Campus Community

Each year at Christmas time, BYU–Hawaii centers one devotional on Christ through the display of music. The devotional on Tuesday, December 7 was no exception as it was filled with the sounds of music and spirit of Christmas.

For some professors or department chairs, success means seeing their students perform at a concert; for others, it means watching their students teach English in foreign countries. For Roger Goodwill, the chair of the biology department, success means seeing a picture of crab larva on the cover of the 2011 “Microscopic World” calendar, among other things.

Each year the presidency of the BYU–Hawaii Student Association gives a devotional message to all the students and faculty of BYUH. On November 30, Megan Weaver, Executive Vice President, Chase Carlston, Executive Vice President, and Nick Narayan, President, gave a message entitled “Tough Times Don’t Last, Tough People Do!”

The “taco truck” or Tacos Vicente has become a new favorite place to eat for the residents of Laie and the entire North Shore. Tacos Vicente is an authentic Mexican restaurant-on-wheels founded by Axel Diaz and Ryan Hitz, both students at Brigham Young University–Hawaii.

The Laie Hawaii Temple was rededicated on November 21, 2010, following an extended renovation. Several media sources covered the three-week public open house, a large cultural celebration which included more than 2,000 youth from Hawaii, and the actual rededication.

Sister Lupe Piena, director of International Student Services, invited students and faculty to be “in” the world but not “of” the world, at a weekly devotional on November 16.

From tutoring and peer mediation to rainforest restoration and elementary school gardens, BYU–Hawaii students gain practical experience through a wide variety of service learning projects. In IT 224, practical experience comes in the form of computer repair workshops targeted toward helping community members with their hardware and software challenges. The idea of the workshops came from the combined efforts of Tim Stanley and Paul Lupeitu’u, who now teaches the class. Lupetu’u, Information Security Officer, says that he wanted students to learn in situations “where they will get used to what they will be faced with after they graduate.” The class hosts the workshops two weeks at a time during the semester, and the upcoming workshops will mark the 11th semester for this service learning project. The workshops will take place at BYU–Hawaii by appointment Monday-Wednesday, November 15-17 and November 22-24, 2010. According to Chase Miller, a former IT student, the workshops have been a great help to community members in the past. He relates that at a past workshop, “We were able to recover everything from the hard drive of a community member who assumed that all of her family pictures were lost forever. We extracted all of her data and helped her find an appropriate way to back up her information.”

Former BYU-Hawaii professor Steven Harper, addressed students and faculty on the topic of repentance and relating it to Joseph Smith. “I wish to teach and testify of this doctrine by drawing on Joseph’s autobiographies, revelations, and teachings to tell the story of Joseph Smith and hearty repentance,” he said introducing his message.

“Talking about peace is not enough. Writing about peace is not enough. We have to go out and do peace,” urges Chad Ford, the director of the David O. McKay Center for Intercultural Understanding. The idea of the McKay Center originated from former BYU–Hawaii President Eric Shumway who felt that peace was something that was frequently discussed on campus, but students lacked the tools to actually make peace a reality. “I look at peace, not as a noun, but as a verb,” Ford explains. He encourages students in the Intercultural Peacebuilding (IPB) program to do the same.

As Edward D. Smith from the Presidents’ Leadership Council addressed BYU-Hawaii at a weekly devotion he told students and faculty that the things that matter most in life are strengthening our faith and testimony of the Savior, listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and being anxiously engaged in our earthly responsibilities.

“One of the fundamental things for every student to learn while they are on this campus is how to be an effective leader,” says Debbie Hippolite-Wright, vice president for Student Development & Services. “I think every student on the BYU–Hawaii campus needs to leave feeling they have explored that area of study and those [leadership] principles very well, before they return to their home countries.” Hippolite-Wright’s words exemplify a principle on which the BYU–Hawaii administration has placed a renewed focus: student leadership development. The result of that focus is an online leadership resource which has been under construction for the past year. The resource, called iLead and found at ilead.byuh.edu, was launched on November 1 of this year and is now available for use by BYU–Hawaii students and faculty.

“Is my education preparing me for my future?” This is the question Jim Ritchie, director of the Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, says is the basis for the Great Ideas Exchange held on campus on November 3-4, an event where students can share ideas and receive instruction on how to refine them to better prepare for their careers no matter their area of study.

BYU-Hawaii had the unique opportunity to hear from not only President Steven Wheelwright but also his daughter Melinda Brown and granddaughters Candace and Rachel.

Before Elder and Sister Cook left their mission serving here at BYU-Hawaii, students and faculty had an opportunity to hear Elder David Cook one last time before they moved to London where they have been called to serve as the first councilor and assistant matron in the London Temple.

Like most universities, BYU–Hawaii has experienced an increase in applications and corresponding enrollment during recent years. All students who come to BYU–Hawaii are fortunate to interact with other students from different cultural backgrounds, which is made possible through the University’s mission to serve students in Hawaii, the Pacific, Asia, and the U.S. mainland. As the number of youth from these areas interested in attending BYU–Hawaii continues to grow, the University has and will continue to create opportunities for more students to attend. Plans are in place to gradually admit more students over time, allowing for moderate growth. In so doing, the University will be more suited to fulfill the prophecy of David O. McKay that “from this school…will go men and women whose influence will be felt for good towards the establishment of peace internationally.”

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world," asserted 20th century philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. BYU-Hawaii Associate Professor of Religion Keith Lane quoted Wittgenstein as he addressed the students and faculty of BYU-Hawaii at this year's University Convocation. [Pictured above- BYU–Hawaii faculty members preparing to enter convocation]

With the rededication of the Laie Temple approaching, BYU-Hawaii listened to a devotional from the Laie Temple President, H. Ross Workman, on the topic of Sacred Places.

Upon driving around the Flag Circle into the entrance of Brigham Young University – Hawaii, the scene that captures the attention of most visitors is the grand mosaic depiction of President David O. McKay at the flag-raising ceremony of the local elementary school. The scene resonates in the hearts of all who understand the prophetic mission of the University. For Norman Burr, the sight brings back a humbling sense of accomplishment.