High Point University

HPU celebrates Earth Day with environmental festivities

By Nick Bainbridge// News Editor

High Point University’s Green Team is an organization that advocates for a more environmentally conscious campus. On April 16, the team started Earth Week by raising awareness of the groups work and environmental issues in general, all leading up to Earth Day on April 22.

On each day of Earth Week, the team planned a different activity to get people conscious of the environment.

Dr. Robert K. Musil is the CEO of the Rachel Carson Council, a group founded in 1965 that promotes environmental justice. On April 16, the Nobel Prize winner roused crowds in Philips School of Business with his presentation on the current state of the environment.

On April 17, Josh Harris, media librarian at HPU, hosted a screening of “The Man Who Planted Trees,” an academy award-winning short film about a shepherd working to restore a damaged land.

On April 18, volunteers helped recycle difficult to dispose materials such as electronics and confidential documents. In addition, restaurant vendors offered free samples from local restaurants, and animals from local rescue organizations were on campus as well.

“I just love the set up out here. It seems like a good way to get people excited about the planet,” said senior Eleanor Albert.

Extra attention was put into the annual Arbor Day celebration. Several presenters, including Mariana Qubein and curator of the grounds Jon Roethling, spoke about the recent transformation that HPU has undergone over the past few years, being one of only a dozen colleges in the state that received the accolade of Tree Campus USA.

At the Arbor Day celebration, several community members had the opportunity to take home a Magnolia Kobus sapling, which can grow as large as 75 feet tall.

Event organizers made sure to not forget the real reason for the festivities. On Earth Day itself, the HPU Environmental Studies Program motivated community members to mobilize and led staff and students in collecting discarded trash along the High Point Greenway street.

“It’s so important to take care of the environment,” said HPU junior Hayley Albrecht. “We only have one planet, and we need to care about it.”