This publication is available for purchase from the High Point University Bookstore.
In 2006, HPU First Lady Mariana Qubein formed an arboretum committee to find ways to expand the university's collection of trees and create an array of botanical gardens around campus. She and her husband, HPU President Dr. Nido Qubein, saw the potential. They believed a beautiful campus would create an academic Garden of Eden where students could learn, grow, and respect what God has provided.
Today, HPU has 28 gardens, nine plant collections, more than 700 taxa of trees, and a conservatory that brings the beauty of the arboretum and botanical gardens inside for research, enjoyment, and peace of mind.
It all happened because of the tireless work of an army of people - the landscape team at HPU and a cadre of students, faculty, staff, community volunteers, and generous donors.
Leading the way has been Mariana Qubein.
At a young age, she learned from her mother to appreciate what grows in a garden. Today, as HPU's First Lady, she sees gardens as God's gift to us. Like her husband, Mariana Qubein is an alumna of then-High Point College, where she earned a degree in biology. When her husband became HPU's seventh president in 2005, she went back to her academic roots and recruited professors and students to create an arboretum committee. She wanted to help transform her alma mater into a tree-canopied showplace where nature lives, flowers bloom, and botanical gardens can become outdoor classrooms that can educate, inspire, encourage contemplation, and bring the community together. Her work has not gone unnoticed. In 2009, the HPU Board of Trustees named the university's botanical gardens after Mariana Qubein.
In these eight chapters containing hundreds of photos, readers will see how the beauty of the Mariana H. Qubein Arboretum & Botanical Gardens has attracted students, awed visitors, inspired faculty, and received all kinds of accolades.
And it all began with one woman's vision. Mariana Qubein wanted to create a home away from home for students. Moreover, she wanted anyone who visited to understand the importance of keeping the earth as God intended it to be.
~ Robert Brown, chairman of the HPU Board of Trustees