HIGH POINT, N.C., May 08, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Point University celebrated the Class of 2024 in many special ways on May 4 during two undergraduate Commencement ceremonies inside the Nido and Mariana Qubein Arena and Conference Center.
HPU President Nido Qubein welcomed a total of 14,000 families and friends into the arena to celebrate the latest graduating class. Despite a heavy storm passing through the area on May 4, the large-scale celebration that is tradition at HPU continued. More than 1,500 degrees were conferred throughout the 2023-2024 academic year, with most graduates turning their tassels during the spring graduate and undergraduate ceremonies held this week.
This year’s Commencement speaker, Glenn Stearns, an internationally known businessman and star of Discovery Channel’s “Undercover Billionaire” reality show, described the Class of 2024 as the class of resilience. Qubein shared a similar message while describing some of the challenges that the latest graduates have faced, including a last-minute change to Commencement because of the weather.
Qubein noted most of the Class of 2024 graduates were born in 2001, when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks devastated the nation. As they were growing up, they experienced the Great Recession of 2007-09. The start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 disrupted their high school graduation ceremonies so this was the first Commencement for many of them.
“This class chose to be extraordinary in spite of COVID, in spite of the rain, in spite of any difficulty that came their way,” said Qubein. “They stood tall and said, ‘We should be counted.’ All things are possible. There are no such thing as unrealistic dreams, only unrealistic timelines.”
Stearns, the founder and CEO of mortgage banker Kind Lending and host of the “Grit Happens” podcast, shared during his speech that he has overcome cancer, a dysfunctional childhood, financial collapse during the Recession and more during his life. Nonetheless, he told graduates to embrace the highs and lows that life offers and grow from both.
“My theme, I guess you can call it, is more on adaptation,” said Stearns. “You’ve been very good at that so far. You've learned a lot about that, and I guess I'll try to convince you that living in the middle, being comfortable, is not such a great place to be, being ordinary. We all know we want to be extraordinary, right? So staying in the middle is not somewhere that you're ever going to be able to grow.”
Stearns offered three pieces of advice and said he hopes at least one of them resonates with graduates:
- Don't be afraid to get lost. Embrace being uncomfortable.
- Embrace life’s ups and downs.
- Be authentic.
Qubein presented Stearns with an Honorary Doctor of Entrepreneurship degree during the afternoon Commencement ceremony. During the morning Commencement, he presented an Honorary Doctor of Professional Leadership degree to Rev. Chris Hodges, the founding and senior pastor of Church of the Highlands, which has established around 30 campuses across the state of Alabama since it began in 2001. He served as the featured speaker at HPU’s 51st Annual Christmas Prayer Breakfast in 2022. Hodges delivered the keynote sermon during HPU’s Baccalaureate on May 3.
In addition, Qubein announced that an on-campus plaza that features a large “I Love High Point University” sign will be extended this summer using bricks that have the names of all members of the Class of 2024 engraved on them.
Class of 2024 President’s Speech
HPU Class of 2024 President Braeden Boyle, a business administration major from Baltimore, Maryland, who plans to enter the health care management industry, welcomed his classmates to their first-ever Commencement. He reflected on their four-year experience at HPU and shared a message from a fortune cookie that had resonated with him.
“I opened the fortune cookie and was immediately taken aback as I read the fortune: ‘Develop an appreciation for the current moment.’ At the time of this, college was flying by,” said Boyle. “I feel like I blinked, and I was halfway through my college career. Reading these seven simple words has been and will continue to be a moment that defines my college career journey as I carry this fortune with me at the back of my phone at all times. These simple words remind me to take everything in.”
Boyle encouraged his classmates to gain and develop an appreciation for the moment, as it will never come again.
Bald Eagles Soars over Graduates
As is tradition at HPU’s graduation, a bald eagle named Clark soared over the graduates at the end of both Commencement ceremonies to symbolize the ideals of free enterprise, independence and the ability to pursue new opportunities in America. Every graduate received a blanket after the ceremony to give to their mothers in honor of Mother’s Day on May 12.
Onward with Faithful Courage
During the Onward with Faithful Courage event on May 3, graduates and their family members also received a powerful senior send-off from Qubein, who provided the keynote address.
“These young people represent the best of America,” Qubein said. “I’d be proud of them anywhere on the face of this earth. I so pray that every one of you will rise and do good. The only way to do good is to be good. It isn’t what you want to do with the rest of your life, but rather it is who you want to be the rest of your life. The circumstances in which you find yourself do not define the person you become. They only determine where you start. Success does not come to you. You must go to it. You must rise and choose to be extraordinary.”
More Highlights from Glenn Stearns’ Speech
“It's not really about what happens to you in life. It's about what you do with what happens to you in life. Imagine a world where you had no pain. You have no disappointment, no heartache, no struggle. Wouldn’t you want to live in that world? Would you sign up for that? Well, I tell you pain and adversity, these things can be wonderful teachers. This is what life is about, not living in the middle. What I hope I can get across to you is how it is important to be able to understand that being able to celebrate the highs and live with the lows are going to be what makes your life the best thing that you've ever done.”
At High Point University, every student receives an extraordinary education in an inspiring environment with caring people.® HPU, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a liberal arts institution with 6,040 undergraduate and graduate students. U.S. News & World Report has ranked HPU the No. 1 Best Regional College in the South for 12 consecutive years and the No. 1 Most Innovative Regional College in the South for nine consecutive years. The Princeton Review named HPU in “The Best 389 Colleges: 2024 Edition” and among the “Best South” colleges by region list. HPU was also recognized among the Top 20 in the nation for Best-Run Colleges, Best Career Services, Most Beautiful Campus, Most Active Student Government, Best College Dorms and Best Campus Food, as well as a Great School for Business/Finance Majors and a Great School for Communication Majors. For 13 years in a row, HPU has been named a College of Distinction with special recognition for career development, business and education programs. The university has 60 undergraduate majors, 66 undergraduate minors and 18 graduate degree programs. It is a member of the NCAA, Division I and the Big South Conference. Visit High Point University on the web at highpoint.edu.
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