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S D I KARE A LA R T S E H O RC I NG YOUTH I S MA K , L M U S IC U F I T U B EA REVER O F D N A I NG C HA N G F ES O THE LIV EED EN I N N R D L I H C
Contents March 2013
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To-Do List Ten Action Items in This Issue 1 Pour a beer cocktail
2 Get saucy with shrimp
3 Warm up to our winged friends
4 Inform yourself 54
about the bot invasion
82 Your Adventure
5 Hit those fitness
In Branson
goals with these smartphone apps
6 Put perfection
7 Make memories
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in perspective last
8 Take notes
the write way evocative power of iPods
10 Fold it right there
Front
Gary’s Greeting Gary’s Greeting en Español Star of the Month Freedom Story From the Editor Your Words Your Pictures Media Center Eat Drink Sleep The Numbers Wise Guide Business
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Middle
If You Know Four Notes, Teach Someone Who Knows Three How Sweet the Sound Your Adventure In Branson Life Adventure In Branson
Back
Promotional Series : Spirit of Virginia University Promotional : High Point University Promotional Series : Spirit of Greater Phoenix Calendar Fun! Spotlight Community Outreach Route Map Terminal Maps Rapid Rewards Partners Flight Service The “If” List
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9 Discover the
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At HPU, every student receives an extraordinary education, in an inspiring environment with caring people. BY NANCY OAKLEY
The University Center sits in the heart of a campus that is focused on delivering a holistic, valuesbased learning experience.
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Duke and Johns Hopkins, the university increased (Communication, Art & Design, and Health Sciences), eight new majors and doubling graduate programs. HPU started programs in undergraduate research, service learning, survey research and expanded internship and study abroad opportunities. But it’s the way HPU is approaching education that’s making heads turn. Take, for example, the new Plato S. Wilson Commerce Building: Here, students learn in state-of-the-art classrooms, each wired with the latest technology, and there is an investment club where students make actual stock trades in a trading room complete with a real-time ticker. Similarly, at the spectacular Nido R. Qubein School of Communication—home to one of the most popular majors at HPU—students can choose a path of traditional journalism in which they learn to produce radio and TV programs in fully equipped studios or opt to concentrate in Game and Interactive Media Design, using tech tools such as Motion Capture video, or Media and Popular Culture Studies, or Strategic Communication.
VALUES
Creating the best possible facilities and accommodating an ever-growing enrollment required a physical makeover of the campus that now stretches across 327 acres and seamlessly melds original architecture with newer construction, not only for the Schools of Business, Commerce, Communication and Education, but for two student centers, a
“ Learning ought not happen merely inside of the classroom; learning must be experiential. It must be holistic. It must be values-based.” —NID O R . QUB E IN, HIGH POINT UNIVER SIT Y PRE SID EN T
Greek Village, and several new residence halls, not to mention athletic facilities for the school’s 22 club point of it all is the Gene and Jane Kester International Promenade, where strains of classical music in arts, science and letters “repose” on benches: William Shakespeare, Martin Luther King, Jr., Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Amelia Earhart, John Wesley—each with an accompanying quotation. designed to create the ideal learning environment. SPIRIT MARCH 2013
Malcolm Gladwell
Tom F riedman
S teve F orbes
R udy Giuliani
L aura Bush
S teve Wozniak
S P EAKER S OF TH E HO US E Among the many distinctions High Point University can claim is the roster of speakers who have lectured on campus. Former First L ady L aura Bush was the com mencement speaker for 2012 graduates, while the class of 2013 will hear pearls of wisdom from Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak. Other thought-leaders who’ve visited HPU include publisher Steve Forbes, author and journalist Thomas Friedman, former NYC mayor R udy Giuliani, and baseball Hall-of-Famer Cal R i p k i n , J r . Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell ( Outliers and The Tipping Point) shared insights in 2012, and this month, the university hosts Seth Godin, marketer, best-selling author and founder of Squidoo.com.
“Learning ought not happen merely inside of the classroom; learning must be experiential. It must be holistic. It must be values-based,” Qubein says. Hence the signed, framed honor code displayed in the honors residence, York Hall, or 1924 Prime, while acquiring knowledge of etiquette, of entertaining clients, or perhaps the culture and cuisine of another country. But how could such expansion occur? How did years—without a formal campaign—in the height of a global recession? “We developed a clear vision, a solid strategy and people responded,” Qubein observes. “It’s not enough to just raise money, bewant to invest their money. We’ve said to potential donors and friends of the university, ‘We’re creating something of value here that will impact future generations of students.’” No one appreciates this more than Liz Marsicano of Long Island, New York, whose son John is a sophomore Communication
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H
ow does a small, private liberal arts college of 1,450 students morph into a leader in higher education with an enrollment of 3,900 in just seven years’ time—in the height of one of the worst
answer: Dare to dream big and inspire others to do University academically, culturally and physically, propelling it to the rank of an A-Lister.
