With hundreds of dignitaries, media, industry officials and visiting Polynesians in attendance, Elder Hugh B. Brown, First Counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS Church, dedicated the Polynesian Cultural Center on October 12, 1963.
As with many start-up ventures, attendance grew slowly at first but steadily enough so that hundreds of students from the College found part-time employment, beginning what some in those early years called the "aloha experiment": Students from Hawaii and the South Pacific could come to Church College with little or no money, secure loans guaranteed by their work at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and cover all their educational expenses by the time they graduated. A young woman from Samoa recalled:
If it wasn't for that process, there's no way that I would have been able to afford an education. As soon as I arrived in Laie, I got a loan at the University and a job at PCC. Even though we didn't have [IWES] contracts like we have now, I knew I was obligated to that loan. By the end of summer each year, I had enough paid off to apply for another loan the following school year; and by the time I graduated, I had paid off all the loans. There were paychecks where I literally had only $2 left, but my tuition, books, board and room were covered; and I wasn't alone. There were a lot of us, and it was a wonderful time of our lives.
Today, the appeal of the student performers, the richness of island traditions, the warm and welcoming aloha spirit, and the continuing popularity of the Polynesian Cultural Center have proved that experiment far beyond anyone's expectations — except those of President David O. McKay. For example:
- In 1968, five years after opening, the Polynesian Cultural Center surpassed a cumulative total of one million visitors.
- In 1977, for the first time over one million visitors came to the PCC in a single year. The Cultural Center has consistently been Hawaii's top paid-admission visitor attraction since then.
- Today, over 33 million visitors have come to Laie to experience the Polynesian Cultural Center. Many of them take an introductory tour of the BYU-Hawaii Campus and the Hawaii Temple Visitor's Center and grounds.
- The PCC has contributed nearly $150 million toward the education of BYU-Hawaii students (To contribute, click here)..
- The PCC functions as an extension of BYU-Hawaii classrooms: Over 750 BYU-Hawaii students currently work at the Center each semester and gain valuable practical experience, while another 200 students work on campus.
- Two-thirds of the current student employees receive near-full financial support through the joint BYU-Hawaii/PCC International Work Experience Scholarship (IWES) program
- To date, nearly 15,000 BYU-Hawaii students have supplemented their educational expenses by working at the PCC.
One of those students recently shared her feelings:
I loved my time as a BYUH student and working as an usher at the PCC night show. I felt more at home in my first week on campus than I'd felt in my previous 18 years growing up near Washington, D.C. I especially loved and valued the lessons that came through the cultural diversity. Looking back, I've come to believe that the combination of the Polynesian aloha spirit and the true gospel of Christ triggered memories of another home. My time there was the closest I've ever been to heaven. Twenty-five years later, I've yet to be able to return to my beloved adopted home and each day my heart cries out for it. The longings give me greater focus and help me remember my goal to return to the other home that I don't remember, but feel the whisperings of, the birthplace of true aloha.
