Chaminade University of Honolulu

University Communications & Marketing

Three Journeys, Three Generations; One Family, One Chaminade

The physical appearance of Chaminade’s campus has undergone tremendous transformation and growth over the last half-century, but some things have remained the same.

Haelee Tallett '18, Willibrord Tallett '61 and Theresa (Tallett) Edwards '89

“As a student,” notes Haelee Tallett ’18, “my relationship with the faculty there stands out as very special because my professors were so committed to helping us along the way. They would always go the extra mile and my classmates and I knew we could count on them to help us, even if it wasn’t directly related to our classwork.”

Her grandfather, Willibrord “Willie” K. Tallett ’61 agrees. “Back in the day, everything was small. We didn’t have dormitories, just temporary student housing where the Mystical Rose Oratory now stands. Our teachers were excellent. The real value of what I got was advancement of my knowledge in business and accounting,” allowing him to go on to a successful career as a senior executive at C Brewer and Company, Ltd., one of the so-called “Big Five” companies that was one of Hawaii’s largest corporate landowners.

With a quiet smile, Willie’s daughter (Haelee’s aunt), Theresa (Tallett) Edwards ‘89, recalls her pathway that led to Chaminade and on to a career in educational administration and serving those with  development disabilities in her role with the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services. “What was exciting for me was being able to be a part of creating something new, beginning during my time as a student. I was getting my degree in Early Childhood Education with a certification in Montessori Teaching. My student teaching was done first at Haiku Hale ‘o Keiki and then later we opened another lab school for Chaminade students to teach at which was the “Bamboo Shoots” program in downtown Honolulu.  I valued the experience and the dedication of those involved in the program – and remember, this is the early days of focusing on the importance of the early developmental years of children.”

Willie grew up in Hilo and attended St. Joseph’s (a Marianist school) before coming to Chaminade where values about education in the family spirit and adapting for change took root. Another value he learned was the importance of giving back. His several decades of service on the board of the Chaminade University Educational Foundation and also as a Chaminade Regent gave him ample opportunity to support and guide the growth of the small college he’d attended. During his years of service, he created and endowed a scholarship, became an active booster to support the growth of the athletics program and provided funding for the development of the Carlson Fitness Center locker rooms in Kieffer Hall.

Theresa doesn’t hesitate when asked about her favorite memory of Chaminade. An avid basketball fan, she insisted her parents and three brothers attend the 1982 basketball game against Virginia to see the fabled Ralph Sampson. They didn’t know they’d be seeing history in the making as one of the all-time biggest upsets in sports history would take place that night when Chaminade toppled the giant.

Haelee, a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a budding entrepreneur with a successful island-themed jewelry business she started in high school, is effusive about her student experience. “Once I skipped an accounting class but got a phone call from my professor with the whole class on the line demanding that I come in…and I did,” she laughs. “I felt that I was spoiled with love the entire time at Chaminade.”

The three alumni seem to agree on one thing: Chaminade University will always holds a special place in the Tallett home.

Hogan Program Honors Graduates and Welcomes New Students

Chaminade’s future business professionals were honored at the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program’s Induction and Graduation Ceremony on April 25 at the Mystical Rose Oratory.

The Hogan Entrepreneurial Program, funded by the Hogan Family Foundation, aims to teach Chaminade students how to be successful in business through weekly lectures with experienced Hawaii business leaders, study abroad trips, community service projects, academic coursework, mentorship and more. Each year, about 25 students from all majors, including undergraduate juniors and seniors and graduate students, are accepted into the one- or two-year certificate program.

Hogan’s motto is “doing business things that make social sense, doing social things that make business sense,” and emphasizes entrepreneurial practices that benefit the community.

At the ceremony, the graduating Hogan students were honored for completing the program and the incoming Hogan students were inducted in front of their Chaminade community, friends and family. Six awards were presented to 11 Hogan students, including the Outstanding Hogan Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the Outstanding Graduate Student Award, the Outstanding Junior and Senior Awards, as well as the Aloha Spirit Awards and the In the Arena Award.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Vaughn G.A. Vasconcellos, former president and CEO of Akimeka LLC and founder and principal of the Alakaʻina Foundation, which is a Native Hawaiian Organization nonprofit based in Hawaii. The foundation provides federal contracting opportunities to Native Hawaiian companies and a portion of the profits from these companies aid the foundation in its philanthropic mission. Vasconcellos has formerly served as advisor to the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program and was a Chaminade University Board of Regents chairman.

