BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway urged students, faculty and staff in the first devotional address of 2004 to live so they are worthy of the promises, trust and church membership as they are among the "blessed few who partake of this wonderful enterprise."
Reminding the university family of President David O. McKay's "amazing prophecies" about BYU-Hawaii, President Shumway also focused on the admonitions and warnings that accompanied them:
"All of us here today are part of the sweep of those prophecies â¿¿ our lives and our sacred honor," he said. "As in the case of most prophetic promises, the fulfillment thereof is based upon the worthiness and the righteousness of those who attend this school, those who teach and work here, and those who graduate from here."
"For example, a burning testimony of the gospel is an expectation, even a condition of employment at this campus," President Shumway continued. "Elsewhere, President McKay and other prophets have confirmed that every subject taught on this campus should be studied under the lamp of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."
"They all confirm that students on this campus should have an unmistakable guarantee that their teachers are loyal to the Church and have an abiding, life-directing testimony that Jesus Christ is at the head of the Church, that his prophets and apostles direct the affairs of the kingdom of God under his guidance and inspiration."
President Shumway reminded the audience that when President McKay dedicated the university's new physical plant in 1958, he also left an important message for the single students: "To me the most impressive, satisfying thing in all the world is a group of [young men and women] inspired with the determination so to live as to be worthy and true to their future spouses," the prophet said.
"Brothers and sisters, the law of chastity that President McKay speaks about is a fundamental principle of happiness," President Shumway said. "It is a principle of order and stability and sacred honor for both men and women. Chastity also includes the protection of the mind from the images and the language of pornography."
He added, "one of the most important allies of chastity is modesty, particularly modesty in our daily dress, as prescribed by the BYU-Hawaii Honor Code. Of course, the honor code covers an important spectrum of gospel standards, total honesty and fairness. There is a strong prohibition against smoking, drinking, gambling, kava parties, violence, drugs, sexual relations outside of marriage, the viewing of pornography. If these are your unrepented vices, then BYU-Hawaii is not for you."
President Shumway chose to be even more explicit, using photos to show that "boys who let their hair hang over their ears and collar, sport little tufts of beard under their lip or chin, hang out with four days growth of beard, or let their baggy pants hang low almost to the 'fall off' position," are not in standards. And "young women enamored with the fashion which features hip-hugging pants and skirts with the blouse coming just barely down to the belt, this is out of standards and is not be allowed on campus."
"Also let me remind everyone that when you sign the code of honor to attend BYU-Hawaii, that means you are on your honor to keep these standards on campus and off campus," he said. "Occasionally we see a few students â¿¿ men and women â¿¿ in short-shorts with tank tops and backpacks on their way to Honolulu. Apparently they think that the dress standard is only for campus. That is not true."
"Unfortunately also, there are a number of campus coeds who have made a reputation as the BYU-Hawaii bikini girls. Bikinis are a violation of Church standards and the BYU-Hawaii honor code, or any kind of swimwear that accentuates and reveals the body in inappropriate ways, whether you are male or female."
Consequently, President Shumway asked all departments, counselors, academic advisors and University offices to politely not serve students, if it is clear those students are out of standards. "Even first-time violators should be reported to the Honor Code office, again when it is clear that they fully understand the standards but simply violated them. A second confirmed violation will generally mean suspension from school."
President Shumway emphasized that the standards apply to everyone on campus. "Otherwise, I believe, we make a mockery of our standards and violate the trust that prophets, seers, and revelators, and the Savior himself have placed upon us as we partake of this wonderful environment which has been blessed so much from the tithing dollars of the Church and has been given so much of the confidence of our Brethren."
He said that he is convinced "the vast majority of our young people, men and women, want to live the standards of the Gospel. You want to be worthy Latter-day Saints. You want to be set apart from the world in the sense that your standards, your morality, your commitment, and your love of the Lord will reflect in what you say, in what you do, in how you treat others, how you support the standards of the Church and our living prophets. Surely we must all be the best we can be."
"I testify, brothers and sisters, that as the Church is the only true and living church on the face of the earth and an instrument of profound good in the world, so is this campus at the heart of the Church's mission to train and prepare generations of men and women who will help advance the cause of Zion across the earth," President Shumway said.