WHEREAS, the selfless commitment to advancing leadership, participation, and efforts to improve the quality of life enjoyed by all citizens of our state is exemplified by certain benevolent organizations that positively influence the lives of those they touch with the spirit of kokua and aloha; and

WHEREAS, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY HAWAII was established in the most humble of ways on February 12, 1955, at a groundbreaking ceremony in the middle of a sugarcane field in Laie, laying the seeds for a new crop of educated, worldly, and morally-just minds; and

WHEREAS, as host to students from around the world and the most internationally diverse university campus per capita in the country, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY HAWAII was recognized by the US News and World Report for the past six years as a top-tier undergraduate university in the Western United States; and

WHEREAS, founded by prophets and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to assist citizens in their quest for perfection by educating the minds and spirits of students within an intercultural gospel-centered environment and curriculum, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY HAWAII fosters faith in God and the Restored Gospel through a partnership which has enabled students to apply values learned in the classroom to interacting with people from all over the world; and

WHEREAS, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY HAWAII is one of four campuses in the Brigham Young University system sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest religiously affiliated university system in the United States, preparing men and women with the intercultural, communication, and leadership skills necessary to promote peace and international brotherhood to address world problems; and

WHEREAS, having earned 21 national team championships and numerous individual titles in NCAA Division II and NAIA athletics competition, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY HAWAII, the "campus of champions," offers students a well-rounded curriculum for life through a combination of classroom learning in a spiritual environment and athletics; now, therefore,