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Campus & Community

20 fun facts about BYUH

By Xyron Levi Corpuz,
March 04, 2021
Black and white photo of rugby players wearing striped shirts and shorts holding their hand out with the thumbs up holding luggage with the man in the front's luggage saying "CCH Rugby BYU OR BUST."
CCH Rugby team, 1967.
Photo by BYU–Hawaii Archives

  1. Six thousand acres of land in Laie was acquired by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for $14,000 in 1865. A part of that land became the Church College of Hawaii, presently known as Brigham Young University–Hawaii.
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  2. The BYUH lot used to be a plantation.
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  3. Since its start, BYUH students have represented over 100 different countries.
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  4. Many people desired for the school to be built in the town of Kaneohe because its proximity to Honolulu made it more accessible. However, President McKay declared it was not the place he had seen in his vision. In the vision, the school was alongside the temple located in Laie.
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  5. Labor missionaries from the mainland United States and the Pacific Islands assisted with the construction of the Church College of Hawaii. The missionaries worked almost 280,000 man-hours without pay and it was estimated they saved the Church $1,300,000.
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    65 74 Laie.jpg
    Historic Laie before the school was built. 
    Photo provided by BYU–Hawaii Archives
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    CCH_Dedication.jpg
    Dedication of Church College of Hawaii, 1958. 
    Photo provided by BYU–Hawaii Archives.
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  6. Classes were held in World War II Army barracks while the college was being built. These temporary buildings were remolded and refurbished to serve as classrooms, office spaces, dorms, a cafeteria and a library.
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  7. President David O. McKay dedicated the Church College of Hawaii on Dec. 17, 1958.
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  8. The Church College of Hawaii started with only 153 students and 20 faculty and staff members.
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  9. The Hawaiian Islands were still considered a territory of the United States when the college was constructed. In 1959, one year after the school’s completion, Hawaii was declared the 50th state of the U.S.
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  10. The Church College of Hawaii began as a two-year school and was accredited as a four-year college in 1961.
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  11. President McKay wept upon first seeing the mosaic depicting the flag-raising ceremony in 1921. This mosaic is placed on the front the McKay building.
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  12. In 1993, King Taufa‘ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, bestowed a high chiefly title, Mafi Fakapotu (powerful one in the distant place), on the Polynesian Cultural Center’s President Lester Moore.
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  13. The Church College of Hawaii became Brigham Young University–Hawaii Campus in 1974. In 2003, the University removed the word ‘campus.’ Today, in the McKay foyer, you can still see where it is written as ‘Brigham Young University – Hawaii Campus.’
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  14. In 1967, the Church College of Hawaii’s rugby team was declared national champions. Identifying them as the No. 1 team in the nation, Sports Illustrated referred to them as the “ferocious Mormons.”
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  15. In 1981, the first Chinese students from the People’s Republic of China arrived in Hawaii to attend BYUH. Among this group of students was Wang Yannan, the daughter of Premier Zhao Ziyang of China.
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  16. In 1984, China’s premier Zhao Ziyang made a historic visit to the United States, stopping at BYUH and the PCC.
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    017 First Student Body .jpg
    First student body of the CCH.
    Photo provided by BYU–Archives.
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    039. Zhao Ziyang-1.jpg
    China's premier Zhau Ziyang visits Hawaii stopping at BYUH and the PCC, 1984.
    Photo provided by BYU–Hawaii Archives.
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  17. In 1992, President Alton Wade appointed local Hawaiian, Napua Baker, as the first female and first known Hawaiian or Polynesian vice president in the Church Educational System.
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  18. In 1983 and 1992, the Cannon Activities Center served as a place of refuge for North Shore residents fleeing from floods and hurricanes.

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  19. In 1994, in a meeting above the temple, President Howard W. Hunter blessed the people of Laie and rededicated the land.
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  20. In May 2004, the BYUH choir performed in Tokyo, Japan at Meiji Jingu, a revered Shinto shrine, making them the first Christian singing group to perform there. The event attracted national media attention.

Sources:
Xyron Levi Corpuz interview with Brooks Haderlie, university archivist, Joseph F. Smith Library on Jan. 12, 2020

Books: 
Alf Pratte and Eric B. Shumway, BYUH Prophetic Destiny: The First 60 Years, page XVII

Laura F. Willes, Miracle in the Pacific

Website: 
news.byuh.edu