The December 2004 Alumni eNewsletter contains:
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President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints fulfilled a 14-month-old wish when he returned to Laie on Saturday, December 11, to dedicate a $5.5 million beautification project on Hale La'a Blvd., which stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Laie Hawaii Temple.
At a special meeting in the Cannon Activities Center that afternoon, President Hinckley also dedicated the new front entrance to BYU-Hawaii, which includes a renovated "little circle" and McKay Building foyer, and major renovations in the Hawaii Temple Visitors Center.
"I have been coming to this part of the world now for some 45 years. I have been here many times," said President Hinckley, who indicated he was not speaking from any prepared notes. "There has been in my heart a great love for this place."
"I feel a tremendous sense of obligation. I'm now an old man," continued the 95-year-old prophet, "and I know that in the natural course of events it will not be long before I will pass on; and I anticipate that when that happens, I shall have the opportunity and the responsibility of meeting with President Joseph F. Smith, George Q. Cannon, Heber J. Grant and others of the brethren who have had such an effective influence concerning this area."
For example, Elder M. Russell Ballard, President Hinckley's traveling companion on this trip and a member of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, told of how his great-grandfather, Joseph F. "Iosepa" Smith, who would eventually become the sixth president of the Church, first came to Hawaii as a 15-year-old missionary in 1854. In 1887 Elder Smith, then an apostle, encouraged the people of Laie not to get discouraged at the lack of water and the trying conditions, that the small town would eventually become a beautiful place.
"I have studied his life, and I can say to you, Joseph F. Smith grew up spiritually in the Hawaiian islands," Elder Ballard said. "So, as a family, we say thank you to Hawaii."
"The Church has been responsible for establishing here something we do not have anywhere else in the world. We have in this beautiful area a temple of the Lord, a House of God; we have the BYU-Hawaii campus, and all those facilities here; we have a great tourist attraction, the Polynesian Cultural Center; and we have the Hawaii Reserves and other organizations that promote the growth and profitable use of this ground," President Hinckley said.
"I almost tremble when I think of going to meet these great men of the past and having them say to me, what have you done with our beloved Laie. I hope and pray, with all my heart, that what has been done has been done with the object of improvement, and not in any desire to make of this a so-called tourist trap."
President Hinckley added he hoped the improvements would enhance Laie's tradition of being a place where the Latter-day Saints and others can "find refuge from the noise, the conflict, distress [and] all the difficulties of modern living, here to find peace, here to commune with the Lord, here to enter into His sacred House and partake of the holy ordinances which are administered therein."
"For those of you who live here, let's make this a place of beauty," President Hinckley continued. "Let's keep it beautiful. Let us beautify our homes. Let peace and righteousness and goodness and faith garner our homes."
"May this be a place where all people — thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of people who travel up and down Kamehameha Highway — may slow down and look up this lovely street to the temple, and have come into their hearts some acknowledgement that this is a special place — a place of beauty, a place of faith, a place of God."
"The very name of the street we dedicate denotes 'sacred house, house of the Lord,' in the beautiful Hawaiian language."
"Mahalo, my beloved brothers and sisters," President Hinckley said before offering the dedicatory prayer, "and God bless you every one."
R. Eric Beaver, President & CEO of Hawaii Reserves, Inc., which manages approximately 7,000 acres of Church-affiliated land in Laie and oversaw the Hale La'a Blvd. Project, said, "The beauty of the project exceeds all of our expectations and sets a new aesthetic standard for Laie."
He explained eight "governing parameters helped found the design of this splendid improvement."
"First, it was important to extend the beauty, character and influence of the temple through the community, out to the highway, and into the water's edge," he said, adding that "while it is important to enter into the temple, it is equally important that the temple enters into us."
Other objectives included inviting visitors and kamaaina to the temple grounds, raise the aesthetic standards of the community. "Let this temple and the improvements that are dedicated today be the model for our own temples, whether they house our families or our spirits."
BYU-Hawaii President Eric B. Shumway said, "Similar to Hale La'a Blvd. and the temple, our new front entrance accentuates the David O. McKay Building foyer, which contains signature art pieces depicting the founding of the campus 50 years ago.
"The whole project is a gift from people who love the campus, generous friends and donors who want to participate in our golden jubilee celebration throughout 2005," he added. "They bore the full financial burden of the entire project."
Before the meeting, Elder Ralph L. Cottrell, Director of the Laie Hawaii Temple Visitors Center, explained the popular site, which attracts over 100,000 people a year, will reopen on January 22, 2005. Renovations there include several interactive displays — some designed especially for Asian visitors — that focus on families, genealogy, the Book of Mormon, and include the capability of showing large-format movies such as The Testaments, which is currently shown in off-hours at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
"I'm just thrilled with all the improvements," Elder Cottrell said. "It's going to be such a beautiful place and a tremendous experience. I firmly believe we're going to double the attendance we usually have in a year."