The program also featured a special tribute to the Hogan Family with remarks from Savannah Lyn Delos Santos, a business marketing major from Saipan, and readings of original poems by Fabian Patterson and Laurin Von Krueger.

Patterson and Krueger’s poems both touched on how the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program provides equal opportunities to everyone involved. Patterson, a psychology major originally from Jamaica, thanked the Hogan family for providing him with academic and professional opportunities in his poem “How Could This Be?”

“I didn’t get here because America is the Promised Land, but because there is a God, because of helping hands, because of people like the Hogans,” Patterson said. “It’s people like them that make this country greater than all the other countries in foreign lands. It’s the Hogan’s belief that if you’re not having fun while working, then you’re certainly not pursuing your passion. It’s their belief in me, us, the younger, future generation that strengthens my belief and refuels my passion.”

Business Students Win in Las Vegas

A team of Chaminade business students took home third place in the annual International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education (IACBE) student case study competition in Las Vegas. Lady Luck may have been on the students’ side, but their win was well deserved after weeks of hard work and preparation.

Business students at IACBE competition

The IACBE competition is held during the organization’s annual conference and is open to students from all IACBE-member and non-member institutions worldwide. It’s split into two portions over the course of two days—the live business case competition and the ethical case competition. This year’s conference and competition was held on April 9–12 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

“This experience provides students with great opportunities for creativity, critical analysis and intellectual engagement, and can lead to a higher level of learning than mere knowledge absorption,” Dr. Guanlin Gao, assistant professor of economics and faculty mentor, said. “It also can help students acquire practical career-relevant competencies such as data analysis, writing and oral presentation skills, time management and the ability to give and receive constructive criticism.”

The first day of competition was the live business case. This year, competing teams were required to create a business plan for écree, a fast-growing writing support technology company based in North Carolina, which they then had to present to two panels of judges. The plan and executive summary submitted by Chaminade’s team included all the perspectives of growth strategy, sales and business development, marketing, research and development, reporting, financial planning and analysis. Teams received the parameters of this case a month prior to the competition.

Business students at IACBE competition

But the second-day case, otherwise known as the urgent ethical case, was released the same day as the competition, only four hours before. It was provided by the University of Arizona Eller Center for Leadership Ethics and asked students to make recommendations regarding the incorporation of artificial intelligence in law enforcement for a fictional company. This was also followed by two different presentations to two panels of judges.  

Thirty students from eight different institutions qualified for the finals and competed in this year’s competition. Chaminade’s team was comprised of four students including Savannah Lyn Delos Santos, Renee Leifi, Daniel Maximo and Kai Rivera.

The team began preparing for the IACBE competition in mid-January, spending five hours every Friday and Sunday learning how to approach a business case and conduct business research, listening to guest speakers and practicing with cases used in previous years.

The first case was released at the end of March so team members forfeited their spring break to prepare for the competition, clocking at least 70 hours during those eight days. In order to train for the same-day ethics case, the students practiced with a variety of scenarios so that they’d be prepared for anything.

But the hard work and dedication paid off, and Chaminade took home third place in a close competition. Chaminade’s team was only two points behind second place winner, Germany’s Cologne Business School, which was only one point behind first place winner, Lynn University in Florida.

“I think placing was really nice but it didn’t mean as much compared to the new friendships I had fostered with my teammates, coaches and students and faculty from the other institutions attending the conference,” Maximo said. “That in itself was the true win.”

Regardless of how Chaminade’s team placed in the competition, the students who participated agree that the experience challenged them to grow and learn outside of the traditional classroom setting.

“I learned to discern humbly that there is no one right way to do something,” Delos Santos, senior business marketing major, said. “Answers vary in business. We have to constantly be adapting to macro-environmental changes in business, and keep up with the trends and what methods are currently successful.”

Students Learn About the Banking Industry

Students from Dr. Hans Chun’s BU 308 business communications course were invited to visit the Bank of Hawaii Corporate Headquarters on Monday, April 29. The students took a tour of the remodeled upper floors and enjoyed a Q&A session with Senior Vice President Scott Yoshihara to learn about tips for career success, workplace trends and working in the banking industry.

