1981 to 2007: Highlights of 25 Years of Friendship
Brigham Young University Hawaii | Polynesian Cultural Center
People’s Republic of China
Since BYU-Hawaii was founded in 1955, the Chinese people have been an important part of the university. In 1921, founder David O. McKay, traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, and other Asian cities, before visiting Laie, Hawaii.
During his visit to Laie, he witnessed a flag raising ceremony that included a diversity of ethnic groups, including Chinese and other Asian people. Inspired by this event, he envisioned a school where students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds could learn together in peace.
Following the opening of mainland China in 1979, the university began exploring friendship opportunities. In 1981, the first group of mainland Chinese students arrived. Every year since, mainland Chinese students have studied on our campus.
This year, we celebrate the friendships which have been nurtured over the past 25 years through academic collaborations, exchanges, special programs, athletic exchanges, and internships.
Academics
1985 to present Asian Executive Management (AEM) Program initiated. (See photos; read more. )
2001-2004 Developing Traits of Thinking: A Video Ethnography of Four Chinese Elementary Mathematics Classes and A Video Ethnography of Three Chinese Language Classes. These teacher training videos were created cooperatively by BYU-Hawaii and Beijing Normal University, and initially published by Beijing Normal University Press in 2004. (See photo.)
2003 to present Research on Lifelong Education, an academic journal in Chinese initiated by Dr. Peter Chan of the BYU-Hawaii School of Education in cooperation with Hebei Normal University, Hebei Province. Current editor, XU Li, will visit the BYU-Hawaii campus in 2007. 30 issues have been published to date. It has been positively received by thousands of educators, academics, and educational officials in Hebei and throughout China. (See photo.)
6-9 June 2005 9th Annual Global Chinese Conference on Computers in Education
This prestigious academic event was held at Brigham Young University Hawaii. Participants from all major universities in China and other Chinese communities included: Tsinghua, Peking, Beijing Normal, South China Normal, East China Normal, National Taiwan Central, National Taiwan Normal, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Chinese, Singapore National, Singapore Nanyang Technological. (See photos ; read more; more)
August 2006 Chinese Mentored Learning Initiative (Read more ; watch video)
A joint product of the Shenzhen Tourism College of Jinan University in Guangdong, China and BYU-Hawaii, under the direction of professors Dr. Ronald M. Miller, BYU-Hawaii, and Dr. LI Wenli, Shenzhen Tourism College of Jinan University.
July 2006 BYU-Hawaii group spends four weeks studying Mandarin in Shanghai, plus a week visiting historic Beijing sites. (Read more; see photos)
2002-present Chinese International Conference on Teacher Education.
In 2000, Peter Chan helped facilitate this conference which began with BYU in Provo, UT as a collaboration with Beijing Normal University. BYU-Hawaii joined the conference in 2002. Educators representing every province in China have received training as part of the conference and continue to benefit afterwards though follow-up academic activities.
Athletics2002 BYU-Hawaii basketball coaches, Ken Wagner and Brandyn Akana, visited the People’s Republic of China to conduct clinics and invite teams to participate in BYU-Hawaii’s annual Asia-Pacific Basketball Tournament. (See photos. )
2002 to present Annual Asia-Pacific Basketball Tournament (See photos.)
2003 Brandyn Akana, BYU-Hawaii assistant basketball coach, and his brother, JarinAkana, Denver Nuggets assistant coach, work with Fei and the Chinese National Team to prepare for the 2004 Summer Olympics.
August 2004 BYU-Hawaii men’s basketball team spends 11 days in People’s Republic of China playing basketball with the best teams in China. (Read more.)
12-25 November 2006 China University Basketball Association (Read more; see photos.)
10 university basketball coaches participated in this CITO training for basketball coaching and team management.
Summer 2007 Basketball Academy
A one week basketball camp for players from high schools in China, sponsored by CITO. 200 basketball players from high schools in China participated in this event sponsored by China University Basketball Association in China.
April 2007 Jing Jing Liu, from Changsha, China, a First-Team All-American this past season for the third consecutive season, was honored as BYU-Hawaii Seasider women's athlete of the year. (Read more ; see photos. )
Special Visitors | CITO Workshops 1984 to present Over the past 25 years many important, high ranking Chinese officials have visited BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center. Among them were: Premier Zhao Ziyang, Premier Li Peng, Vice Premier, Li Lanqing, and Vice Minister of Culture Wu. (See photos. )
1997 Aloha ESL established. Over 500 Chinese students have been taught English through this CITO program co-sponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. (See photos. )
16 February – 5 March 2003 Tourism Management Training. 12 senior managers from China CYTS Tours Holding Co., Ltd participated in this intensive training for travel industry executives hosted by CITO at BYU-Hawaii. (See photo.)
July 2005 Hawaii state delegation led by Governor Linda Lingle visits People's Republic of China. President Eric B. Shumway, BYU-Hawaii, and President Von Orgill, Polynesian cultural center accompanied the delegation. (Read more.)
11-13 November 2006 Intercollegiate Academic Exchanges
Established to promote intercollegiate academic exchanges, 2 vice presidents and 3 deans from Guizhou University for Nationalities participated in this CITO program.
29 November 2006 Dr. Li Yining, considered the foremost economist in the People’s Republic of China addressed BYU-Hawaii students in the Aloha Center Ballroom. (See photos; read story. )
15-21 January 2007 Workshops for Chinese elementary school principals: a CITO sponsored exchange program to assist Chinese elementary school principals in gaining more advanced knowledge and skills in education administration. 12 elementary school principals participated in cooperation with Beijing Normal University. (See photos. )