Earlier that morning, it seemed like a wave of electricity passed through the large crowd as the prophet entered the Cannon Activities Center to participate in December 2004 commencement exercises for 248 BYU-Hawaii graduates.
The latest BYU-Hawaii graduates represent 40 different majors. Forty percent, or 100 of them come from 30 different countries. The U.S. graduates come from 24 different states, with those from Hawaii claiming the high of 18 percent, followed by California, Utah, Washington and Oregon. Fifty-five percent of the graduates were women.
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President Hinckley shows the scripture he has carried with him ever since he prepared to serve as a young missionary. |
"I haven't had so much fun in a long time," President Hinckley joked with the audience before delivering his commencement speech. He added that he was subbing for Elder James E. Faust, who recently underwent surgery. "I told him to rest and recuperate, and I would do my best to take his place."
"Today, I wish to speak to you as an old friend. I realize that I am old," the 95-year-old prophet said. He based his commencement address on a scripture that he started carrying with him over 70 years ago as a young missionary: Be not afraid, only believe [Mark 5:36] — the Savior's response to the fearful ruler of the synagogue whose daughter he raised from the dead.
"I have carried these words with me through all of these many years. They have been a guide to me," he said, noting they have blessed him in making "momentous decisions that I have faced from time to time" and the "most important decision of my life, the marriage to my beloved companion of 67 years. They have sustained me in the loneliness that I have experienced since her passing. They have sustained me in the very perplexing and difficult decisions I have had to make in the years of my ministry as an officer of this Church."
For instance, President Hinckley said the decision to build the new 21,000-seat Conference Center in Salt Lake City, after counseling with other General Authorities, was based on the Savior's words. "The wisdom of that decision, I think, is now beyond question: After 137 years, we must of necessity close the Tabernacle on Temple Square for a period of time to strengthen it in many ways, while preserving its appearance, so that it may stand for years to come."
He added the same scripture has helped him "in a hundred other decisions of great import. "If we are to move forward to accomplish that which the Lord expects of us, we must walk by faith," President Hinckley stressed to the graduates.
"We can see only so far ahead. Our vision beyond this point must be a vision of faith," he continued. "And so to you young men and women who are leaving this institution today to move out into the larger world, I say as you do so, be not afraid, only believe."
The prophet then listed seven other principles that will help the graduates in their respective journeys.
"Believe in your capacity. Believe in yourself. Believe that you can do great and good things," he said. "You're a child of God, of infinite capacity. Opportunities will unfold and open for you."
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"Believe in your companion. No other factor will make such a difference in your life as the companion you marry. Choose wisely, deliberately and carefully," he said, noting the "tremendous influence" his wife had on him and their children. "Long after they had left our home, they would telephone regularly. If I answered the phone, they would say, 'Hi, dad, is mother there?'"
"Choose wisely, and then do everything you can to magnify and strengthen your companion," President Hinckley said.
"Believe in your associates," he continued. "Sometimes are associations are not the happiest, but we can improve the matter if we return good for evil at all times."
"Believe in the Church of which you are a member: This is God's holy work," President Hinckley said. "The Church is perfect, but it is made up of imperfect individuals. Never let the actions of another destroy your faith in this grand and marvelous work. Accept the responsibilities you're given, and execute them with faith and diligence."
"Believe in the prophet, Joseph Smith. Read the Book of Mormon again and again."
"Believe in prayer. No matter your capacity, no matter your ability, you need help beyond your own. That help will come if you get on your knees and plead with the Lord for strength and guidance. We all need the humility that leads to prayer."
"Finally, believe in God, your Eternal Father, and in His Beloved Son, your Redeemer," President Hinckley said. "What a marvelous and wonderful blessing it is to know that we are His children, that He loves us, that He will listen to us, and that He will bless us."
"As you face the future, as you leave here to step out into the world," President Hinckley concluded, "be not afraid, only believe."
Earlier in the program the valedictorian, Celestine Selvaragu, an accounting major from Malaysia, said that BYU-Hawaii "has been a very special place" for all of the graduates. "It has been home for us."
Also as part of commencement, the university bestowed its Distinguished Service Award on Theresa Kalama Bigbie ('58, Education), who recently retired as associate dean of Continuing Education (now CITO). In addition to her work at BYU-Hawaii, where she enrolled in 1956, Bigbie served as president of the Laie Community Association for 10 years, is a member of the Laie Government Relations Committee, the Malama Ohana Council, serves on the Hawaii Reserves, Inc. board of directors, and more recently founded the nonprofit Laie Community Foundation.