“The students and I greatly appreciate the invitation from Senior Vice President Scott Yoshihara to provide a personal tour of the remodeled upper floors at the Corporate Headquarters of Bank of Hawaii for our students and provide his insights to help our students learn more about possibly working in the banking industry. Mr. Yoshihara has been gracious with his time to be a guest speaker for this course in past semesters.”

Dr. Kate Perrault receives 2020 Satinder Ahuja Award

Katelynn Perrault

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Dr. Kate Perrault for receiving the 2020 Satinder Ahuja Award for Young Investigators in Separation Science.

Professor Perrault is known for her work as a forensic scientist and odor scientist. Her research analyzes the chemicals and compounds released by odors, specifically the odors that law enforcement canines use to find dead bodies.

According to the award selection committee, “Perrault’s application is founded on extraordinary contributions to innovating GC separations as well as separations approaches and fundamental processes of legally supportive confirmatory analyses that are significant to advancing forensics.”

This award is given annually by the American Chemical Society’s Analytical Division Subdivision of Chromatography and Separations Chemistry to recognize outstanding contributions to the fields of analytical chemistry. In the 16 years this award has been presented, Dr. Perrault is the first female to receive the honor.

“It is such an honor to be recognized for my contributions to analytical chemistry at this early stage in my career,” says Dr. Perrault. “I hope to continue making valuable contributions to this field as my career progresses, and to be able to guide the next generation of women chemists and underserved minorities to serve society through the application of chemical disciplines.”

Undergraduate Research Showcase at Na Liko

Throughout the academic year, Chaminade students across every major make contributions to their fields of study through original research projects, creative work and scholarship.

Na Liko Awardees 2019

Chaminade’s annual undergraduate conference, Na Liko Naʻauao, recognizes these pursuits and provides students the opportunity to share their work with peers, faculty and the public.

This year’s 17th annual Na Liko conference, planned by the Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research, took place on April 26 at Clarence T.C. Ching Conference Center, where a total of 91 students showcased their academic projects.

Every project at Na Liko has been developed over the past academic school year under the mentorship of a faculty member. So participating in the conference affords undergraduate students the invaluable experience of beginning a research project with a question, developing it with the guidance of a professor and publically presenting their findings and receiving feedback.

Na Liko broadens students’ resumes, gives them practice at public speaking, creates a positive environment for scholarly discussion and offers an experience valuable to graduate schools.

Open to the Chaminade community, as well as friends and families of students, Clarence T.C. Ching Conference Center became a gallery of artwork and poster presentations that observers could peruse and ask questions of presenters for the first few hours of the conference.

Following the presentations was a formal program, including a blessing by students Savannah Lyn Delos Santos and Andrew Trapsi, an Oli by Kawena Ryan Phillips, remarks by university president, Dr. Lynn Babington and presentation of awards by Dr. Janet Davidson, associate vice provost.

Two awards are presented at Na Liko each year that honor an outstanding student and faculty mentor.

Chloe Talana (President Sue Wesselkamper Prize winner) and Dr. Lynn Babington

This year’s President Sue Wesselkamper Prize recognized Chloe Talana who studied blood samples from HIV-infected individuals to document how their immune cells function as part of a summer research program at Johns Hopkins University. She first presented her research at the Leadership Alliance symposium in Connecticut and was invited to present her research again at the recent conference in Indianapolis. She attended the national conference with six other Chaminade students, three of whom also presented their research.

Nicole Sagapoluetele, Justin Wyble (President Mackey Prize winner) and Dr. Lynn Babington

Honoring the close student-faculty relationships formed at Chaminade, the President Mackey Prize is an award presented to an outstanding faculty mentor, nominated by a student participating at the conference.

Nominated by Nicole Sagapoluetele, this year’s President Mackey Prize was awarded to Senior Lecturer, Justin Wyble. The President Mackey Prize is awarded to a faculty member who exemplifies outstanding mentoring of student research.

Na Liko Na’auao is presented by the Office of Health Professions Advising and Undergraduate Research. It is an undergraduate conference featuring students from all disciplines, who deliver academic presentations showcasing their projects in their related work to research in their field and creative work in the visual and performing arts. Students are sponsored by a faculty member and present the results of their original work in oral and/or poster presentations before their peers, faculty, and the public.