A&M-Victoria to kick off new year with Jag Fest
On Sept. 1, Victoria’s university will officially become Texas A&M University-Victoria, and the university plans to kick off the new academic year with a community-wide celebration in downtown Victoria.
Jag Fest will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Sept. 4 in DeLeon Plaza. The open-air festival will be a celebration of the university’s new identity, the start of the new academic year and a way to connect with the community and region it serves. The event is free and open to the public, and attendees are encouraged to wear red to show their support for the university.
“The idea is to celebrate ‘our university’ as a Victoria community,” said Jim Nelson, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs for The Texas A&M University System. “We’ve seen such phenomenal support during this transition process from all across the community and beyond. We’re excited to celebrate this new chapter and continue our partnerships into the future.”
The festival is the result of collaboration between the university, the City of Victoria and other community partners, such as the Main Street Program and the Victoria Independent School District. To show its support for the university and excitement at the transition into The Texas A&M University System, the city has put up Better Together light pole banners that feature the university’s new logo. The lights downtown also will be changed to red for the festival and red flowers will be planted around the square in recognition of the university’s main color.
“The city sees a great amount of importance in the health of the local university,” said Kate Garcia, Main Street manager for the City of Victoria and a UHV alumna from the class of 2016. “We’re excited to partner with the university to host this celebration. It’s a tangible showing that we support the university both in spirit and in body. UH did a wonderful thing by creating the university and supporting it up to this point. Now we are excited to see how A&M will come and build off that foundation to take the university and Victoria forward.”
During Jag Fest, attendees will be able to enjoy a night of live music, food trucks, activities and an open-air market. In addition, several downtown businesses will remain open for the celebration. There also will be brief remarks from representatives of Texas A&M University System, Texas A&M-Victoria and the City.
The event will open at 6 p.m. with an introduction by Bro. Gary Moses. The night’s music will be performed by the Staudt Brothers, a local band that performs a variety of covers as well as some original music.
Multiple food trucks and food vendors will be available throughout the night, including 5D Tavern, Seaux Cajun, Cattleman’s Catering, Trevino’s and Chick-fil-A. In addition, Green Cow Creamery will be unveiling a new A&M-Victoria ice cream flavor and giving out 500 scoops for free.
For those who enjoy shopping, Mother Cluckers will be holding an outdoor marketplace as part of the festival. In addition, several community nonprofits and organizations will have booths in the square that will feature activities, such as the Victoria Symphony’s instrument petting zoo. Other organizations that plan to attend include Keep Victoria Beautiful, the Parks & Recreation department, the Texas Zoo, Chick-fil-A Victoria, Golden Crescent CASA & WHIT Program, Healthy South Texas-Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, some of the university’s departments and more.
As the community gathers to celebrate, A&M-Victoria hopes this will be the first of many opportunities to grow the relationships with the community and move forward into bigger and better things, Nelson said.
“This night will be about coming together to celebrate something new and the possibilities we have while also enjoying some good, family-oriented fun,” he said. “This transition is not about erasing history. We want to acknowledge the successes and growth of the past as we work together to write the next chapter. There’s much more to do, but we want to start things off on a high note.”
For more information about Jag Fest, contact the University Advancement office at (361) 570-4306 or advancement@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 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.