Campus Community

David Wu, a finance major from Hong Kong, recently outperformed approximately 1,200 students from 420 universities around the world, including California State University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and York University, in the Capsim Business Simulation Global Challenge, taking the 4th place of the worldwide competition.

Teaching English to speakers of other languages has been a natural core competency at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, the baccalaureate campus with the highest percentage of international students in the United States. Now that offering will continue to expand its global influence with the establishment of the new Center for English Language Learning at the university.

President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will be the speaker at the first worldwide devotional for young adults scheduled for 2016.

BYU–Hawaii student Jane-Lyn Scotty will find herself looking up a little more now when she passes by the university’s iconic Flag Circle at the campus main entrance. Jane is the first student from the island nation of Nauru, and on Wednesday, December 30, 2015, her country’s flag was added to fly alongside the 69 others at the Flag Circle. These flags are from the nations of the university’s international student body. With more than 1,000 international students, BYU–Hawaii is the most internationally diverse baccalaureate university in the United States. (Read the report in The Chronicle of Higher Education.)

The BYU-Hawaii Political Science department coordinated the university's first study abroad program this summer, sending students to Thailand to apply classroom learning through internships and research. The program was largely funded through the generosity of the Yamagata Family Foundation,* a foundation which enables many BYU–Hawaii students to gain valuable learning opportunities and life experiences through sponsored internships.

Brigham Young University–Hawaii today announced the establishment of a new Center for Hospitality and Tourism at the university. The interdisciplinary Center is housed in the College of Business, Computing and Government and will be instrumental in fulfilling the growth-oriented goals of the Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) academic program: Academic Enhancement, Program Expansion, and Industry Engagement.

John S. Tanner was officially inaugurated as the tenth president of BYU–Hawaii by President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, on Tuesday, November 10, 2015. President Eyring presided over the meeting which was conducted by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Other speakers included Elder Kim B. Clark, of the Seventy and Commissioner of Education, and representatives of faculty, alumni and students.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, addressed graduates at the BYU-Hawaii commencement ceremony in Laie, Hawaii. His visit also included a fireside in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary celebration of the LDS Church in Laie, as well as a rededication ceremony for the recently refurbished dormitories on BYUH campus.

John S. Tanner will be installed as BYU–Hawaii’s 10th president during a devotional assembly on Tuesday, November 10, at 10 a.m., in the Cannon Activities Center.

Johannesburg – South Africa.

Laie, Hawaii – Elder D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will address Brigham Young University–Hawaii’s 223 graduates and their families at this Fall’s commencement ceremony held on Monday, November 2, 2015, at 9:30 AM (HT) in the Cannon Activities Center.

Al Doan ’08, is changing the face of his community in Hamilton, Missouri, with his family-based quilting business. Doan, who graduated with a degree in information systems and a minor in political science, was recently recognized by the Small Business Association with the 2015 Small Business Persons of the Year Award, for his fast growing and successful family company, the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

The study of law can be daunting. But now students at BYU–Hawaii can have an edge with the recently addition of the Legal Studies program and a certificate to go with their major. Students enrolled in the program can earn a 15-credit Legal Studies Certificate which they can complete by finishing courses in areas such as legal research and writing, international legal drafting and transactions, and comparative law.