Creating 'Ohana | Academic Vice President Isaiah Walker 

Isaiah Walker
Academic Vice President
BYU-Hawaii Devotional
Academic Vice President Isaiah Walker emphasizes the importance of creating ʻohana, or family. He explained how ʻohana, in Hawaiian culture, extends beyond immediate family to include friends and the broader community, and how this concept can help students foster meaningful relationships. Through highlighting the experiences of Joseph F. Smith, Walker encourages students to embrace the values of ʻohana by building connections, fulfilling their responsibilities to one another, and relying on the love of God and their heavenly ʻohana. He also highlights the importance of dating, marriage, and overcoming challenges, drawing from his own life experiences and encouraging students to navigate life’s journey with faith, love, and aloha.
"By creating an ʻohana and embracing your kuleana, you will open the door to ongoing blessings and the enriching cycle of aloha in your life." -Isaiah Walker
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Isaiah Walker was born and raised in Keaukaha, Hilo, Hawaiʻi. After joining the Church in 1990 and graduating from Hilo High School in 1991, he moved to Lāʻie and attended BYU-Hawaii. He served in the California San Diego Mission and later married Rebekah Matagi of Lāʻie. They have five beautiful children.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in history from BYU-Hawaii and earning a master's degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, Isaiah completed a Ph.D. from the University of California, in Santa Barbara. Isaiah studies Hawaiian history and colonialism from a unique perspective-from the vantage of Hawaiian surfers.
Prior to his appointment as Academic Vice President, Isaiah was a professor and department chair in the History Program where he taught World, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islands history.
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