Last Wednesday, February 3, all Presidencies of Student Associations were invited to attend a Culture Night Orientation. Presidencies were notified of the meeting one day before it took place and another email was sent the day of the meeting explaining that this was an “emergency meeting” and would include an official statement on Culture Night and the honor code. For those who are not yet aware, the school recently came out with a new standard for culture night stating that all participants in culture night are to follow the dress and grooming standards of BYUH’s Honor Code. Not Tongan standards, not Samoan standards, not Polynesian Cultural Center standards. Only BYU-Hawaii standards. This meant that all dances, including slap dances, like the Māori Haka, would have to be done in tee shirts.
The policy, as explained by Gardner, was first enacted by Debbie Hippolite-Wright and other student leaders five years ago. Backlash from the students back then had those leaders step back and keep culture night as is. The policy insinuates that performing traditional dances in traditional attire would not be congruent to living standards of righteousness as stated in the Honor Code and thereby it asks students to cover their culture with western attire.
President Gardner asked why we have culture night and one club president responded that it was a celebration and fulfillment of David O. McKay's vision which spoke of many people of different cultures coming together and learning about each other in a university setting. Indeed, the very purpose of this university is to produce men and women from all over the world, develop them into leaders “who cannot be bought or sold.”
“The world needs men who cannot be bought or sold, men who will scorn to violate truth, genuine gold. That is what this school is going to produce. More than that, they’ll be leaders. Not leaders only in this island, but everywhere.” -President David O. McKay
What this shift in policy is meant to do is empower the associations and individuals in them. Gardner insisted that everyone involved in Culture Night can decide for him or herself to “step away from the Honor Code” and expressed that he hoped association presidencies wouldn’t force anyone to “break covenants” that they have made.
What kind of conversation is the administration hoping for us as a student body to have with each other? Are they encouraging us to talk about the honor code, modesty, covenants and what those things mean for us? Are they really giving us an opportunity to create our own university experience? That seems good enough for Culture Night, but what about endowed BYUH students who are employed by the PCC?
What kind of conversation could we be having if we believed our convictions made a difference?
Gardner said that this shift in policy was “not a victory” for students but a collaboration between students and administration. The administration, students were told, was not influenced by the surrounding community or its alumni, but by student feedback. A recurring theme of that meeting was that students were the ones being listened to.
Do you feel listened to?
In a moment somewhat contradictory to that message Gardner also said, “We as students should never be going against our leaders, we should never form groups to go against them.”
Does this mean that we are to be beholden to our leaders, accept everything they say and never go against them? Is this the vision of President McKay? What if we feel our leaders are going against the students? Can we be leaders of our own peoples if we allow the ideals, customs and culture of this diverse group of students to be trampled upon by a predominantly western administration? As current leaders of our classes, our wards and our families we cannot become men and women who are bought and sold--for a grade, a diploma or for the respect of the people in power.