“Aʻohe Hana Nui Ke Alu ʻIa, No Task Is Too Big When Done Together,” is the theme for this year’s 55th annual Lūʻau, held April 11th. Pacific Universityʻs lūʻau connects current students and their families and “bring Hawaiʻi to Forest Grove”, according to lūʻau board member Trey Kodama. Lūʻau will incorporate dances from Hawaiʻi, Samoa, Philippines, New Zealand and Asia.
“This year’s lūʻau is different from last year’s because we added a little twist in it. This year, you will see lots of familiar faces that are either emceeing, chanting, or even a part of a court,” said Lūʻau chair, Bridgette Rodrigues. “by bringing back recent alumni it really ties in with our theme, “Aʻohe hana nui ke alu ‘ia, no task is too big when done together,” because we are continuing the legacy that they left and without them, this wouldn’t be the 55th lūʻau.”
Lūʻau was brought to Pacific to share cultures from all over the world, this being one of the favorite things about lūʻau to a lot of students, including Rodrigues.
“To me, culture is everything. The night of lūʻau we don’t dance just for
entertainment, but we dance to honor all those that have made lūʻau into what it is today, we dance for our family back home, and we dance for our ancestors, we dance for the culture.”
Roddrigues explained that culture is something that connects people for their lifetime, especially for the people who come from Hawaiʻi. She also added that Pacific is known to the have the biggest Hawaii club in the west coast.
“We made Pacific our second home and it wouldnʻt have been possible without the help of the staff and other students from the mainland to help us adjust and feel comfortable in a new environment.” said Senior Lūʻau board member Carli Yamamoto.
Planning the performance takes hard work and dedicated from all members of Nā Haumāna O Hawai’i, NHOH.
It also comes with many challenges such as the change of seating in Stoller and the change in key lūʻau chefs with Aramark.
Fortunately, the board was able to see around the challenges and face them head on to make sure the night runs smoothly and is a success.
After lūʻau there is an after party for club members who get up to 40 points by participating in committees, dances and other preparations for the night which can apply to entrance into
the after party. This after party is the main source of encouragement for the members to help prepare as much as they can before the big night.
“The thing I enjoy most about lūʻau is seeing everyone in Hawaii club come together and put on a show for everyone to enjoy. We end up making
a lot of new friends since we spend so much time together,” said Yamamoto.
Lūʻau allows everyone that is apart of the Pacific community to share in the Hawaiian cultureand learn about other traditions around the world.
Tickets for this event are available at the PIC and on the Pacific website.
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