HPU President Encourages Gratitude by Giving Freshmen Teddy Bears

High Point University President Nido Qubein gave each student in his First-Year Seminar on Life Skills a teddy bear and a challenge for them to give it to someone who has helped them.

HIGH POINT, N.C., Nov. 4, 2025 – High Point University President Nido Qubein shared a meaningful lesson and an HPU tradition focused on gratitude with this year’s entire freshman class. He gave each student in his First-Year Seminar on Life Skills a teddy bear and a challenge for them to give it to someone who has helped them.

“I’m going to give you this teddy bear. I want you to live with it and hug it and sleep with it for 30 days,” Qubein said. “But after that, I want you to give it to somebody who impacted your life. You have until Christmas to give this teddy bear to somebody who made a difference in your life and explain to them why.”

Qubein told the students seated inside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center on Oct. 30 that the teddy bears were purchased from the American Red Cross for the record number of freshman students. That will help the nonprofit organization with its fundraising in addition to teaching students about gratitude.

Qubein shared stories from more than 15 years of this tradition of how giving a teddy bear helped a student reunite with a homeless brother. Another student gave her teddy bear to a nurse at the Mayo Clinic who had cared for her grandfather in his last days as he battled cancer. That simple act of kindness became the Mayo Clinic’s symbol of giving.

Before student volunteers helped distribute the teddy bears, Qubein shared his personal story of how a woman of limited means at his college helped him buy his first car. As students exited the arena, they were asked to consider who has changed their life for the better and whom they may give the bear to express their thanks.

“I might give it to my father just because he has been such a huge role model in my life, and I would love to give him all the good stuff for what he’s done for me. He’s the reason I’m here at High Point University,” said Gabriella Sanchez, a criminal justice major originally from Saratoga Springs, New York, who now lives in Kernersville, North Carolina.

Preston Abshire, a media production major, also said he may give his teddy bear to his father. “Because I’ve always looked up to him,” said Abshire, who is from Avon, Connecticut.

“I’ll probably give it to my sister because she’s one of the most important people in my life,” said Rihanna Romeus, an exercise science major from Bridgeport, Connecticut. “She helped me with my decision to come to High Point University.”

Jaycie Beth Parsons, a finance major, said she would give her teddy bear to a woman from her church. “I went to teen camp there and I was very homesick, and she comforted me. Because of that, I got saved,” said Parsons, who is from Biscoe, North Carolina.

Nikki Beal, a biology major, said she would give her teddy bear to her high school basketball coach. “We call her our therapist because she’s just somebody we can talk to and tell anything that’s going on,” said Beal, who is from Thomasville, North Carolina.

Other students said they would give their teddy bear to their mother or a high school teacher because they were wonderful examples or advisors who influenced their lives in meaningful ways.