Brigham Young University Hawai‘i, is a private co-educational university in the town of Lā‘ie thirty-five miles from Honolulu, Hawai‘i on the windward coast of the island of O‘ahu in the United States. Brigham Young University Hawaii is an undergraduate institution that educates some 2,400 students from Asia, the Pacific islands, the U.S., and other parts of the world, representing over 70 countries. A campus of the Brigham Young University System anchored in Provo, Utah, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i is affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and named after the American religious leader, colonist, first territorial governor of Utah and founder of Salt Lake City. One of the foremost institutions of Brigham Young University Hawai‘i is the Polynesian Cultural Center, the largest living museum in the State of Hawai‘i.

Establishment

The LDS Church was established in the islands in 1850 following the Edict of Toleration promulgated by Kamehameha III, giving the underground Hawai‘i Catholic Church the right to worship while at the same time allowing other faith traditions to begin establishing themselves.

Brigham Young University Hawai‘i was founded in September 1955 as Church College of Hawai‘i to accommodate the burgeoning LDS population in the Territory of Hawai‘i. The college was reorganized in 1959 to become a four-year college. LDS elders established the Polynesian Cultural Center in November 1963 as a means of preserving the Pacific cultures that the Latter-day Saints had encountered in their missionary work. The center also provided jobs for students of the college. In 1974, Church College of Hawai‘i was elevated to the rank of university by the Hawai‘i State Legislature and renamed.

Athletics

BYUH competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division (NCAA) Division II as a member of the Pacific West Conference. The team name is the Seasiders, they compete in Men's Basketball, Men's & Women's

Historical Highlights

brief history of Brigham Young University Hawaii and related events.

April 6, 1830 Joseph Smith Jr. and five others incorporate The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York.

May 11, 1843 Joseph Smith Jr. sends four Latter-day Saint (LDS) missionaries from Nauvoo, Illinois, to the Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands).

May 1, 1844 After almost seven months at sea and one death, the surviving missionaries arrive in Tubuai (now a part of French Polynesia) and decide to remain in that area.

September 25, 1850 LDS Church leaders send 10 missionaries from the o the Polynesian Cultural Center, performs at the Kaiser Dome in Waikiki.

February 23, 1961The Western Association of Schools and Colleges grants full four-year accreditation to CCH.

June 3, 1961 Church College of Hawaii awards its first bachelors degrees to 76 graduates.

Early 1962 Labor missionaries begin construction on the Polynesian Cultural Center.

February 19, 1963CCH President Richard T. Wootton presents the first annual David O. McKay lecture.

October 12, 1963 With over 1,000 people in attendance, President Hugh B. Brown of the LDS Church's First Presidency dedicates the Polynesian Cultural Center.

August 2, 1964Dr. Owen J. Cook arrives on campus as the third president of CCH.

October 1964 PCC attendance in its first year of operation reaches 175,000.

January 1968The Los Angeles Rugby Union declares the CCH Rugby Team as the number one ranked team in the nation.

February 17, 1969The Asia-Pacific Language Training Mission opens on campus to teach outbound missionaries Asian and Polynesian languages.

May 15, 1969CCH awards its first Honorary Doctorate degree to Edward L. Clissold for his valuable contributions to the Church in Hawaii and Japan.

February 11, 1972Dr. Stephen L. Brower is inaugurated as the fourth president of CCH.

January 26, 1973Elder Marion G. Romney dedicates the Aloha Center and states that CCH is a "living laboratory" for developing appreciation, tolerance, and esteem for one another.

April 13, 1974President Spencer W. Kimball of the LDS Church publicly announces that CCH would become Brigham Young University-Hawaii Campus and that Dr. Dan W. Anderson would succeed President Brower as the fifth president of the school.

June 1974 Showcase Hawaii, the University's performing group, makes its first tour of Asia.

February 13, 1976 President Spencer W. Kimball breaks ground for the new Ralph

October 20, 1976 BYU-Hawaii presents an honorary Doctorate of Humanities degree to King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga.

January 23, 1977Elder Marvin J. Ashton presides over splitting the Laie Hawaii Stake, name Eric B. Shumway as the first president of the new BYU-Hawaii Stake for students.

March 19, 1980BYU-Hawaii marks its 25th anniversary and stages the first N Makua Mahalo Ia (The Venerable Ones) concert, chaired by Dr. Ishmael Stagner.

