BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway and the university's Concert Choir put on a special "concert of appreciation" on March 23 for Honolulu Mayor Muliufi "Mufi" Hannemann and City & County employees in the open courtyard of Honolulu Hale to thank them for their significant roles in building and strengthening the people of our communities.
"We have a tradition here in Honolulu Hale of bringing in the finest, of bringing in the best to the official home of our city, and today is no exception," Mayor Hannemann said.
"I'm also here today because I wanted to officially bid adieu to a very special friend of the Hannemann family, a gentleman I have known for many, many years — first on the basketball court, I believe, where he was one of the feistiest guards I have ever played against. He would never give the big men any slack when we would get the ball under the basket."
"Of course, as hard as he played on the basketball court, he also has excelled in many, many areas, including being a top-notch ecclesiastical leader of our faith, but most importantly, too, and of late, of being president of BYU-Hawaii."
Mayor Hannemann, a member of the Church with family ties in Laie, then read a special proclamation citing President Shumway's work in Tonga, at BYU-Hawaii, the Polynesian Cultural Center and the community, and commended his "many, many achievements."
The mayor added he wants President Shumway to come back to Honolulu when he completes his new assignment as president of the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple, "because this is the kind of gentleman, this is the kind of family, that I'm very, very proud to call one of our own, and we cannot afford to lose in the long term."
"We are very grateful to be here today to express our appreciation to the City and County of Honolulu, as a university presenting our premier performance organization, the BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir," President Shumway responded. He will retire in June after 41 years at BYU-Hawaii, and soon after will begin his new appointment in Tonga. The Church's First Presidency has not yet announced his successor at BYU-Hawaii.
"I want Mayor Hannemann to know how much we love and appreciate him for what he is doing for our city, and I am grateful our young people here today can see you in another venue and situation," President Shumway continued. "They all aspire to be leaders and ambassadors of peace internationally, and that's what you have become."
"They can see in you a quality servant in the community and a devoted, committed member of the Church. They, too, are part of the great BYU-Hawaii heritage enunciated by our founder, David O. McKay, when he said, ...from this school, you mark my word, will go forth men and women whose influence will be felt toward the establishment of peace internationally."
"Our tour to China and Mongolia is in part-fulfillment of that prophetic statement by the founder of this school."
The Honolulu Hale performance, under the direction of Professor Michael Belknap, featured some of the numbers the BYUH Concert Choir will perform during their three-week tour in May to Urumqi, Xian, Beijing and Tianjin, China; and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
During the tour, the choir is scheduled to perform at the Great Wall of China and in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing. They have also been invited to participate in the "Meet in Beijing" Music Festival. For more information on the choir, please visit http://w2.byuh.edu/perform/.
(Photos by Monique Saenz)
