High Point University (HPU) is growing by leaps and bounds.
HPU announced that for the 2022-2023 academic year it would be welcoming its largest student body in history, with a total of 6,000 students including 1,600 new students.
The number of new students for the current academic year exceeds the total enrollment for HPU in 2005 when Nido Qubein took over as president.
The next major wave of growth includes a $400 million investment in four new academic schools, a new library, new housing for students, a parking garage and other campus enhancements.
This week there was a major announcement about one of those projects – the $80 million library.
Qubein announced that the library had received a $30 million gift from John and Lorraine Charman and the library will be named the John and Lorraine Charman Library.
In the press release Qubein said, “John and Lorraine Charman are a wonderful couple who stepped up with faithful courage to invest in our library and in several other important projects on campus. They are planting seeds of greatness for HPU students like their daughter Olivia. It is a blessing to have the advocacy and trust of people like John and Lorraine who share our passion for a values-based education, and the lasting impact that the library will make on our students.”
The gift is part of the $100 million that HPU announced in March that it was receiving from three families.
The library is expected to be completed during the 2025-2026 school year and will focus on innovation and collaboration while providing plenty of study space for students.
The four story facility will provide 150,000 square feet of space for books, digital databases, private student space and include a gallery featuring historical artifacts and art.
The new library will be on the main campus next to the R.G. Wanek Center on Panther Drive.
Will HPU provide protection for their students as they move about the Cities of High Point & Greensboro?
There was a time when buildings on campuses were named for distinguished people who made contributions to society. Now when names are seen on campus buildings, it is a sign that the person(s) was so rich that they paid millions to have a building with their name(s) on it. Rich and distinguished are not necessarily one and the same. As example, I offer Kathy Manning and husband, Randall Kaplan, and a building on UNCG campus, Kaplan Commons. They paid millions for Kaplan Commons.
Whatever happened to anonymous good works? I would have thought Manning and Kaplan would have believed in that…guess not.