As part of the university's 50th anniversary Golden Jubilee celebration, BYU-HawaiiPresident Eric B. Shumway unveiled the new Genuine Gold Display in the AlohaCenter on March 17, calling it a "signature art piece" on campus similar to the mosaic and murals gracing the David O. McKay Building and the Cannon-Napela statue by the Cannon Activities Center.
As part of the program, Elder W. Rolfe Kerr, Commissioner of the Church EducationalSystem and a member of The First Quorum of the Seventy, and his wife, Janeil, joined President Shumway in cutting the symbolic maile lei. ElderKerr delivered the devotional address earlier in the day and later spoke to the faculty.
The new display, which "celebrates the legacy of BYU-Hawaii and the ChurchCollege of Hawaii," has three sections: The central panel features a large montage with President David O. McKay outlining his vision for the future Church College of Hawaii on February 12, 1955, with images of the modern BYU-Hawaii campus and the Polynesian Cultural Center in the background. The panel to its left honors labor missionaries and Church leaders who volunteered and sacrificed to create the campus and PCC, while the panel to the right features the BYU-Hawaii alumni — or the "genuine gold" PresidentMcKay said the university would produce — who have distinguished themselves in a variety of ways.
"This ceremony today is one in a series celebrating the legacy of BYU-Hawaii and the Church College of Hawaii, and our educational and spiritual training role in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," PresidentShumway said.
"When David O. McKay dedicated the grounds for the building of an institution of higher learning on February 12, 1955, he spoke eloquently and prophetically of a school that didn't even exist yet. It had been in his mind and in his heart in his vision in 1921 that there would be a college campus in this little community."
"At the time of the groundbreaking, there were no students, no buildings, and no faculty. President McKay stood on a makeshift podium just a few yards from this very spot," President Shumway continued. "He delivered the first of a series of addresses which became the inspiration from which was forged the mission of the campus, its international outreach, its spiritual environment, its educational goals, the kind of students who would come here to learn and what their role would be in the gradual unfolding of the Restorationacross the world."
President Shumway explained that in his groundbreaking address President McKay outlined the purposes for the new university:
First, the things pertaining to God and His Kingdom... Second, those who obey God's principles will develop character and become noblemen and women...One man said the world needs men who cannot be bought or sold, men who will scorn to violate truth — genuine gold. That is what this school is going to produce. More than that, they will be leaders, not leaders only on this island but everywhere. All the world is hungering for them; and the best of all, the world is recognizing them.
"That is what this school is going to produce. Integrity and character must be the hallmark of education on this campus," President Shumwaysaid, noting that the individuals featured in the display are a "tiny sampling of the kind of men and women who through their training here, and their devotion to Heavenly Father, have become living examples of what PresidentMcKay had in mind in the first place." He added that the featured individuals would change periodically.
In honoring the "noble army of labor missionaries" who helped build the campus, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and many other important projects in Laie, President Shumway noted the "immense work that had to be done by so many people to bring about the Prophet's vision. They, too, were genuine gold."
"Thus we honor the Prophet, the organizing leaders, the original faculty, the labor missionaries, and finally those students and alumni for whom this campus was built, and who are now fulfilling in many different ways the visions and prophecies of David O. McKay, which were articulated from the very beginning."
"It is significant to note, and we must remember that all of the prophets and apostles since David O. McKay have affirmed the importance of this campus. Every student who graduates, and every person who comes to this place to teach or work must reaffirm those blessings and promises in their own lives."
The Genuine Gold Display was organized and put together by the BYU-HawaiiUniversity Advancement team, led by Vice President Napua Baker and Director of Communications Rob Wakefield; and including Debbie Reynoso, Monique Saenz, Anthony Perez, Brad Olsen, Mike Foley, Andrew Miller, Joel Kongaika, ScottChristley, Christopher Krey, Elder Bob Parchman, Greg Johnson (Skyline Industries in Utah); the Golden Jubilee Committee co-chairs Vernice Wineera and RexFrandsen; Rowena Reid, Executive Director of the Alumni Association; the Alumni Association Board Awards Committee; PhysicalFacilities Director Judd Whetten, Kalisi Unga; Paliku Kahalepuna and his father, Boysie Kahalepuna; and John "O" Olszowka.