The BYU–Hawaii Women’s Organization had their monthly luncheon on Dec. 5 in the Aloha Center Ballroom. President Nancy Eastwood opened the program where Mason Allred spoke about his work on the Joseph Smith Papers.

As Proclaim Peace conference attendees walked into the Aotearoa Village at the Polynesian Cultural Center on the last day of the three-day event, they witnessed a rare Maori ceremony that BYU–Hawaii alumnus Seamus Fitzgerald said he had only seen twice in this lifetime. After the attendees were seated, Fitzgerald and Aotearoa Village Manager Kim Makekau did a call and response oration in Maori. Conference attendees said there was a tangible spirit in the air that they felt.

Moving from graffiti and street art to painting on canvas and wood, Jack Soren, a senior from Hawaii studying graphic design, said he found his art style after years of struggling to figure out a style he resonated with.

BYU–Hawaii faculty dressed in their academic regalia as the Fall 2019 graduating class– 203 bachelor’s degrees and 15 associate’s degrees– entered the Cannon Activities Center. Speakers invited graduates to be compassionately aware of opportunities to learn and serve, as well as choose hard rights instead of easy wrongs.

Starting with $20, Ganchudur Batgerel, a senior from Mongolia majoring in supply chain operation, with the help of her friends, earned more than $1,000 with her “tornado potato business” for the Great Ideas competition. A tornado potato elevates the potato with fried meat and sauce, all in a convenient stick form, she said.

I-HHELPP began as a non-profit in 2014 when BYU–Hawaii alumni wanted to build disaster-proof homes to improve the lives of those in the Philippines. It has since transformed to an organization building public bathrooms and other necessities for poor communities in the Philippines.

Jimmer Fredette has signed a two-year contract with the Phoenix Suns as a point guard/shooting guard, with the second year being a team option. Fredette, who became a national household name in 2011 as a BYU college basketball player, spent a few years in the National Basketball Association [NBA] before playing overseas in China.

BYU–Hawaii faculty dressed in their academic regalia as the Fall 2019 graduating class – 203 bachelor’s degrees and 15 associate degrees – entered the Cannon Activities Center. Speakers invited graduates to be compassionately aware of opportunities to learn and serve, as well as choose hard rights instead of easy wrongs.

A teacher and student of the art, James Astle, said he was influenced by his family, friends, and the Los Angeles culture in discovering his passion for art in all of its forms. He said he believes art is how people interact with the world. His wife, Princess Donato, said, “Throw him anything and he’ll make something beautiful about it.”