XI'AN, Shaanxi, China — Over 20 BYU-Hawaii alumni now living here expressed their aloha and embraced members of the visiting BYU-Hawaii Concert Choir during a special musical social that was held the first evening the group arrived in China's ancient capital.
The choir has scheduled performances in Urumqi, Xi'an, Beijing, Tianjin and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, between May 7-29, 2007, to mark the completion of 25 years of friendship with the People's Republic of China. Many of the alumni at the social participated in the joint BYU-Hawaii/Polynesian Cultural Center Asian Executive Management intern training program.
"We are deeply grateful for this reunion," President Shumway told the alumni, many of whom helped facilitate and make arrangements for the concert tour. "Tonight is a reunion of alumni and friends who, over the years, have created a special bond that is like a family, because BYU-Hawaii is a special place in the world."
He explained BYUH has "an international mission that was forged in the very beginning by the founder of the school, who was President David O. McKay. I want you former interns to remember this, because you are part of this. Wherever you go in the world, you're still part of the BYU-Hawaii family."
"The choir you will hear represents the excellence of the campus," he said, noting that their concert the previous evening in Urumqi, Xinjiang, "was absolutely stunning."
"BYU-Hawaii is unique in education because of its relationship with the Polynesian Cultural Center. We have a university and a first-rate business and cultural center where the students of one work in the other, so the Polynesian Cultural Center becomes an extension of the campus...where the students learn customer service and the kind of leadership that creates patience and love, even when things get difficult in a business sense."
"That combination, plus what we call the aloha spirit, makes the campus unique," President Shumway continued. "The aloha spirit is really the love of one human being to another. It is love without ulterior motive, a desire to make people feel comfortable, a desire to make things run smoothly and a desire to create joy and happiness in our hearts. That's one of the great blessings of BYU-Hawaii."
After tracing some of the key components of the relationship between the university and China, President Shumway said, "In the end, the most important thing BYU-Hawaii can and will do is to produce graduates who fulfill the original mission [of the university that President McKay] stated in the beginning: From this school will go forth men and women whose influence for good toward the establishment of peace will be felt internationally."
Haitao "Herod" Zhang with the China Friendship Association of Shaanxi Province, responded on behalf of his fellow Asian Executive Management alumni in Xi'an by noting that "some of them have become leaders" and others have become successful "because of this program."
"I have a passion," he added about his willingness to help young students in Xi'an with their English. He also explained that Xi'an has approximately 500,000 students in over 70 universities. The next day, in fact, the BYUH choir members also participated in an "English corner" activity with their counterparts at Shaanxi Normal University.
Also speaking on behalf of the alumni, Susan Hong Juan Yao of the Shaanxi Province Foreign Affairs Office of International Goodwill Exchange, said, "I want to tell you how much I appreciate the opportunity of studying at BYU-Hawaii and the PCC between 1996-97. My experiences changed me a lot...and it was a wonderful experience."
Yao also spoke of having the opportunity at BYU-Hawaii of studying piano "for the first time in my life. That was unthinkable at any university in China. When I came back, I taught my husband to play some songs I learned at BYUH, and now my daughter can play wonderfully. So, I feel very excited today to have the BYU-Hawaii choir here in Xi'an."
Before the choir shared several numbers, including their Polynesian and Chinese songs, music professor Michael Belnap, who directs the 62-voice group, told of a preliminary visit he made to Xi'an in preparation for the tour: "I saw the deep abiding beauty and aloha spirit in you, which made me want to bring the choir here."
After the social, Napua Baker, Vice President of University Advancement, pointed out that Will Liuzhao Quan "is the key contact for Asian Executive Management alumni in Xi'an [phone 86-29-87420975, 011-86-13609113433 or lewill@hotmail.com]. We had a wonderful reunion with them."
— Photos by Monique Saenz: (Upper): "Uncle" John Muaina, Vice President of Human Resources at the PCC who oversees the Asian Executive Management program, embraces one of the alumni; (lower): the AEM Xi'an alumni who came to the social. There are about 60 BYU-Hawaii alumni currently living in Xi'an.
