By: Kaitlyn HodginsThe students of High Point University watch, as their campus transforms into a winter wonderland during the holiday season.
The fresh, brisk air swipes Jacquelyn Petrosky’s cheeks as she step outside, books in hand.
Dressed in a heavy coat, scarf and boots, as warm as Jacquelyn could possibly be, she heads down the promenade, walking at almost a 90 degree angle, trying to keep the wind off her face.
The holiday tunes sing at just the right level, coming from the speakers placed on almost every lamp pole down the greenway.
Each lamp pole, twisted with beautiful green garland, that as soon as night fall comes will be illuminated with a single strand of lights intertwined in the garland, up the pole.
At the top, the lights are met with personalized flags in green, red and gold that read; “Happy Holidays”, “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” and “Peace on Earth.”
Jacquelyn notices all the different statements on the flags as she makes her way to Norton Hall at the end of the promenade, hoping that she won’t be late for class, since the cold weather made it so hard to get out of bed.
She reaches the doors of the building and passes two life-size Nut Cracker statues that must stand at least 4 feet tall.
Jacquelyn grabs the door handle, the wreath placed on the outside of the door brushes her wrist and she takes a second, which she really does not have, to admire it in all its beauty.
Jacquelyn is one of the many students that love to watch High Point University transform into the winter wonderland of a campus that it does during the holidays.
HPU began these festivities about five years ago, after Dr. Nido Qubein secured the position as President of the University and he decided that he wanted campus to feel more “home-like” than it had originally, being that this is home away from home for most of the Undergraduate students here.
The Transformation
So in the 2005-2006 school year, Director of WOW, Roger Clodfelter, began accumulating all of the intricate and unique pieces and painting a picture for the entire student body at HPU to thoroughly enjoy.
"The idea is, we want our students to feel the holiday spirit,” said Clodfelter. “And also the values of the holidays play right into the values we promote here.”
Clodfelter and the whole WOW team have been preparing the campus since before Thanksgiving, having everything in place by the Monday before Thanksgiving break, to get the student in the mood and excited for the holidays.
However, they start setting up in early November, not because the necessarily want everything up that early, or that they’re trying to rush the holidays, but simply because there is so much of it to put up.
By starting that early they also avoid the issue of having to pay overtime to the employees on the Campus Enhancement team, according to Clodfelter.
The wreath outside of Wrenn Hall, hanging on the wall like a beautiful diamond ring, sparkling in the night; the enormous tree in front of the University Center, standing as sturdy as a mountain; the beautiful light intertwined throughout the Slane Park, like stars shinning throughout the sky. Such a beautiful addition, that enhances the campus above and beyond the beauty that it already displays.
After class, Jacquelyn joins her friends in the University Center, passing the Christmas tree outside the building with giant, fake presents underneath it.
Once she reaches her friends inside, she comments on the beautiful decorations that High Point University has once again filled the campus with to bring the holiday cheer to its students.
Jacquelyn admits, “My favorite things, out of all of the decorations, are the wreaths. How could you not love them? I just always wonder how the school finds these things. Not to mention asking myself where they get the extra money for all of it.”
The Details
These unique pieces are not as hard to find as one might think.
“You can find anything on the Internet,” says Clodfelter. And it is not as costly as students, like Jacquelyn, assume either. Alumnae and other groups actually donate funds at the request that they go to thing such as the Christmas decorations, which covers a lot of the cost.
“We reuse everything we have, so it’s not reoccurring cost on 99 percent of what we put up for Christmas,” says Clodfelter.
One might think that the electricity bill that HPU receives during these months would be heinous. However, that’s not as bad as assumed either.
“In terms of electricity, we have our budget for our electrical needs,” says Clodfelter. “It’s kind of like your Christmas tree at home, yeah, you pay a little more for electricity, but ultimately it’s a small investment. We think it is worth it to try and create the environment that we do for our students.”
All of the lights on the garlands and the wreaths have been switched to LED lights. LED lights use 90 percent less electricity than regular Christmas lights do.
Clodfelter said that he receives enormous amounts of praise from student and their parents about the holiday décor, as he glances out his office window to admire them himself. They are all appreciative of what he is doing and the environment he is creating to try and relax the students and transition them through the last two months of school, before break, and through exams.
Jacquelyn explained that Clodfelter is right! That she finds there is nothing more relaxing and soothing during exam time than to be able to step back and really enjoy the decorations.
Jacquelyn explained how her entire sorority, Alpha Gamma Delta, took a Christmas picture in the lobby of the School of Communication on the staircase that was so elegantly decorated with lighted garland wrapped up the railing on either side of the staircase, decorated with red ribbon along the light pattern.
“It was a beautiful picture,” said Jacquelyn. “It’s really nice that we have this available for us to use to be able to do stuff like this. Our Christmas picture will be sent out to many homes and businesses and will hang on many walls. It’s also great recognition for HPU and the decorations made a beautiful background!”
The WOW team provides numerous amounts of holiday activities available for students through the month of December in preparation of Christmas including Christmas picture with Santa Clause, horse and carriage rides, and many Christmas movies.