New Zealand alum speaks at luau banquet
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Keung |
Stephen Keung ('82, Accounting), who went on from Laie to earn a master's degree in accounting at Provo and later became a CPA, was the featured alumni speaker at the annual luau banquet on December 9.
Keung told the graduates and their families he was "grateful for the Savior, even Jesus Christ, who has blessed me, and held me, and extended me beyond my own personal capacities. I have been and continue to be stretched and pulled, and the only thing that has carried me through these times is a deep, abiding faith that Heavenly Father is in control."
"I stand ready to cast into the Bishop's Storehouse what little I have for the benefit of the Church and the Kingdom of our Heavenly Father," he continued. "If you do not already know this, you will come to know of what I speak."
Keung cited D&C 37:4-5 in which the Lord told Sidney Rigdon, who was then acting as a scribe as Joseph Smith translated a portion of The Bible, He had "prepared thee for a greater work. Thou art blessed, for thou shalt do great things."
Keung noted the Lord also took Rigdon to task for not yet doing those great things. "The Lord has prepared me and you for a work," he said. "You may not know where you're going. You may not have a job all set, but the Lord is preparing you."
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Mosese Naeata ('70) and
his wife, Akanesi ('70) enjoyed the luau banquet. |
"Be receptive to heavenly promptings. Look to the divine," added Keung who worked for KPMG Peat Marwick in San Francisco after earning his master's, then returned to New Zealand in 1991 to work for Coopers & Lybrand. While back home, he also worked in Maori financial trust affairs and served as president of the Auckland Panmure Stake.
The Church recently drafted Keung and his wife, Cyndi ('79), to go to Australia where he is now the chief financial officer of AgReseves, Australia, Ltd., one of the largest farms "down under."
Jubilee calendars now available
The 2005 BYU-Hawaii Golden Jubilee commemorative calendars are now
available through the Alumni office.
Don't wait too long, if you're at all interested. Order your copy now by
sending a check (US$14) to BYU-Hawaii, University Advancement, Attention:
Golden Jubilee Calendar, 55-220 Kulanui St., Laie, HI 96762, USA.
Tennis, cross country coaches honored
The coaches of both the BYU-Hawaii tennis and cross country teams
have recently been recognized for their work.
The U.S. Tennis Association and the Intercollegiate Tennis Associated has named BYU-Hawaii tennis coach, Dr. Dave Porter, a sectional winner of their community service award for "significant contributions in developing community-based tennis programs through community centers, schools, parks, community tennis associations, inner city, suburban, or rural programs."
Those efforts include providing court time and practice help
for Kahuku High School, which has no courts of its own, donating used equipment
to three different elementary schools, organizing an on-campus tennis club
at BYU-Hawaii, conducting a Developmental Coaches workshop, providing courts
for a local elementary school's fourth grade class for an introduction to
tennis program, and
several other community activities.
The Seasiders have won nine national championships under Coach Porter.
Norman "Coach K" Kaluhiokalani ('70, Physical education) was named the Pacific West Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year, in part for coaching both Seasiders' cross-country teams to conference championships this year in Billings, Montana. Coach K started the BYU-Hawaii cross-country programs and has been at the helm of one or both teams for 28 years.
This was the inaugural year for the PacWest cross-country championship. Seasider Chelsea Smith ('04, Biological Sciences) won back-to-back national individual titles under Coach K's tutelage the past two years.
Seasider hoopsters rise in rankings
The BYU-Hawaii men's basketball team moved up to 12th place in the
latest National Association of Basketball Coaches poll, matching the team's
highest ranking since moving from the NAIA to the NCAA II. The team was last
ranked 12th in the final 2002-03 regular season poll.
1950s & 60s
Glenna Lee Couts ('59, English), an equipment company sales manager in Honolulu, writes: "My years at CCH left me with the beginnings of a testimony, as I had just joined the Church. I also gained a love for learning, for the arts and for music."
Peggy Lee Graham ('63) who is retired and lives in Woods Cross, Utah, writes: "I spent three of the most fulfilling years of my life at CCH, 61-63. I needed to come there to learn that I was born a 'misplaced Polynesian.' The impact of that blessing has eternal ramifications. In the six years that I served as stake Relief Society president in the Woods Cross East Stake, we had a wonderful Samoan ward (Vaiola). I was immediately loved and accepted by these wonderful sisters, as I understood and loved them with a deep unconditional love. My Heavenly Father must love me very much to have allowed me to renew my Polynesian roots with Vaiola. I would attend CCH/BYUH again in a heartbeat. It's one of the treasured blessings in my life. My husband [Gordon Graham] and I return every year or two, because I'm always homesick for my roots there."
