This year, 2015, marks 60 years since David O. McKay's historic groundbreaking for the permanent campus on February 12, 1955, and the first class of Church College of Hawaii in the Fall of 1955. Spirit Week 2015 commemorates this 60-year history with activities that reflect on the foundational history of the university and focus our gaze and vision toward the future and potential of the students, the Genuine Gold, who come from this special school.
Spirit Week 2015 is Friday, February 6, through Thursday, February 12, with a variety of activities and events for all students, alumni, faculty, staff, and friends. For the online schedule, visit: http://studentlife.byuh.edu/spiritweek.
Central to Spirit Week is a flag-raising ceremony (this year held on Saturday, February 7, at 9 AM, Flag Circle). In 1921, on a visit to Laie, then-Elder David O. McKay attended a flag-raising ceremony at the local elementary school. At that time, he envisioned a place of learning, a center of education, in Laie, and that this school would produce students “whose influence will be felt for good toward the establishment of peace internationally." With this vision in mind, BYU–Hawaii organized its first Spirit Week flag-raising ceremony in 2013, where students from most of the 75-plus countries represented on campus shared in the spirit of unity, international cooperation, and cultural pride. Now, each February during Spirit Week, hundreds of people gather at the flag circle by the front entrance of the university, many dressed in their cultural attire, to participate in the event, making it a memorable display of the university’s diversity and focus on promoting and establishing peace on an international scale.
Read and watch a video about the 2013 flag-raising event.
Following in this tradition, the 2015 flag-raising ceremony on Saturday, February 7, is an opening event to Spirit Week 2015, a series of activities and celebration surrounding the anniversary of BYU–Hawaii’s groundbreaking in February 1955. Student representatives from across the globe will be raising their banners around the historic flag circle in Laie, celebrating not only their national and cultural pride but also their sense of unity and friendship as students at BYU–Hawaii. Also, a brief program, including remarks from university leadership and several students from the represented countries, will precede the flag raising.
Spirit Week organizers invite everyone from the campus and surrounding communities to attend this event and share in the spirit of togetherness and unity.
Saturday, February 7, BYU–Hawaii Flag Circle
9 AM: Program & Flag Raising
Other Spirit Week 2015 events include the following:
- Genuine Gold Day (wear something gold) on Monday, February 9 - participate and get a treat at the Alumni Office
- Professional Dress Day on Tuesday, February 10
- Dress Red Day (wear something red) on Wednesday, February 11 - participate and get a treat at the Aloha Center Information Desk
- David O. McKay Lecture (11 AM, CAC) & Birthday Cake (12 PM, Aloha Center) on Thursday, February 12
To learn more about these events and activities for Spirit Week 2015, visit: http://studentlife.byuh.edu/spiritweek
