BYU-Hawaii School of Business Dean Brent Wilson had his first opportunity at a banquet on June 23 to present the crystal trophy that goes with the Executive of the Year award major benefactor Gene Yamagata received in absentia in 2005 for his outstanding business success and exceptional generosity in funding the university's international student internship program for the past several years.
After accepting the trophy, Yamagata handed BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway a check for $300,000 to continue funding the unique program that enables international students at the university to return to their home countries during their junior or senior year to gain valuable practical experience and help prepare them for meaningful employment opportunities back home after they graduate.
"I am deeply honored, and feel inadequate for receiving the award," said Yamagata, who explained his parents emigrated from Japan about 1900 and he grew up working every day on their little farm near Jerome, Idaho. About the time Yamagata finished high school he joined the Church through the influence of a neighbor, turned down a scholarship at the University of Idaho to attend Rick's College (now BYU-Idaho) and, after graduating, was called to serve a mission from 1957-60 in Japan. He credits his mission with the inspiration for associating with Japan ever since and the founding of his Las Vegas-based Yamagata Corporation, a private holdings group that includes Forever Living Products franchises in Japan.
Yamagata thanked the BYU-Hawaii faculty and staff "for doing a tremendous job in making this internship program successful. When I first came to the campus three years ago to participate in the program, there were only just a few students who were able to go. Now I see hundreds of students can go."
"I feel it's been a huge success for the university and for the students," he said, "and I'm especially thankful that I was asked to participate in helping students that need a little assistance in making their careers highly successful in their countries."
Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve, who was in Laie to deliver the BYU-Hawaii commencement address the next morning, expressed the "gratitude of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to Gene and Allyson Yamagata. What you're doing has blessed so many, many lives."
He compared the effects of their generosity to "just the beginning of putting yeast in the loaf, which will expand. There will be many, many people blessed because of what you're doing. You said, Brother Yamagata, that you have little part in this, [but] it's like having the motor with no gasoline: Until you put the gas into it, nothing could run here with this program," Elder Scott continued.
"One of the key people was not mentioned today: Eric Shumway. He's had this vision for a long time, and has been able to convince the officers of the Board [of Trustees], the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to support the idea," said Elder Scott, who is also chairman of the board's executive committee.
After speaking at a BYU-Hawaii commencement several years ago, Elder Scott recalled he felt sad to realize circumstances did not make it possible for many of the graduates to return to their countries. "I hope that every one of us here can help those who come from other lands to return to their country."
"When you're in your own country, when you're able to take back the skills, both spiritually and professionally, you have an opportunity to contribute that won't happen when you're persuaded by the song of materialism," he said. "With this internship program, not only do you bless yourselves but your children, you build the countries you're in and bless the Church. It has a growing, multiple effect. How grateful I am to see how well it's unfolding."
Elder Scott invoked a Priesthood blessing on the internship program — "a blessing that the resources can be provided to help materially, financially, [and with] human resources; and that everyone who cooperates in expanding this program can be guided by the spirit to perform the part you play effectively to bless lives."
"I especially invoke a blessing on those who are the beneficiaries of the program, that they will use that opportunity wisely and then continue to spread it forth to others," he added, noting many young men and women in the Church in some countries are under such intense pressure that they study but don't go to spiritual meetings so they can secure a place to get an education.
"With this internship program and all the rest that's here at BYU-Hawaii, they get the balance of spiritual guidance as well as professional capability. It's the spiritual center of the Yamagatas that made this generous gift possible. The Lord bless you," Elder Scott said.
Earlier in the program, several BYU-Hawaii students who have completed intenships spoke of their experiences, and a video of interviews with others who have returned to their home countries after completing internships was also shown.
In that video, President Shumway — a 40-year veteran on campus — said over the years he realized his job "was to graduate students, but more than that, it dawned on me that my job was to help students get connected and find employment."
"Returnability is more than just returning back to your areas," he said. "Returnability means to have the ability to return and be successful, to find employment and be able to establish a family, to serve in the Church, and to carry on the responsibilities that any family person would have."