HPU Welcomes New Students to Campus for Welcome Week Traditions
HIGH POINT, N.C., Aug. 15, 2026 – High Point University celebrated its newest students this weekend as hundreds of faculty, staff and student volunteers moved freshmen onto campus for the start of the 2026-27 academic year.
As is tradition, student volunteers dressed in tie-dyed T-shirts swiftly unloaded vehicles and helped move new students into their residence halls while the HPU Marching Panthers performed for the Class of 2030. The process made move-in seamless for HPU’s newest family members on Friday and today.
The celebration will continue with the Opening Convocation at 9 a.m. Sunday when HPU President Nido Qubein will lead the keynote address inside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center. He greeted new students and their families as they made their way through campus and arrived at their residence halls. Many of them drove in from across the country.
“This is an exciting day,” Qubein said. “All of America wants to know why people are flocking to High Point University. The answer is obvious. All the students are coming back, and they’re coming back with brand-new students because this is a God, family, country school, because we have an incredible life skills program, because we have 99% graduate outcome with students getting jobs after they graduate and because this is a very responsive university.”
Faculty and staff members from across campus chipped in to get new students moved into their dorm rooms prior to the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 17. Even HPU men’s basketball coach Flynn Clayman, coming off the Panthers’ first-ever win in the NCAA Tournament last March, helped unload cars outside of Finch Hall with other members of the basketball team.
$7.18 Million Economic Boost for City
HPU’s Move-In Weekend is expected to bring approximately 22,000 people to campus and the city of High Point, creating around $7.18 million in local economic impact, according to Visit High Point. Restaurants, hotels and retailers are busier thanks to the influx of families visiting the area to move their students onto campus.
“High Point University’s impact reaches well beyond its campus,” said Melody Burnett, president of Visit High Point. “The students and families HPU brings to our city support our hotels, restaurants and local businesses. This Move-In Weekend, we look forward to welcoming 22,000 visitors to High Point, generating a projected $7.18 million in economic impact for our city.”
Overheard at HPU Move-In Day
Below are some reactions from HPU freshmen and their parents throughout Move-In Weekend.
At this point, Rick and Cristina Lappin know what to expect during Move-In Weekend. They waved a purple pom-pom as they approached Finch Hall in a pickup truck to drop off their son, Matthew, who is their third child to attend HPU.
Matthew’s older sister, Angelina, graduated in May with a double major in international relations and Spanish. She is now starting HPU’s tuition-free Master of Arts in Communication and Business Leadership program. His older brother, Mark, is a junior majoring in advertising, public relations and strategic communication.
“It’s absolutely amazing. I’m so glad that they each chose their own path, and that path led them here,” said Cristina, who is from New London, North Carolina. “They’re each going individually toward their future. Their dad and I did what we were supposed to do. We gave them all the tools that they needed to launch them through the door, and even though it’s bittersweet and sad, we know that they’re going to have their best future here at High Point University.”
Matthew was joined by his two older siblings as he moved into his dorm room in Finch. They each said they chose to attend HPU for different reasons.
“I’ve known for the last four years that High Point University was the school for me just hearing about Maymester, the student mentors, the success coaches, all these people that High Point University gives you in order to help you succeed, which I didn’t really hear much about at other colleges,” Matthew said. “Having these people who have gone through it and having my siblings and having professors and adults help me through my journey, I know that if I do what I’m supposed to do here I will succeed.”
Grace Hiatrides also had a family connection that sparked her interest in HPU, but in her case, it was her father, Peter, an HPU alumnus who played for the men’s soccer team from 1993-1997.
More than three decades after her father moved into his dorm room one day after soccer practice, it was Grace’s turn to get settled on campus. She moved into the R.G. Wanek Center, which had not been built when Peter was a student at HPU.
“I just knew I wanted to come here. I was like ‘I see the benefits, and I’m done looking,’” said Grace, a communications major from New Providence, New Jersey. “I still had a bunch of other schools to wait to hear back from, and I was like ‘This is the one I want to be at.’”
Grace grew up wearing purple thanks to her father’s support for HPU, but she said she did not feel pressure from him to attend his alma mater. She chose HPU on her own.