Changing their ways HPU was established in 1924 as a Methodist based school. Recognizing Christianity as the University’s religion is the reason why HPU can place “Merry Christmas” flags up and down the promenade and parade around campus with Christmas activities, such as the opportunity to take a picture with Santa Clause or to have a ceremony to light a Christmas tree.
But recently, HPU has broadened its views.
As HPU opens its front doors to people from many different countries, cultures and religions, administration finds it necessary to spread the “home-like” atmosphere they are trying to create to the entire student body.
Clodfetler said that he, along with the HPU administration, plans to begin a more rigorous attempt to recognize all religions and holidays during this time of year, instead of just decorating for the Christian holiday of Christmas.
“As our population has expanded, we have a greater diversity of students,” said Clodfelter. “Candidly, maybe we haven’t reacted quickly enough to that, but we are working on that right now to make sure that all of our students feel like their holiday is being celebrated.”
Griffin Senning, a Jewish student at HPU, is excited to hear about the change.
“They’re gorgeous decorations,” said Senning, excitedly. “Most schools don’t even put up three lights, but I do think that since there is a large amount of Jewish students on campus, a few Jewish decorations wouldn’t hurt.”
Senning explained about how he is a part of a Jewish group on campus and that, this year the school has started offering ways to celebrate Hanukah, which they have never done before.
“I did not choose any schools based on religion,” said Senning. “And I knew that coming to a Methodist based school that they would primarily recognize Christian holidays. The fact that administration is making a conscious effort now to make the holidays special for all students is something that I greatly appreciate.”
He received e-mails from the WOW team throughout Hanukah informing him about celebratory dinners and services that the school was offering for the Jewish holiday.
“We’re working with our Jewish faculty to get a Menorah celebration together for Hanukah. We’re really trying to broaden the holidays that we celebrate and recognize,” Clodfelter explained.
Ultimately, next year HPU plans to have more decorations to celebrate the different holiday’s including Hanukah and Kwanza.
The changes include new “Happy Hanukah” flags, in addition to the “Merry Christmas” and the “Happy Holiday’s” ones.
Clodfelter and the WOW team plan to have a much more extensive plan on how to celebrate all of these holidays starting this season and for years to come.
Jacquelyn explains, while stirring her soup, trying to warm up, “I really do appreciate that the school takes time to do this for us. The decorations are beautiful, and you don’t get this at other schools. I love looking at them as I get in the car and head home to my family for the holidays after a long exam week. It’s just one more thing that amazing about HPU.”
Sidebar:
Christmas Traditions: Charming or Costly?
The tradition of decorating a Christmas tree dates back to at least the middle of the 17th century.
However, it took two centuries for the tradition to become widely established.
Candles were originally used to illuminate the tree.
They were glued with melted wax to a tree branch or attached by pins.
In 1882, the first Christmas tree was lit by the use of electricity.
A small Christmas tree was illuminated in New York City by 80 small light bulbs.
By 1900, department stores started using the new electric Christmas lights for their Christmas displays and began selling them to consumers.
Fast forward over 100 years, to today, and drive down any block of your choice in an average suburban neighborhood.
Nearly every house is lit up by hundreds of little tiny lights in the design of an angel, snowman or Santa Clause, his miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer.
Today, one strand of Christmas lights pulls about 1 amp of electricity, which is about the same and a 100 watt lights bulb running on 120 volts.
The average family’s electric bill can nearly double during the holidays.
It’s hard to say how much running these lights will cost an individual family, because there are many different circumstances; how many lights each family puts up, how large their Christmas tree is, how long they leave the lights on for, and what the usual electric bill for the household is.
But one thing is for sure: No one wants to leave their Christmas lights on all day and waste all of that electricity…and money!
So here are some tips for this holiday season on what everyone can do to save a little this year!
Top 10 ways to save electricity during the holidays 
1.) Switch to LED Christmas Lights.
-LED lights use 90% less electricity than regular Christmas lights, and can be purchased for around $10 a strand.
2.) Use Fiber Optic Decorations.
-Fiber optic trees and decorations are ultimate in energy efficiency. In most cases, they use a single light bulb located in the base of the unit to light the entire decoration.
3.) Limit the Time Lights are on.
-Wait until dark to turn on your lights and turn them off before you go to bed. Six hours or less of daily use is a good goal to aim for. Set yourself a reminder to turn off your lights if you have trouble remembering.
4.) Turn off Room Lights When the Tree is lit.
-The lights on the Christmas tree should provide enough lighting in the room.
5.) Decorate with Candles.
-Christmas lights are nice, but candle are just as nice, and they’ll save tons in electricity!
6.) Turn the Thermostat Down When You Have Guests.
- Extra bodies in the house mean extra natural heat, at no cost!
7.) Buy Gifts that don’t use Electricity or Batteries.
- According to energyguest.ca.gov, 40 percent of all batteries are purchased during the holiday season.
8.) Invest in Rechargeable Batteries and a Charger.
-If you buy or receive gifts that do require batteries, consider this option.
9.) Buy Energy Star Electronics.
- Energy Star certified electronics use up to 60 percent less electricity.
10.) Take a Walk to See the Christmas Lights.
-Leave the car in the driveway. Walking around the neighborhood will be nice and fun, and won’t use any gas!
