HPU Awards Graduates Degrees at December Commencement
Watch the full December 2025 Commencement Ceremony here
HIGH POINT, N.C., Dec. 12, 2025 – High Point University honored nearly 200 undergraduate and graduate students who crossed the stage today to receive their bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees at HPU’s December Commencement Ceremony.
HPU President Nido Qubein welcomed the newest graduates and their friends and family members to the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center. He told the audience that he knew everyone in attendance felt a sense of pride as they gathered inside the arena to celebrate this major milestone in the students’ lives.
“Graduates, we are proud of all of you and each of you because you have done an incredible job and certainly met the requirements for graduation. I expect you to be great ambassadors for this university that you will call here forward your alma mater,” Qubein said. “This is a God, family and country school, and on this campus we honor the values that propel us forward as Americans and others from other nations around the world. On this campus, we’re proud of the students that we have. They come from 50 states and 50 countries. Our call to action is ‘choose to be extraordinary,’ so being mediocre or ordinary is not what we expect of our graduates.”
In addition to more than 150 undergraduate degrees conferred, 40 graduate students received their doctoral degrees in education, pharmacy and medical sciences, as well as master’s degrees in education, teaching, communication and business leadership, business administration or health care management.
Qubein also presented an honorary Doctor of Business Leadership degree to Coca-Cola Consolidated CEO and Chairman J. Frank Harrison III, who served as the Commencement speaker. Harrison’s great-grandfather introduced Coca-Cola to the Carolinas in 1902.
In 2008, Harrison and his late son, James Franklin Harrison IV, co-founded Open Eyes, a public nonprofit ministry dedicated to equipping leaders throughout the world who serve those in need and share the message of Jesus Christ. His words to graduates reflected scripture.
“I want to push you, challenge you and encourage you to have influence and impact for good, for God and for growth,” Harrison said. “Think about being a giver, a server and a lover of people. They tell me the only kind of leader that matters is a servant leader, and I agree with that. Serving people, loving people and being kind to people will take you so far. It will propel you in your career. Read the Bible, pray and obey. You make it the most important thing in your life, and you’ll never fail.”
As is tradition at HPU’s graduation, a bald eagle named Clark soared over the graduates at the end of the ceremony to symbolize the ideals of free enterprise, independence and the ability to pursue new opportunities in America. The eagle flew as Dr. Marc Foster, chair of the Department of Music, sang “You Raise Me Up.”
As part of another HPU tradition, every graduate received a blanket after the ceremony to give to someone special in their lives who cared enough about them to sacrifice in support of that graduate’s higher education.
