Approximately 225 students will participate in the upcoming BYU–Hawaii commencement exercises on Saturday, December 17, 2011. Addressing the graduates will be Elder Jeffery R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Elder Paul V. Johnson, the Commissioner of the Church Educational System and member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. The event will be held at 9:30 AM in the George Q. Cannon Activities Center and will be streamed live online at http://tv.byuh.edu/livestream/livestream.php.
The student speaker will be Marcus Lobendahn, who is graduating with a degree in business management, corporate finance and accounting. He is from Paihia, New Zealand.
Elder Holland was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on June 23, 1994. He served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, before being called as a general authority in 1989. His professional work included the positions of president of the American Association of Presidents of Independent Colleges and Universities (AAPICU), as well as serving on the board of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) and as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) President’s Commission.
Elder Paul V. Johnson has been the Commissioner of the Church Educational System since August 2008. He was called as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 2, 2005. Elder Johnson received his Bachelor of Science degree from Brigham Young University in Zoology and a Master’s of Education in Counseling and Guidance. He later received a Doctorate of Education degree in Instructional Technology from Utah State University.
Following the commencement exercises, a groundbreaking event will be held for a new multi-use building and new student housing facilities. The groundbreaking will be held at 1:30 p.m. at the building site of the recently announced multi-use building. Elder Jeffery R. Holland will preside at this event, and all are invited to attend. Following the main program, the public will have the opportunity to break the ground and take a photo.