June 4, 1980 The Polynesian Cultural Center hosts People's Republic of China Vice-Premier Geng Biao and begins a lasting relationship with mainland China. Early discussions focus on helping develop a cultural center in China and sending exchange personnel from there to train at PCC.

August 1, 1980Dr. J. Elliot Cameron succeeds Dr. Andersen as the university's sixth president.

September 1981The university admits six students from the People's Republic of China.

January 7, 1984Premier Zhao Ziyang of the People's Republic of China makes a visit to BYU-Hawaii and the PCC.

July 1, 1986Dr. Alton L. Wade becomes the seventh president of BYU-Hawaii.

June 1988Dr. Patrick Dalton and Wylie Swapp, the last of the original CCH faculty, retire.

June 15, 1988The Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs in Laie en route to Australia and New Zealand.

September 1991Peterson's Guide rates BYU-Hawaii among the top 10 universities in the U.S. for a low-cost fully-accredited education.

October 5, 1992V. Napua Baker becomes Vice President of University Advancement, the first female university vice president in the Church Educational System.

November 1994 Church President Howard W. Hunter installs Eric B. Shumway as eighth president of BYU-Hawaii.

February 12, 1998 BYU-Hawaii launches the Center for Hawaiian Language and Cultural Studies program, with William K. Wallace III as director.

January 11 , 2001BYU-Hawai'i President Eric Shumway launches the Keith and Carol Jenkins Matching Fund as part of the goal to raise $20 million in endowed scholarship funds by the University's golden anniversary in 2005.

February 8, 2001With the arrival of seven huge hardwood logs from Fiji, master carvers Tuione Pulotu and Kawika Eskaran begin to shape BYU-Hawaii's 57-foot traditional double-hulled Hawaiian sailing canoe that will eventually be used as a floating classroom in the University's Hawaiian Studies program.

November 3, 2001Several thousand people throng Hukilau Beach for the Polynesian ceremonial protocol, blessing and launching of BYU-Hawaii's voyaging canoe, Iosepa. Elder M. Russell Ballard of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a descendant of Joseph F. Smith, delivered the blessing.

November 15, 2002BYU-Hawaii launches its first Asia-Pacific Basketball Tournament with teams from Japan, China and the Fiji national team.

April 25, 2003The Polynesian Cultural Center, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary throughout the year, welcomes its 30-millionth visitor.

May 12, 2003The BYU-Hawaii men's and women's tennis teams, under coach Dr. David Porter, become the first university joint teams to win two consecutive NCAA Division II national tennis titles.

May 16, 2003Elder Henry B. Eyring informs the BYU-Hawaii administration that the university now reports directly to the Board of Trustees, instead of BYU in Provo.

October 25, 2003President Hinckley joins HRI President & CEO R. Eric Beaver in breaking ground for the $5 million-plus project that will beautify Hale La'a Boulevard. The project also includes a new front entrance for Brigham Young University Hawai'i, which was funded by a private donor.

June 19, 2004BYU-Hawaii honors its largest and most international graduating class: 400 students from 37 countries.

January 2005BYU-Hawaii begins a year-long Golden Jubilee celebration of its 50th anniversary.

February 24, 2005In conjunction with BYU Hawaii's Golden Jubilee Anniversary, the City and County of Honolulu, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and the Hawaii State Senate and House of Representatives all honored BYU-Hawaii with ceremonial certificates and proclamations of recognition and congratulations.

April 12, 2005Alberto Hotus, 75, president of the hereditary council of elders and a former mayor of Rapa Nui, visits BYU-Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

May 23, 2005BYU-Hawaii women's tennis team head coach Dr. David Porter was named the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year.

August 19, 2005The 2006 U.S. News' "America's Best Colleges" Brigham Young University Hawaii is listed as the fourth best comprehensive college-bachelor's in the Western United States. This latest ranking, is the highest ever for the university.

September 21, 2005His Excellency Nambar Enkhbayar, President of Mongolia, visited with the 54 Mongolian students at BYU-Hawaii on September 20, answered their questions, listened to their accomplishments and encouraged them to help provide similar educational opportunities for others by creating jobs when they return home.

October 16-23 , 2005Thousands of visitors and alumni help BYU-Hawaii celebrate it first 50 years through a week-long series of conferences, concerts, special programs and performances, pageants, a ball, community parade, speeches, food festivals, and a devotional and regional min-conference addresses by Elder Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.