Chaminade University of Honolulu

Alumni

Working on the Frontlines

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It’s Monday, and Ann-Janin Bacani arrives at work around 8:15 a.m. She covers herself head to toe in personal protective equipment (PPE), and heads into the lab.

Ann-Janin Bacani '18

The Chaminade alumna checks each coronavirus testing swab that arrives—it’s essential to enter them into their database before proceeding. She ensures they each have proper approval from the state epidemiologist, and then she gets to work.

Each coronavirus test swab is analyzed for the virus through a lengthy process. First, the RNA is extracted from the virus. Then, it is converted to DNA. Finally, using a real-time, reverse transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machine, the DNA is copied and amplified to identify the presence of 2019-nCoV genes. If the genes are present, the test is considered positive.

Bacani is a microbiologist in the Biological Response Section of the Hawaii State Department of Health’s Laboratory and Preparedness Response Branch.

Initially, she worked with the Food and Drug Administration to test food samples for salmonella and listeria. But when COVID-19 hit in January, Bacani’s lab was the first in the state of Hawaii to be approved to analyze test results.

At first, it was nerve wracking. There was a lot of initial uncertainty and risks. So much about the disease was unknown. But the department was quick to react.

“I was fully trained by highly trained microbiologists in my section and we were provided with the proper PPE to work the virus,” says Bacani. “That put my mind at ease while working in the laboratory.”

Ann-Janin Bacani '18 and her co-workers showing their lunch their received from donors
(L-R) Ayana Garnet, Ann-Janin Bacani ’18 and Drew Kuwazaki receiving their free ‘thank you’ bentos from the Hawaii Government Employee Association

As part of the Biological Response Section, the Waipahu High School graduate is part of a team of epidemiologists, physicians, microbiologists and officials from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration tasked with providing rapid response to bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks or any other public health emergency.

Their COVID testing lab serves all of Hawai‘i and many of the outer Pacific Islands as well. Bacani sees it as a chance to serve her community.

“It has always been my vision and goal to be able to give back to my community,” says Bacani. “From my early years at Chaminade University, I have wanted to provide and bring quality care to underserved populations.”

Bacani graduated from Chaminade University in 2018 as a biochemistry major with a minor in psychology.

She attributes a lot of what she does now to her time at Chaminade. It was through a Chaminade classmate that she initially found the position at the Department of Health—Alexis Young, another Chaminade alumna, is also a microbiologist at the department.

A graduate of Waipahu High School, Bacani was introduced to Chaminade University at a college fair field trip. Her dream was to become a pharmacist, so she chose Chaminade for the highly regarded STEM program. 

Her next four years were filled with leadership roles, clubs, research opportunities, premedical summer programs, travel to conferences and more. And while she didn’t always recognize it at the time, everything she learned was preparing her for her role today.

“Turns out, a lot of the things we all thought we wouldn’t need to know were things we later found to be very helpful,” she admits.

Perhaps her biggest lesson was understanding just how important it is to follow precise laboratory techniques and best practices—for a patient relying on a diagnosis, it can be life-changing.

“The human aspect of a clinical sample is more than just the volume in a tube,” says Bacani. “It’s the impact that the sample has that is important, which makes all of what I do as a microbiologist worthwhile.”

And the impact of what she does every day is not lost on her.

“Our job is so meaningful right now, as it is an essential task that allows people to know whether or not they have contracted the coronavirus,” explains Bacani. “It is so important to understand the precise laboratory techniques, tests and best medicinal approaches that allow for a patient’s life-changing diagnosis.”

While she has been honored to serve her community on the frontlines of this pandemic, Bacani’s ultimate goal is still to become a Doctor of Pharmacy. She’s humbled by the power drug interactions can have on a patient’s life, and wants to become a clinical or hospital pharmacist. She plans to start at the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at University of Hawaii at Hilo in the fall.

Intercollegiate Athletics Gala 2020

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It was an evening of Silversword pride – and celebration.

On February 20, some 350 people gathered at the Ala Moana Hotel for the 12th annual Intercollegiate Athletics Gala. The event honors the accomplishments of Chaminade’s student-athletes and recognizes all those who support the University’s strong athletics programs and facilities.

The gathering comes after a standout year for Silversword athletics.

In 2019, for the first time in five years, Chaminade’s men’s basketball advanced to an NCAA championship tournament. And the women’s volleyball team wrapped up the 2019 season with 22 wins.

The message at the gala: accomplishments like those aren’t possible without lots of community support.

