Victoria district attorney to speak at UHV commencement
Constance Filley Johnson looks back fondly on her days at the University of Houston-Victoria, and she hopes the graduating students this semester will share the sentiment.
“I’m looking forward to welcoming graduates to their next step and congratulating them as they move forward into their next chapters,” Johnson said. “I hope they can look back fondly on their time at UHV, the same way that I do now.”
Johnson, the criminal district attorney for Victoria County, will be the speaker for UHV’s spring 2024 commencement ceremonies. The university will hold two ceremonies on May 11 at Faith Family Church, 2002 E. Mockingbird Lane, in Victoria. The 9 a.m. ceremony will be for graduates of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences and the College of Natural & Applied Science. The 1 p.m. ceremony will celebrate the graduates from the College of Business and the College of Education & Health Professions. A live-streaming broadcast of the ceremonies will be available at www.uhv.edu/commencement/commencement-ceremony.
“I am excited to welcome Constance Filley Johnson to join us in our commencement ceremonies,” UHV President Bob Glenn said. “As a UHV alumna, she shares a connection with our graduates and has been a longtime supporter of our university. UHV is grateful to her for everything she has done for our university and the Victoria community, and I look forward to hearing her inspiring message.”
Johnson graduated from UHV in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on education. After graduation, she became a teacher in Victoria for 11 years before she decided to go to law school with the goal of becoming a district attorney like her father was years ago.
“I’ve always looked up to my dad, and I had always thought that ‘maybe someday’ I could be a district attorney,” Johnson said. “I realized at one point that I was reaching a ‘now or never’ point in my life when it came to education. My children had grown up enough to be more independent, and it was a good time for me to go back and pursue those dreams.”
As she prepares to speak to UHV’s graduates, she hopes to share a message of resilience in the face of adversity. Many of the graduates endured the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, and she hopes to acknowledge their perseverance during difficult times as part of her speech.
“Their experience has looked so different from anyone who came before them and likely will be different from those who follow after,” Johnson said. “But they persevered through all those struggles and unfamiliar territory to reach success. That perseverance will serve them well in the future.”
In addition to her message about perseverance, Johnson hopes that graduates will strive to make a positive impact on the world.
“These students are talented and have achieved so much already,” she said. “I hope they are able to use their gifts to do good in this world. And I hope they will recognize how UHV has been a part of helping them reach this point.”
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 50 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.