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For the eighth consecutive year U.S. News and World Report Magazine has ranked BYU-Hawaii among the top tier of best comprehensive bachelor's schools in the western United States in several categories of its 2007 edition of "America's Best Colleges" survey.

Read coverage in the Honolulu Star Bulletin BYU-Hawaii placement reports in Star Bulletin

Eleven BYU-Hawaii students and alumni, accompanied by two International Cultural Studies professors and their respective families, recently returned to campus after spending four weeks studying intensive Mandarin in Shanghai and another week visiting historic sites in Beijing. One of the faculty members called the trip a "life-changing experience."

Star Bulletin tennis article

Staff Writer | University Advancement | 3 August 2006 The Performance Series at BYU-Hawaii presents Julie de Azevedo live in concert this Friday, August 4 at 7:30pm in the McKay Auditorium.

Coming from a long family legacy of musical excellence, Julie began her solo career in 1988 with her self-titled debut album. Since then, she has become an icon in the world of faith-centered music. Her lyrical finesse has placed her among the upper echelon of inspirational singers, evident in the number of Pearl Award she has received from the Faith Centered Music Association. Her projects have been featured in film, television, and radio.

Welcome back, new and returning BYU-Hawaii students. As the Winter 2007 semester begins, BYU-Hawaii Dean of Admissions Arapata Meha said the University will continue to maintain its current enrollment level of approximately 2,400 students — about half of them from more than 70 international countries, and the other half from Hawaii and the rest of the United States. "Japan and Korea have the largest number of international students on campus, and from the Pacific it's Fiji and Tonga. We also get occasional students from Europe, Africa and South America," said Meha, a BYU-Hawaii alumnus originally from New Zealand. He pointed out the number of international students may actually be a little lower than average due to the largest-ever December graduation last month. "We had over 300 students graduate, and more than 50 percent of those were international." "This is a busy time of year for new international students, who often come right after Christmas," Meha continued. "All of them who don't speak English [as a native language] go through a battery of tests after they arrive. Those who do speak English meet with their academic advisors." Meha explained that some international students finish their secondary school year in November, so Winter Semester is a logical time for them to start at BYU-Hawaii. Others, he added, need extra time to secure visas, so they tend to enroll after Winter Semester. He also explained the number of international students coming to BYU-Hawaii under the work-study internship program is at capacity. "Approximately 500 of them work at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and the rest of them work on campus."

BYU-Hawaii Devotionals & Speeches

BYU-Hawaii Devotionals & Speeches

The Performance Series of BYU-Hawaii is featuring the Laughing Samoans comedy team Tuesday, July 18, at 8:00 p.m in the Cannon Activities Center.

Eteuati Ete and Tofiga Fepulea'i have grown up together as members of the Wellington EFKS (Samoan Congregational Christian) church where Ete's father was and is still the minister and Tofiga's father now a lay preacher.

However it wasn’t until Ete went to perform his "Laughing with Samoans" show and invited Tofiga to open and MC for him that this unique combination was forged.

With Ete one of the elder statesmen of Pacific Island comedy and Tofiga one of it's brightest young stars, the Laughing Samoans appeal to people of all ages. Their comedy refreshingly, is always clean and showcases their musical and acting talents.

Laie Days '06 Schedule

BYU-Hawaii Devotionals & Speeches

Mike Foley | University Advancement | 26 June 2006 Elder Richard G. Scott, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, used the "hallowed greeting, aloha," during the June 24 commencement to teach the nearly 300 BYU-Hawaii graduates five keys to success and happiness.

Speaking before an audience of over 3,000 in the Cannon Activities Center, Elder Scott told the new graduates they had "not only attained an outstanding secular education, but you have done it while meeting the highest standards of integrity and spirituality. Among graduating students in the world you are among that unique body that do so from our Church universities. Therefore, what we expect of you are future accomplishments far beyond those asked of a graduating class elsewhere."

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.

Mike Foley | University Advancement | 20 June 2006 BYU-Hawaii's Willes Center for International Entrepreneurship, the BYUH Center for Instructional Technology and Outreach (CITO), two alumni and the Church Employment Resource Services office in Makati City, the Philippines, are launching the university's first-ever beta testing of a high-level CD-ROM-based entrepreneurship course this summer.

Center Director Gregory V. Gibson, J.D., explained the CIE has been working with CITO for the past two years "to put together an exciting program that we've just rolled out on a limited test basis. It's a high-level college course — the same one we teach here on campus, where it's called Entrepreneurship for Non-Business Majors — and includes accounting, finance, entrepreneurship and marketing principles. We've basically put the course online and actually improved it," he said.

The BYU-Hawaii School of Business recently honored hospitality and tourism professor Bill Hsu as its faculty member of the year and Elder John Simcox, the school's former volunteer entrepreneur in residence, for his outstanding service.

Staff |University Advancement | 16 June 2006 Both the Brigham Young University Hawaii Shaka Steel Band and Concert Choir hold their spring concerts this weekend, June 16 and 17.

The Shaka Steel Band, under the direction of Darren Duerdon, will perform Friday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Aloha Center Ballroom. Shaka Steel is the university’s popular Steel Drum Band. Formed in 2001, the 15-member ensemble performs the lively, fast-paced music of the Caribbean and Latin America on steel drums or “pans,” native instruments of Trinidad, creating a totally tropical ambience with cool grooves, good vibes, and great entertainment.

Ten BYU-Hawaii members of SIFE, or the Students In Free Enterprise team, recently returned from Kansas City, Missouri, where they made strong impressions and placed in the top 40 at the organization's national competition.