“We are truly blessed,” said Curtis Coburn ’20, president of the Chaminade Student Athlete Advisory Committee, in his speech at the gala. He added that the challenges student-athletes overcome with the help of others promote self-growth and have “taught me that I can always work harder and I can always be just a little bit better. The situations we’ve faced will only make us more prepared.”

Coburn, who is on the University’s men’s golf and soccer teams, said it’s been an honor to be a Silversword. “I would like to begin by saying how thankful I am to be a Chaminade student-athlete,” he told the attendees. “The experience … would not be possible without the generous support from you.”

This year’s event included the induction of two titans in the Chaminade ‘ohana—Board of Regent member Dan Goo ’81 and the late Will “Mr. Chaminade” Pounds—into the Silversword Hall of Fame.

Dan Goo being inducted into the Hall of Fame

Goo has been serving the community for much of his life—as a member of law enforcement and a successful businessman. He’s also dedicated his time to Chaminade in a host of capacities, including as a member of the Board of Regents since 2008 and chairman of the University’s Development Committee.

And Goo is an ardent supporter of university athletics, making major gifts toward the university’s newly-constructed Coaching Offices and Silversword Training Center and Locker Rooms, state-of-the-art facilities that will ensure Chaminade Athletics can meet the demands of today and tomorrow.

“He’s interested in how he can help,” said Bill Villa, director of athletics at Chaminade.

Villa added: “He’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.”

Goo spoke in a video at the gala, saying a cancer diagnosis when he was a young father helped him realize the importance of giving back to the community and working to improve other people’s lives.

“He believes that education can make a difference in the future of a young person,” said his wife, Judy.

“And he believes in the values of Chaminade.”

The Late Will Pounds' Family

Pounds, the other 2020 Silversword Hall of Fame inductee, was also honored at the gathering.

He was one of the University’s most influential and dynamic players in the history of the Chaminade men’s basketball program, leading the University to an appearance in the NCAA Division III Quarterfinals in the 1978-79 season and becoming the first collegian in Hawaii to score 2,000 points.

He was also known for his generosity and kindness.

Former Silversword teammate Allan Silva said people gravitated to Pounds because he exuded incredible charm and positivity. “His attitude was never give up,” said Silva ’79. “We were blessed to have a guy like that on the team. He’s gone physically … but we’ve got him right here, in our hearts.”

That legacy still resonates with Silversword student-athletes and their coaches, about 40 of whom attended the intercollegiate gala. As always, all proceeds from this year’s event go right back into Chaminade’s athletics programs, including its 10 NCAA athletic teams with 140 student-athletes.

Alumna Travels to Samoa for Humanitarian Mission

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In late 2019, a team of more than 60 Hawaii healthcare professionals traveled to Samoa with Lt. Gov. Josh Green to assist with a measles crisis that had killed dozens of people, mostly children.

Chelsea McKee ’14 was among the 55 nurses who volunteered for the humanitarian mission, putting their own lives on hold to help with the massive vaccination and public health effort.

“I felt this was an opportunity to help others in need,” said the Chaminade Nursing graduate, an oncology nurse at the Queen’s Medical Center and clinical adjunct at the University.

McKee said while she traveled to Samoa to give her time and medical expertise, what she didn’t expect is just how much she’d gain in return.

“On our daily vaccination visits, people welcomed us with hugs, laughter and a lot of food,” she said.

The group from Hawaii was charged with vaccinating tens of thousands of Samoa residents in hopes of stopping the spread of the preventable disease.

McKee said doctors and nurses hit the ground running.

They started their days early in the morning, heading out to neighborhoods with vaccines and supplies. “A local nurse, a co-worker and I vaccinated over 360 people on our first day there,” said McKee.

“The nurses made an assembly line in the van to prepare the syringes and gauze, draw up the vaccination, and the other to administer. Just as fast as you could imagine vaccinating 10 people we would go onto the next house and the next until the evening.”

McKee is no stranger to public health nursing.

In fact, she had her first experiences serving the community with healthcare needs as a student at Chaminade. When she was seeking her degree at the University, she was able to travel to the Philippines and the Big Island on public health missions.

“In the Philippines I had the opportunity to work in the hospital setting, live with a family in a rural mountain community where we performed health screenings, learned about alternative medicine and much more,” McKee said.

“These experiences I gained from the nursing program exposed me to public health. By volunteering, I gain so much more than I can give.”

McKee was on the Samoa trip with another Chaminade Nursing graduate: Chandler Arce ‘16, a psychiatric nurse at the Queen’s Medical Center.

Speaking recently, McKee said she’d jump at the chance to help more families in Samoa.

