BYU–Hawaii News

The importance of the Lord’s temple as a place of refuge and blessings was what Max Purcell, temple recorder at the temporarily-closed Laie temple, and member of the Laie North Stake Presidency, emphasized in his devotional, January 20. Read Full Story

The Brigham Young University Hawaii men’s basketball team climbed another spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll on January 25, moving up to number four (behind Findlay, Ohio; UU-C.W., New York; and Central Oklahoma). The move gives the Seasiders the highest ranking in school history in Division II play, surpassing last week’s number-five ranking. The Seasiders made the jump upwards despite dropping four points in the poll from last week’s record-setting 167. Read Full Story

Leonard Black [pictured at left], Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Brigham Young University Hawaii's Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, shared some of his wide-ranging experiences with Honors Program students at their January 21 colloquium, including being a fluent Navajo-speaking missionary, NCAA Final-Four basketball player, decorated Viet Nam veteran, university professor, gold miner, serial entrepreneur, and assistant BYUH men's basketball coach. Read Full Story

Dr. William G. Neal, Assistant to the President of Brigham Young University Hawaii, announced that Michael A. Johanson has succeeded Dr. Duane C. Roberts as the school's Director of Communications and Marketing. Dr. Roberts retired at the end of Fall Semester 2008 and he and his wife, Susan, now live in Utah. Read Full Story

With a contagious smile and a passion for her work, Brigham Young University – Hawaii student Carla Rada, a native of Bolivia, works hard to infuse her passion for media and cross-cultural communication with her international cultural studies major focusing on communications. She explains that her interests for television and communication stem deeply from her own personal experiences, long before she set foot on campus. “My father is a journalist so when I was young I had the opportunity to actually have a national teenage-themed television show that brought in music and culture.” This opportunity, Rada says, helped to provide the foundation for her educational goals. Read Full Story

Former Brigham Young University Hawaii adjunct faculty members Robbin [pictured at left] and Nancy Henderson [pictured below] shared a report on their recent experiences as volunteer oral English language teachers for graduate students at Qingtao University in Qingtao, China, during the weekly Honors Program colloquium in McKay 101 on January 14. Read Full Story

Members of the Brigham Young University Hawaii President's Council met with students, faculty and staff on January 13 in Aloha Center 155/165 to answer submitted questions on outreach programs, Security updates, Honor Code provisions, schedules and notices, housing, energy savings, athletics and initiatives. Read Full Story

In a spirit of love and mutual respect, President and Sister Wheelwright stood together before the student body and addressed the important issue of moral purity at the first devotional of the year for BYU-Hawaii January 13. Their optimistic opening remarks set the stage for a spiritual and touching message, Read Full Story

Brigham Young University Hawaii has appointed Education Professor Dr. Hiagi M. Wesley [pictured at right], a BYUH alumnus, as Director of the university's newly renamed and reorganized Jonathan Napela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Islands Studies. Read Full Story

The Polynesian Cultural Center Board of Directors has appointed BYU-Hawaii alumnus P. Alfred Grace ['88, Travel Management; pictured at left] of Laie as its first-ever Chief Operating Officer (COO), PCC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Von D. Orgill announced at a company "team meeting" on January 9 in the IMAX™ Theater. Grace had previously been serving as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing. Read Full Story