Students and faculty take one last look at the five-decade old building before moving forward
Five decades of memories were preserved through reminiscence and scribbles on white rocks during the farewell event held for the Aloha Center on Sep. 19. For students and faculty, saying goodbye to this building that stood at the center of campus life since 1973 carried both sadness and hope. “If the Aloha Center is going to be demolished, that means something new will be built here. So while it’s sad, I’m also happy about the progress happening at BYU–Hawaii,” expressed Markham Abor, a freshman in information technology from the Philippines.
Academic Vice President Isaiah Walker said the Aloha Center’s memories and legacy will live on within the people it welcomed, dispersed all over the globe and across different cultures. “The spirit and lessons of the Aloha Center will always be woven into the fabric of our campus history,” he shared.
Walker described the building as a reflection of the ideals established by past leaders—values of brotherhood, peace, tolerance and appreciation the community aims to uphold. “For what can be done here interculturally in a small way is what mankind must do on a large scale if we’re ever to have real brotherhood on this earth,” he explained.
For Blossom Yee Joy, a sophomore in social work from Fiji, the center was a space where “everyone could be,” so she bade it farewell with a heavy heart. It was something she said everyone could agree with, because Aloha Center was at the center of the gatherings and events they could remember. “But at the same time, it’s not completely gone. ‘Aloha’ also means ‘Hello,’ because there will be something new. I’m glad to be part of it and to see that happen,” she expressed.
For students like Jan Carlo Navarro, a freshman in biology from the Philippines, the Aloha Center is one of the first buildings they entered upon starting college at BYUH. “It was a place of relief and collaboration,” he said, “so it’s sad to see it go, especially for those who had personal connection with it.”