1970s
Roy Harker ('73) writes: "I really enjoy hearing about BYUH through the Alumni Newsletter. Laie is like home to me even though most of the people I knew have moved on. Just thought I would let you know that I foolishly took an early retirement from teaching in Alberta last June and then suddenly this fall, we found ourselves on an adventure in Japan teaching English through a private school. We are on the island of Shikoku which is south of Honshu (Osaka) and east of Kyushu (Fukuoka). We are a part of a small branch with about 50-60 people attending each week and about 12 American and Canadian teachers included. We are treated well by the branch members and someone tries to translate for us each Sunday. We will remain here for about a year and then hope to tour Australia, New Zealand and some of Polynesia — especially Samoa [where Roy served his mission] — before returning to Canada for Christmas."
In memoriam: Taulauniu "Tau" Hunkin ('78) recently passed away at his home in American Samoa. Hunkin, who grew up in Laie, worked as a professional musician for many years.
1980s
Yoshihiko "Tony" Taniuchi ('81, TESL) and his wife, Hazeline Echivarre Taniuchi ('81, TESL) now live in Kobe, Japan.
Albert Peng Teik Toh ('84, Hotel and Restaurant Management), who manages the entrepreneurship center at the Temasek Polytechnic school in Singapore, writes he had "tremendous and wonderful experiences with the academic staff who always encouraged and shaped my ideas as well as attitudes. I would send my children to BYUH for a wholesome and eventful education, where school does not get in the way of education."
Tak Wong ('89), who came to BYU-Hawaii for a year before serving his mission in Singapore and Malaysia, is now a graduate student at BYU. "I love Hawaii, and hope I can come back to visit sometimes in future."
1990s
Cassie Woolley ('97, Computer Science) just had her second child and owns Suna Communications in Beenleigh, Queensland, Australia.
"BYU-Hawaii will always be a part of my life. Our family has been here in Laie for many generations. I don't have any plans of moving from Laie. I will forever be grateful for everything that BYU-Hawaii has done for me and my family," writes Jerusha Wallace Magalei ('98, Pacific Island Studies) — the daughter of "Uncle Bill" Wallace ('72, History) and BYU-Hawaii Maori language instructor Nihipora Kereama Wallace ('01) — teaches at a Hawaiian-values preschool in Punaluu. She and her husband, Pouli Magalei Jr. ('95) have four children.
Look for more in-depth comments about both Jerusha and Cassie under the "Genuine Gold" link of the revised Golden Jubilee web site that's under development.
Benjamin S. Thomas ('99, International Cultural Studies) and his wife, Emily Dyer Thomas ('99, English) now live in California where he's a student at Stanford Law School. "I love BYUH and I miss what I felt and the people that I knew," he writes.
2000s
Vika Niupalau ('00, International Business Management), now a teacher at Liahona Middle School in Tonga, writes: "I will always treasure the times spent at BYUH. Whenever I think of those days, I long to be with dear friends once again. I am longing to return back to where my spiritual, social, and intellectual life was nourished and nurtured. I LOVE THIS PLACE. What I miss the most is the aloha spirit that I felt when going to school."
Tomwa Tehumu ('00, Political Science) and his wife, Anami Raiati ('00) live on Christmas Island, Kiribati, where he works for the development ministry. "I learned the real meaning of independence and self-reliance at BYU-Hawaii, and gained great experience in a multicultural community."
Editor's Note: It was so special to have President Hinckley return to Laie to speak to the December 2004 graduates in the morning and then later that afternoon dedicate the various beautification projects. I hope the words above convey a portion of the spirit we all felt. While I don't know if President Hinckley will return again during our Golden Jubilee year in 2005, there's going to be lots of exciting things happening, so please stay tuned to the newsletter, BYU-Hawaii Magazine and the jubilee web site.
Finally, on behalf of the BYU-Hawaii University Advancement team, the Alumni Association staff and board of directors,
— Mike Foley ('70, TESL), Editor
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The BYU-Hawaii Alumni Newsletter is published by the University Advancement office, under the direction of Napua Baker ['59-61 and '70-72], Vice President; Rob Wakefield ['75, Asia/Pacific LTM], Director of Communications and Media Relations; and Rowena Reid ['76, Social Work], Alumni Association Director. Brigham Young University Hawaii Campus is a four-year comprehensive undergraduate institution sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. About 2,400 students from 70 nations are currently enrolled.
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