HIGH POINT, N.C., Feb. 17, 2016 – High Point University has earned the 2015 “Tree Campus USA” recognition. This is the seventh consecutive year HPU has held this honor. HPU is one of eight four-year colleges and universities in the state receiving the award.
Led by First Lady Mariana Qubein, the HPU Arboretum and Botanical Gardens has reached the mark of having 500 different taxa, or varieties, of trees on campus. Recently, new trees have been added in Hayworth Park and at the redesigned entrance at Montlieu Avenue and Centennial Street. This spring, 32 large Ruby Spring™ nuttal oaks will welcome campus visitors with their purple new growth.
“We are thrilled to be designated a ‘Tree Campus USA’ for the seventh year in a row,” says Jon Roethling, curator of grounds. “Every year we set our goals higher than the previous year in terms of maintaining and expanding the tree canopy here at High Point University, and this designation is a direct result of consistently achieving those goals.”
Tree Campus USA, a national program launched in 2008 by the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota, honors colleges and universities and their leaders for promoting healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation.
HPU achieved the title by meeting Tree Campus USA’s five standards, which include establishing a tree advisory committee, evidence of a tree-care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for the campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance and student service-learning projects.
The Tree Campus USA award will be presented during HPU’s annual Arbor Day Celebration at 4 p.m. on April 21 in the amphitheater behind Cottrell Hall.