“When she was looking at schools, it wasn’t like ‘You’ve got to go to High Point University.’ I kind of let her do her own thing, and I was happy when she said she wanted to go here. I was like ‘Yes!’” Peter said. “There is definitely a sense of pride. I’m excited to just see the university grow over the years, and just being able to relive it through her eyes is the most I’m taken out of this right now.”
Rocco Marcello, a freshman from West Palm Beach, Florida, said he started researching schools that would better prepare him for life after college. After coming across a handful of schools, he did more research on them and determined HPU was the best out of the group.
“I feel it best prepares you for life after college. I would like to go into private equity and real estate,” Marcello said. “After I visited here, I fell in love with it. They prepare you for life and teach life skills. I knew if I got accepted here, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.”
His mother, Emanuela Marcello, agreed. The entire family was impressed with the campus and the people they met during their first tour.
“Meeting Dr. Qubein and the faith-based values this school has aligns very much with the education that he has had in West Palm Beach,” his father, Mark Marcello, said. “Move-In was incredible, efficient and so exciting.”
Like Lappin and Hiatrides, Liam Crenshaw learned more about HPU from a family member who decided to go to school here.
“My cousin went here and he loved it, so I decided to visit and I fell in love,” said Crenshaw, who is from Austin, Texas. “I applied early decision because of the benefits. I didn’t see another college I wanted, so I decided to go all in.”
His mother, Beverly Crenshaw, described the move-in process as extremely efficient compared to when his older brother moved into another university.
“It’s amazing, so smooth and easy,” she said. “The way they welcomed us and helped carry all these boxes took a lot of the stress and hard work out of it. The directions, the band playing and the welcome made it more efficient, less stressful.”
Jack Smithson had visited HPU as a toddler while his older sister, Taylor Smithson Nikpour, a Class of 2011 alumna, and her husband, Lex Nikpour, a Class of 2012 graduate, were in school.
“They have a great business program here,” said Smithson, a finance major with a minor in entrepreneurship, who is from Cape May, New Jersey. “I applied early decision because it has a lot of great benefits. I already knew this was where I wanted to go. Move-in was awesome. I was just excited on the way in.”
HPU was the only school that Bennett Money, a finance major from Windham, New Hampshire, applied to and immediately felt welcomed on campus.
“I liked High Point University because of opportunities in the business school with internships and experiential learning,” Money said. “I also like the God, family and country values. Especially in the north where I’m from, the Boston schools don’t really offer that. High Point University is just an amazing place.”
While Money was drawn to the opportunities offered in the Earl N. Phillips School of Business, Macy Nelson was attracted to HPU’s interior design program.
“The interior design program here is very well-known and a great opportunity for me,” said Nelson, an interior design major from South Bend, Washington. “I chose early decision because I had known about this school and had toured it a couple of years ago. It was very high on my list. I knew from the start that this was the place I wanted to be. Move-in was amazing. I love all the help I’ve been offered. It’s such a beautiful campus with very sweet people.”
Her mother, Amy Nelson, said she felt thrilled for her daughter but emotional to have her so far from home.
“I couldn’t think of a better place to leave her,” she said. “We’ve been here four times, so it’s starting to feel like home for all of us. The welcome is amazing. There’s nothing like it.”
That sense of home was shared by many new students and their families throughout the weekend.
“When I toured campus, everybody was so nice, and I saw all the opportunities I could take advantage of,” said Andrew Astacio, an entrepreneurship major from San Antonio, Texas. “Once I toured here and met everybody, I immediately knew this place was my home, and that’s why I chose High Point University.”
Addie Lyndon said she chose HPU because it reminded her of the tight-knit community where she grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts.
“I toured a few other campuses before, but as soon as I got on campus here, I got the feeling this is the place I’m supposed to be,” said Lyndon, who is considering majors in either communications or early education. “Move-in has been so fun, going through the streets with everyone cheering. I felt like these are my people.”
Her mother, Joelle Lyndon, was impressed by how organized Move-In Day was and how easy it was for the family as a result.
“It took us three hours to pack our car, and they had it unloaded in five minutes,” she said.