IN the national move back to religion and moral values Brigham Young University-Hawaii hasn't had to move. It has been there for all its 42 years. Brigham Young
University-HawaiiStudents applying to BYU-H pledge to abide by its Dress, Grooming and Honor Code and university regulations. They are to avoid inappropriate attire and follow teachings that include peacefulness, honesty, abstinence from alcohol, tea, coffee and drugs, chastity before marriage and faithfulness afterward.
Annually they reaffirm it. BYU-H isn't a place to send troubled youths. "We are a refining school, not a reforming school," I was told.
BYU-H has a planned capacity of 2,000 students but has 2,300 enrolled from 60 different countries and many ethnic groups. About 30 percent are from Hawaii, 30 percent from the mainland and most of the rest from the Pacific and Asia. It must turn away many who qualify.
BYU-H is Mormon. So are over 90 percent of its students and teachers. Their faith rests on the Holy Bible of Christianity plus the Book of Mormon based on Jesus' return to Earth in America. Because they consider the two inseparable they are not usually counted as Christians.
Recently I met with some of the students and faculty. They say they like their strict code and the peaceful, cross-cultural friendliness it engenders. They do not stray far from it. Only four or five are kicked out every year. Somewhat more drop out.
There are, however, many transfers in and out, a lot being with the big mother BYU at Provo, Utah, or the smaller two-year Ricks College in Idaho. Their combined enrollment is about 10,000.
Most of some 800 foreign students at BYU-H are in work-study programs linked to the adjoining church-run Polynesian Cultural Center. They do office work or help represent the culture and dances of seven Pacific island areas to nearly a million visitors each year.
PCC replaces a football team in gaining recognition and income for the university. BYU-H has no football team but has won three national NCIA volleyball championships and national titles in men's and women's tennis.
Employers like the character assurance that comes with its graduates in business, education, arts and science. Example: BYU-Provo's famous grad, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, is both one of the all-time greats of professional football and recognized as one of San Francisco's top civic contributors.
Service to others while spreading its gospel is a big part of Mormonism. Only volunteers are called to assignments, which can be within America or worldwide. Men must be 19, women 21. Many BYU-H students have served or will. They must learn the language of the area they are assigned.
BYU-H President Eric B. Shumway served in the Pacific islands, has been on the faculty here since 1966 and president since 1994. He still teaches a course in literature, his specialty, and volunteers for home-visit teams. Two men and two women become shepherds for each home in the Mormon community. His home receives them, too.
CAROLYN Shumway, his wife, last year was chosen national Mother of the Year by American Mothers Inc., an interfaith organization dedicated to strengthening families. Her husband thinks she won for her outgoing qualities of aloha and service. Now she travels frequently to create new chapters.
With the fleshpots of Waikiki not far away, there is plenty of temptation to stray from the honor code. Transgressions of varying magnitude are met with both sternness and compassion.
The Mormon community around BYU-H and the Laie Mormon temple embraces about one-third of the 24,000 residents of Hauula, Laie and Kahuku in North Oahu. Police statistics show this area low in crime. It has far less than Waipahu with a comparable ethnic mix.
Community members seek to solve crime and correct it when it occurs. "These are good people," a police officer told me.