Howard Payne University recently held activities to celebrate recognition as a Tree Campus USA Higher Education University by the Arbor Day Foundation. The university hosted the planting of two live oak seedling trees involving ten HPU students from different campus organizations.

Aaron Diaz, HPU’s grounds supervisor, organized and led the event along with Kailee Torgerson, director of student leadership and engagement.

“This week’s event is an extension beyond our responsibilities as a Tree Campus,” said Diaz. “Our annual tree-planting ceremony is a focus on one of our five Core Values, Committed to Excellence – in this case, by providing a beautiful campus for the HPU family and the Brownwood community.”

HPU representatives were assisted by students in the planting of the 6-year-old live oaks. The trees were planted near the Newbury Place student apartments on the HPU campus. Also participating in the ceremony was Scott Owen, assistant professor of kinesiology, department chair and director of the Wellness Center.

“Today was a fun day as we planted some new trees on campus,” said Owen. “In my time as a professor for the past 26 years at HPU, it’s been amazing to watch the campus change, especially the grounds. HPU is more beautiful than ever. I am thankful for Aaron’s leadership with Tree Campus USA and the plan that is in place to keep planting new trees for the future.”

In addition to the tree-planting ceremony, students from HPU were given the details on the current life cycle of the two trees planted and discussed the beneficial impact each tree has using the Tree Benefit Calculator. The National Tree Benefit Calculator, developed by Casey Trees and Davey Tree Expert Company, allows users to make a simple estimation of the benefits individual trees provide from an environmental and economic value on an annual basis. Diaz shared a brief presentation on the numbers generated from the calculator and the significant impact these new trees provide.

The ceremony was concluded by students and HPU representatives filling in the holes around the trees.

Torgerson expressed her appreciation to HPU’s grounds personnel for their commitment to the beauty of the university’s campus.

“This afternoon the students had the opportunity to learn and invest in the health and beauty of our campus,” said Torgerson. “I want to thank the grounds staff members for their commitment to making HPU a beautiful place for all to enjoy.”

HPU’s dedication to caring for and planting trees each year has earned the university recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation’s Tree Campus Higher Education. Tree Campus Higher Education is a program that promotes the planting of trees on college campuses across the country. HPU first became a recognized campus in 2016. In the state of Texas, HPU is one of 24 recognized universities and one of 411 in the U.S.

For more information about Howard Payne University, visit www.hputx.edu.