HPU Family and Community Celebrate Annual Arbor Day
The local community joined the High Point University family for the annual Arbor Day Celebration on April 28. The event took place in HPU’s Topiary Fusion Garden at the Mahler Promenade, which is one of the many gardens on campus.
HIGH POINT, N.C., April 28, 2022 – The local community joined the High Point University family for the annual Arbor Day Celebration on April 28. The event took place in HPU’s Topiary Fusion Garden at the Mahler Promenade on HPU’s Innovation Corridor, which is one of the many gardens on campus.
“Isn’t this outstanding,” First Lady Mariana Qubein asked the crowd at today’s event. “This campus is beautiful on its own, but we appreciate the encouragement from HPU President Dr. Qubein for giving us the nudge to keep growing our gardens. These gardens have been essential in keeping our sanity over the last few years, and they still are a resting place for many.”
The Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum and Botanical Gardens at HPU features 30 gardens and 3,700 different plants, including more than 700 varieties of trees.
This year’s event honored HPU’s 13 years of receiving the Tree Campus High Education award and the university’s recent recognition as a Level II Accreditation by The ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program and the Morton Arboretum.
The celebration opened with HPU’s female A cappella group, the Petal Points, singing “America the Beautiful.” It also included several speakers from the HPU community and a special art presentation of the newest sculpture, “The Listener,” by the 2022 Andrea Wheless Visiting Sculptor. Every person in attendance also took home a complimentary blackberry lily and a gardening kneeling stand.
Mrs. Qubein shared her thankfulness for the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens committee which has kept the many areas on campus filled with beauty and precision.
“I once heard from a friend that team stands for ‘Together Everyone Achieves More,’” Qubein said. “Teams are very important. In the past two years, we opened the Caine Conservatory, and we added several gardens as well. We are still dreaming though. We are working on adding a Japanese garden to our list.”
Qubein has spearheaded the development of the arboretum and gardens on campus and works with student, faculty, staff and community volunteers to care for the gardens. It is also a space of holistic learning for students in all fields and a place for rest.
“As a result of HPU’s diverse arboretum, we’ve been able to research directly on campus,” said Sara Smith, a junior biology major. “For me personally, the arboretum has given me the opportunity to conduct research on plant physiology and biochemistry. My ability to do this would not be possible without the work of Mrs. Qubein and how much she has made our campus diverse.”
Chris Dudley, senior vice president for development, thanked the many volunteers and donors who support the collections on campus through their time and commitment. Longtime supporters of the gardens honored at today’s event are the Mahler family, the Culp family and the Caine family.
The arboretum and gardens feature several tree collections. These include 48 varieties of redbuds, 65 different varieties of dogwoods, 40 varieties of flowering cherries and 135 different varieties of magnolias.
The event included tours of the Culp Planetarium and the Caine Conservatory.
The presenting supporter of this year’s Arbor Day Celebration is Davey Tree, which they agreed to be a supporter of this event for years to come.