TRANSFORMA TION
Established in 1924, HPU is the result of a partnership between the Methodist Protestant Church (now the United Methodist Church) and the city of High Point, North Carolina, known for furniture manufacturing and the High Point Market. Originally called High Point College, the school, education. For the next 80 years it prospered, and by 2005 HPU ranked 15th among U.S. News & World Report’s Regional Colleges in the South. In spite of its solid academic reputation, the Univerpopulation that numbered around 1,450. Already engaged in a search to replace the school’s president who was retiring, the board turned to its dynamic vice-chairman, Dr. Nido R. Qubein. Having come to High Point College in 1968 from the Middle East, Qubein would go on to live the American dream by becoming a successful speaker, author and business consultant. When he assumed the presidency of HPU, many in the community felt he was the right man for the right time. “Maybe in an interesting kind of way I’ve spent all of my understood that the university needed a higher
WHAT’S NE W AT HPU? Proposed programs in pharmacy, physical therapy and physician assistant studies. With strong under graduate science programs, a health sciences cur riculum seemed only natural. As with other academic disciplines at HPU, the programs will be home to distin guished faculty-scholars, such as Dr. Daniel E rb, who, for 11 years, served as director of Graduate Studies of the Doctor of Physical Therapy Division at Duke Univer sity. HPU has already opened the Human Biomechanics and Physiology L ab last fall.
the university’s international student population, represented by 30 countries, and to its commitment to a holistic education. Students are encouraged to explore new ideas and concepts, while at the same
In addition to these components, he wanted to enhance HPU’s caring environment that he fondly recalled from his student tenure. Collaborating with
principles of God, family and country. For every incoming freshman, that means attending Qubein’s Life Skills Seminar, which the president describes as a class, “where students learn about commu-
took shape with principles that have now become the university’s promise: “At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education, in an inspiring environment with caring people.”
management, leadership, stewardship and developing an entrepreneurial spirit.” Life skills also permeate the curriculum so as to transform young minds into “people of success
CULTURE
leadership of Dr. Dennis Carroll, Provost, and faculty from prestigious institutions such as Stanford,
Fast-forward to the fall of 2012. Opposite one of the campus’s original buildings, Roberts Hall, stands a statue of Atlas shouldering the globe that
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The Honor Code Signing Ceremony is one of the University’s most meaningful and memorable traditions.
and experienced unparalleled attentiveness from destined to enroll. In his freshman year alone, her such as traveling to China and attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte as a media fellow. “High Point does nothing less than go out of its way for every single student,” says Liz, who has enthusiastically recommended HPU to friends and acquaintances across the country. A values- and community-based experience also native praises the training and individual attention
A GRO WTH S TORY Freshman Class Undergraduate Enrollment Fulltime Faculty Fulltime Employees Campus in Acres Campus in Square Feet Study Abroad Programs E conomic Impact Budget United Way Giving
2005
2012
GROW TH
375 1,450 108 430 92 675,000 5 $160.3 M $38 M $38,000
1,257 3,900 232 1,105 327 3,000,000 22 $464 M $178 M $185,000
235% 169% 115% 157% 255% 344% 340% 190% 368% 387%
professors are always there when you need them, and we have new technology, like smart boards and tables—everything I would ever need” to prepare for a career in education, she says. But Hagar also appreciates having a voice on campus. “If there’s something I want to see a change in, I can do that,” she explains, citing a grant she wrote so that her sorority could host an on-campus event for the Special Olympics, for which she is an active volunteer. And she’s not alone in reaching out to the over 50,000 hours of service each year. High Point University is an environment in which everybody wins. And the numbers are proof positive of HPU’s success: the University has jumped from No. 15 to the No. 1 spot among all regional colleges in the South in the 2013 Edition of “America’s Best Colleges,” published by U.S. News & World Report, as well as ranked No. 1 among Up and Coming Schools in Regional Colleges in the South. As for Nido Qubein, his eye is always on the horizon: “I think High Point University is in a very, very strong position of higher learning that has not only relevant To learn more about HPU, visit them at highpoint.edu or call 800-345-6993. MARCH 2013 SPIRIT