Mustapha El Akkari, Kesaia Kaufusi and John Fryhoff will take their positions as BYU–Hawaii Student Association (BYUHSA) President and Executive Vice Presidents for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year beginning April 16.
Mustapha El Akkari and Kesaia Kaufusi, better known as Kesa, plan to keep the students at BYU–Hawaii a top priority during their term as President and Executive Vice President at BYU–Hawaii. John Fryhoff recently joined the team as executive vice president. The president and the first executive vice president, following the general student body election, appoint a second executive vice president.
“What Kasa, John and I will do is listen to the students,” El Akkari says. “Whether they are from the mainland, Hawaii or international, whatever we are doing, we’re going to do for the students. And that’s our plan."
El Akkari is a business management (supply chain and finance) major from Lebanon and was recruited to BYU–Hawaii to play on the men’s basketball team. During his junior year he began working for BYUHSA on the Special Events committee. As his term came to an end he decided to run for BYUHSA President. When deciding who to run with he explains, “I wanted a return missionary; I wanted someone spiritual to run with me. We’re a great team in and out of the office.”
Kaufusi an accounting major from Tonga. She plans to go back to Tonga after graduating, get an internship, and then attend graduate school in New Zealand. Kaufusi has been student body president at her high school, Liahonoa High, in Tonga, and served a mission for the LDS Church in the Hawaii Honolulu mission. Helping her fellow students succeed is Kaufusi’s main drive for being involved in student leadership. “It is fun to serve and get to know the students,” says Kaufusi. “Mustapha is great, and John, our executive vice president, is amazing. I love working with both of them. I am excited for the future, and to work with BYUHSA.”
Fryhoff is majoring in hospitality and tourism management with an emphasis in human resources. He’s from St. Louis, Missouri. His plan is to get into general hotel management, work for a few years, then go back to school to get his MBA. He has previously been a vice president over Social Activities so has experience with BYUHSA. Fryhoff is getting married in May to his fiancée Cassie Fine in the Nauvoo Illinois temple. “I’m excited to be involved in BYUHSA again, to get to know the student body better and to do as much as I can to make a difference in this school.”