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The BYUH President's Council as well as the Honolulu Chief of Police have approved a new location for the university's parking decals. In years past, BYUH Security procedures stipulated that parking stickers should be placed on the driver's side of the front bumper. Effective immediately, any newly issued university parking decals are to be affixed on the lower passenger side corner of vehicle front windshields. Previously issued decals affixed on the bumper will still be honored until the decal expires.

After nine months of service and many gifts given to BYU-Hawaii, Stephen and Bette Gibson have returned to their home in Provo, Utah and positions at the BYU campus there. During their short time here, the Gibsons served as volunteers, instructors, mentors and, as always, entrepreneurs.

Following a comprehensive, multi-stage review process over the past two years, the Western Association of Schools & Colleges (WASC) has reaffirmed Brigham Young University Hawaii's accreditation for the next 10 years.

Elder Stephen Peterson, president of the Hawaii Honolulu Mission, and his wife, Sister Cathy Peterson, expressed their excitement and gratitude at the opportunity to speak, in tandem, at a BYU Hawaii devotional. The message they shared was that of the mission motto:

Aloha Center rooms 155 and 165 were filled with need-to-know legal displays, posters, handouts, and reminders; all nicely complimented with a centerpiece filled with a wide array of elegant fruits. Savanna Dilts, graduate intern, and BYU-Hawaii supervising compliance auditor, orchestrated this year's compliance fair of speakers and presentations. Four different speakers addressed pertinent legal issues directed to university staff, faculty and students about how to be in compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and in copyright and safety law. Dilts invited all faculty, staff and students to learn and know their personal rights under the law.

The Polynesian Cultural Center offered free admission to Hawaii kamaaina, or resident families, Saturday, June 28, to celebrate the public dedication of the its Halau Wa’a O Iosepa, the new home of BYU-Hawaii’s 57-foot traditional style double-hulled canoe. Hawaii residents who attended enjoyed a cultural presentation, hula performances and a free concert by local musician Willie K.

Elder Stephen Biddulph, Service Missionary for BYU-Hawaii’s Counseling Services, delivered a devotional address in the McKay Auditorium on July 1 in which he taught the students to use trying experiences and sacrifice as a way to shape their souls and strengthen their testimonies.

Ryan Anderson | University Advancement | 27 June 2008

With deep emotion, an ailing William K. "Uncle Bill" Wallace III [pictured at right, below], director of the BYUH Hawaiian Studies program, chanted a tale from his birth island of Molokai on June 25 and thanked those who made the construction of the Halau Wa'a O Iosepa — new home of the University's 57-foot traditional twin-hulled Hawaiian voyaging canoe, Iosepa — in the Polynesian Cultural Center's Hawaiian village possible.

Bedecked with beautiful lei and a floral headband, BYU-Hawaii Vice President of University Advancement V. Napua Baker [pictured at left] looked a little wistful as she left a reception in honor of her retiring from the University after 27 years of service — the last 17 of them as the first female and first known Hawaiian or Polynesian vice president in the Church Educational System.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles [pictured at left] admonished the 235 new BYU-Hawaii graduate candidates gathered in front of faculty, family and friends in the Cannon Activities Center this morning, "Don't be a slave."

As their leadership over BYU-Hawaii Student Activities comes to an end, William “Kaj” Kellgreen, President, and Cassandra Fa’amuli, Executive Vice President, addressed the students at the weekly devotional on June 17 and encouraged them to “be anxiously engaged in a good a cause.”

BYU-Hawaii’s 76th class, which will walk Saturday, June 21, includes 235 candidates for graduation. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Roger G. Christensen, Assistant to the Commissioner of the Church Educational System and Abigail Guzman, Political Science major from Nelson, New Zealand, will speak at the upcoming commencement ceremony.

BYU-Hawaii faculty and staff filled the McKay Auditorium on June 12 to hear the President's Council and Organizational Design Team outline the details of realigning all University functions and activities under President Steven C. Wheelwright [pictured at left], the Assistant to the President, and three vice presidents between now and the beginning of Fall Semester.

When they weren’t juggling homework, part-time jobs, church activities, and social lives, five BYU-Hawaii students devoted significant efforts recently to participate in the Polynesian Cultural Center’s 16th annual World Fireknife Championships.

Ten BYU-Hawaii political science majors went on a weeklong trip to the nation’s capital, from March 22-29, with Dr. Troy Smith, Associate Professor in Political Science, to develop possible job and internship opportunities and gain a “real, practical experience in a political setting.”

BYU-Hawaii President Steven C. Wheelwright announced on June 12 that Dr. Debbie Hippolite Wright, LCSW, Ph.D. [pictured at left], will become the new Vice President for Student Development and Services. Dr. Hippolite Wright, who is currently an LDS Family Services Clinical Supervisor in West Valley, Utah, will assume her new position on July 7.

Examples of miracles, small and large, and stories from the scriptures helped Arapata Meha, Dean of Records and Admissions at BYU-Hawaii, to teach students in his June 10 devotional address that “with God, nothing is impossible.”