 |
Contact:
Rob Wakefield
Director of Communications
808-293-3669 • 808-255-2954 (clr)
wakefier@byuh.edu
For General Release
BYU-Hawaii celebrates its 'Golden Jubilee' throughout 2005
LAIE, Hawaii — Brigham Young University Hawaii is celebrating its Golden Jubilee 50th anniversary throughout 2005 with a series of special events, exhibits, displays, symposia, concerts and a concentrated week of reunion activities from October 16-23.
President David O. McKay of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints founded the Church College of Hawaii here on February 12, 1955, and at that time predicted millions of people would eventually come to the small community. He initially envisioned the school, which was renamed BYU-Hawaii in 1974, during a 1921 visit which is depicted in a large mosaic mural above the foyer of the David O. McKay Building.
The theme of BYU-Hawaii's Golden Jubilee is "from this school," which refers to another part of President McKay's groundbreaking address, in which he said, "... from this school, I'll tell you, will go men and women whose influence will be felt for good towards the establishment of peace internationally."
In the 50 years since, BYU-Hawaii has developed into a four-year comprehensive undergraduate institution that consistently ranks among top U.S. universities for the value and quality of its approximately 40 academic majors. In the same time, the student body grew from 153 who met in temporary war-surplus buildings to 2,400 students, almost half of whom come from 70 different countries, making BYU-Hawaii the most international university per capita in America.
BYU-Hawaii also shares an unusual symbiotic relationship with the world-famous Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) that adjoins the campus and has drawn over 30 million visitors to Laie since it opened in October 1963: Approximately 700 PCC employees are BYU-Hawaii students working their way through school. Over 500 of the student employees from the Pacific islands and Asia participate in a unique work-study program that enables them to graduate debt-free.
Current BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway, who has been at the university for the past 38 years, said this year's celebration "is a very significant time for us to reminisce, and to say thank you to the men and women who have given their lives, talents, gifts of learning and teaching that have reached so many people throughout the world."
It's also a time to reflect on what remains to be done in the future, to say in our hearts that what has happened in the last 50 years is really a preface to what needs to be done in the future."
President Shumway added that Jubilee week events from October 16-23, 2005, will include a Gladys Knight concert, other special performances, art exhibits, a golf tournament, an alumni leadership conference, a VIP reception, a conference for major donors, a holoku ball, a BYU-Hawaii day at the Polynesian Cultural Center including an alumni show, a community parade and carnival, and an address by a leading Latter-day Saint General Authority.
###