The new BYUHSA presidency is now in place and working hard to better the school. Alma Fonua, senior in international business management from Utah, is the new president. He ran for the presidency because, "it was almost like I was prepared for this position. I kind of felt like I was almost obligated, like I needed to reach out to more people on a wider scale." Now he’s working toward accomplishing the promise of 'peace by piece' he made during his candidacy. According to Fonua, "It is about helping others and going forth to serve and fulfilling the prophecy. But we also wanted to focus also on the individual person, how you can grow individually and fulfill your own potential in becoming more like your Heavenly Father."
Fonua's running mate and executive vice president is Emily Judson, senior in TESOL from Utah. She wasn't planning on getting involved in student politics when Fonua asked her to run with him, but after much thought and prayer "the more right it felt," she said. She expressed that during her tenure as VP, "one of the things we want to accomplish is just helping the students feel more motivated to serve while they're here. That's probably one of our biggest goals, is service and helping people be more excited about serving." (Pictured above: back row, left to right: Mike Bay, James Sinkovic, Juan Gomez, Marc Bacera, and Rodrigo Alvarez Cruz; front row, left to right: Roger Brown, Keola Harrison, Alma Fonua, Emily Judson, and Lanu Vaiaogo)
Under the new system, there are two executive VPs. That second position is now filled by Roger Brown, junior in international business from Oregon. Brown served BYUHSA last year in the volunteer position of an executive director, and applied to be in the presidency "to try and be a voice for the students." He wants to work on unity between students and administration; "We would like to try to improve the means of communication, both the students to administration, and also us to them. And make sure that there's an adequate amount of information, so nobody can ever say that they didn't know," said Brown.
The VP of Clubs and Organizations is Rodrigo Alvarez Cruz, senior in HTM from Mexico. After serving as president of the Latino Club for two years he saw some things that he wanted to change in BYUHSA, especially with the clubs. Now his goal is to "accomplish more unity between the clubs and BYUHSA, and to help the clubs have a great semester."
James Sinkovic, senior in international business management from California, is VP of Student Advisory Council. He's a former resident advisor in the Hales. He felt with his experience he had insight into the issues and concerns that many of the students of BYU–Hawaii have. Sinkovic said, "I want to get students more involved in creating a change here at BYU–Hawaii. And making sure they know that their voice is as important as anyone else here on campus."
Another former volunteer for BYUHSA is the new VP of student honors, Juan Gomez, junior in accounting from Ecuador. He said, "I want to raise the vision of the students regarding dressing and grooming standards. I just want to help them to come up to that level with their spirituality, and just keep having that spirit that we've had on campus." If he could deliver a message to the students of BYU–Hawaii, it would be to "let the students know that as they get involved, we can accomplish a lot of things, so let's get involved and help out."
"I love BYU–Hawaii so much," is the reason Marc Bacera, senior in accounting from the Philippines, became VP of special events. He added, "And if you get yourselves involved, you will have a greater experience. You'll love it so much more. So get involved, join clubs, go to activities, if you have talent, we're going to make some special events just for you, so get involved."
Originally, Mike Bay, junior in social work from Utah ran as Micah Tuala's executive VP, but now he's serving as the VP of Publicity. "I hope to be able to help the students know what's going on, not only with activities, but also within the school with administration, and with the Student Advisory Council. My job is to publicize anything that is going on. So my hope is that the students will know what's going on instead of being in the dark."
Most of Lanu Vaiaogo's family graduated from BYU–Hawaii. The senior in ITM from Samoa has had a great experience here, and so in an effort to give back, she's become the VP of social activities. She said, "Since my area is in social activities, I just want to make sure that we hold activities every week. On weekends, there's nothing to do here [in Laie], and I always wonder if the school's doing something. So we want to hold an activity every week, either during the weekend or midweek. And feedback from the students to me is welcome. Their opinions are valued."
Keola Harrison, senior in music and from the Big Island, applied last minute for VP of service because she just kept thinking about it, and really felt she should. Her main project is the new service center modeled after the BYU Y Serve. Harrison said, "There are going to be a lot of changes. We hope to accomplish motivating students individually to serve and make sure it's part of their everyday life instead of a once in a while thing. And redefining people's idea of service, making something they want to do because they love Heavenly Father instead of something they do just because it's a commandment."
Hopefully, with their mutual love for BYU–Hawaii and desire to serve, the new team at BYUHSA will be able to accomplish the best for this school. If you share their desire, or just want to stay updated on BYUHSA events, join their group on Facebook.
--Photo by Monique Saenz