received $113,648 from 469 donors, the second-highest number of donors for the campaign. Donors included UHV employees, alumni and students as well as businesses and community members. Donations came in from across the country as well as Canada, Colombia and Nigeria.
The total amount also includes a $10,000 challenge donation from KMH Wealth Management LLC and Keller & Associates CPAs PLLC as an incentive to reach a goal of 300 donors for the campaign. Additionally, longtime UHV supporters and Victoria community leaders Margery Engel Loeb and Robert H. Loeb pledged a gift of $50,000 to the university. The gift will be used to establish the Margery Engel Loeb and Robert H. Loeb Jr. Scholarship Endowment.
“It is truly amazing to see the amount of support our university received during this year’s Giving Tuesday campaign,” UHV President Bob Glenn said. “We are grateful that so many in our UHV, Victoria and global communities understand the importance of higher education and support our mission. We appreciate that our supporters continue to keep our growing university in mind during the holiday season.”
Donations were collected online and at different locations on campus, at UHV Katy and in the Victoria community. Gifts ranged from 50 cents to $50,000, and online donations were given from 1:18 a.m. to 11:49 p.m. Giving stations were set up at five UHV locations, as well as The Box Coffee Bar at Airline Road and Laurent Street and Crossroads Bank during the day and Aerocrafters during the evening. Volunteers who worked the stations included UHV students, faculty and staff.
The average gift size was $122.60, said Kelsey Norgard, UHV director of alumni relations and annual giving. Each donor was able to give to a specific area of the university, and 51 UHV programs, departments and scholarships received donations.
“We thank all of our generous supporters who made a contribution to an area of UHV that is close to their heart,” Norgard said. “Every single dollar helps a student or future student attain educational success. The donations allow students to forge their path from education to the workplace with a bright professional future. Each donation helps ensure that students receive help where they need it most.”
The top seven university areas that received the most donations will receive an extra $1,000 from the matching funds from KMH Wealth Management LLC and Keller & Associates CPAs PLLC. The areas that received the most donations included the JP’s Market student food pantry, the International Alumni Scholarship, Student Emergency Fund, the school psychology program, the Center for Regional Collaboration, the UHV College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences scholarships and the eSports fund.
For the Loeb family, the couple knew they wanted to give to the university and help students in the area reach their educational goals. Margery Engel Loeb is a native of Victoria, and the couple raised their children in Victoria. She worked for 25 years as a social worker and as a consultant for families in businesses for 10 years. For years, the two have supported education and the Victoria community. Margery served on the UHV President’s Regional Advisory Board as vice chair from 2012 to 2017. She also served on the Victoria Independent School District Education Foundation board of directors, and Robert has served on various boards, including the Victoria YMCA.
Though they now reside in Houston, they are still dedicated to serving the Victoria community and have a strong belief in the power of education. To further help students, the couple pledged $50,000 to create the Margery Engel Loeb and Robert H. Loeb Jr. Scholarship Endowment, a need-based scholarship endowment that focuses on first-generation college students who are from the Victoria area and have overcome adversity to reach UHV. The scholarship is open to both part-time and full-time students.
“The Loebs have been stalwart supporters of UHV for many years,” said Jesse Pisors, UHV vice president for advancement and external relations. “Their commitment to the university is reaffirmed with this major gift. As an endowed scholarship, the income generated for student scholarships will continue and grow in perpetuity. I am deeply grateful to Margery and Robert for their generosity and vision.”
Margery saw firsthand the growth of the university when she was a member of PRAB, and how UHV continues to grow and expand. She appreciates the work past UHV President Vic Morgan has done and the work the current administration is doing to establish UHV as a destination university. Her close friend, the late Kay Kerr Walker, a longtime UHV supporter and former University of Houston System Regent, also did so much for the students at the university, she said.
UHV is in a great location and offers a high-quality and affordable education to students in the region, she said.
“We are very proud of UHV and all the university has accomplished,” Margery said. “Our roots are in Victoria, and we are happy to be able to give back to our community, especially to UHV students. When students know there is a pathway to graduation, such as scholarships, they study and work hard. These same students go out and make a positive impact in the community.”
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.