“I still remember on the drive back to the airport thinking, I only hope we made a difference,” she said. “We hope we made an impact and prevented more deaths.”

Chaminade Alum’s “Students First” Mentality Leads Him to White House

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Since Ryan Tauriainen graduated from Chaminade in 2010, he’s racked up a long list of accomplishments. At 26, he became one of the youngest principals in the country. In 2016, the Washington Post named him the “Principal of the Year.” And as a charter school leader in the nation’s capital, his strategies helped produce the highest-performing early childhood classrooms in the district.

White House Fellows pose for their official portraits in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building Wednesday, September 11, 2019, at the White House. (Official White House Photo by Keegan Barber)

Oh, and the author of five children’s books is now a 2019-20 White House fellow.

But he says despite all the acknowledgment and titles, he still sees himself as a “teacher first.”

And that’s due in part to the approach he started to build at Chaminade that helped him see that improving school culture, building a positive and happy work environment – infused with aloha – and putting people above everything else always produces the best results.

“I definitely believe that I brought a servant’s heart and the aloha spirit back with me to DC from Hawaii,” Tauriainen said, in a recent interview. “Having roots in Hawaii was a benefit for my education career. Every day, my main inspiration lies in the children I have served and will serve.”

Tauriainen enrolled in the Master of Education program at Chaminade while serving as a Teach for America educator.

During the day, he taught language arts to seventh graders at Wheeler Middle in Wahiawa. And at Chaminade, he sought to expand his knowledge of secondary education, working alongside professors and his fellow graduate students for insight and support as he worked to sharpen his classroom skills.

His mentors and peers helped him grow as an educator.

And, he said, they provided vital emotional and academic support. “I appreciated how flexible Chaminade was for graduate students,” Tauriainen added. “I was a full-time teacher while being a full-time student. Being able to do both and manage both was a blessing.”

Tauriainen’s White House fellowship began in August 2019. He works at the U.S. Department of Education, where he reports to Frank Brogan, the assistant secretary of education for Elementary and Secondary Education. And he said among the projects he oversees is $26 million in grant money set aside for Native Hawaiian education programs – an area that he said he’s passionate about. The Oregon native also remains committed to improving opportunities for education – “the great equalizer” – across the United States. “I have seen the benefits of providing an excellent education and I have seen the detriments of failing our students,” he said. “Ensuring an excellent education for every child, no matter their zip code, is the surest way to our more perfect union.”

Alumna Pursues Passion at Chaminade and Beyond

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Jennifer Lai Hipp became a forensic sciences buff in high school, but she never saw it as a career path.

Forensic Sciences CSI class at Kaimana Beach

That is, until the college program she was in – studying American Sign Language – was put on hold.

Hipp, who graduated from Chaminade in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in forensic science, is now pursuing a master’s degree in human biology at the University of Indianapolis and has her sights set on a future in forensic anthropology. She said she’s even considering getting a doctoral degree.

“I took it as a sign I should follow my true passion and knew that Chaminade had one of the best forensic science programs in the country,” she said. “I decided to apply and luckily I got in.”

Hipp said she’s thankful for the strong educational foundation she built at Chaminade, where she thrived with small class sizes and engaging learning opportunities.

“The lab courses at Chaminade are built to give us hands-on experience that we can take into the real world,” she said. “I learned crime scene investigation techniques, including crime scene mapping and photography, latent fingerprint processing, and bloodstain pattern analysis.”

Along the way, she was able to build strong relationships with her professors and her peers.

Dr. David Carter and Jennifer Lai Hipp '17
Dr. David Carter and Jennifer Lai Hipp ’17 had a chance to catch up while Dr. Carter was in Indianapolis.

One of those mentors was Dr. David Carter, director of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade.

Hipp said Carter was “integral” to her success at Chaminade — and beyond.

“He helped me with everything from registering for classes and planning out my academic year to giving me advice about careers and applying for graduate school,” she said.

“I was nervous about attending college, but Dr. Carter was always positive and supporting. He was also great to talk to when I needed a break from studying.”

Hipp said that Chaminade’s Dr. Robert Mann also helped her immensely in the program, including by serving as a “source of inspiration” and advice about jobs in the field.

She said Mann even helped her secure internship opportunities and encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a forensic anthropologist.

“The faculty of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade integrated their work experience in the field into the classroom, which I believe was an important part of my education. They were able to relate the material in the textbooks to the real world,” Hipp said.

“They also worked closely with all the forensic sciences students to create a resume, critique scientific journal articles, and practice giving professional presentations.”

All that preparation proved key to Hipp’s next steps: Seeking a graduate degree in pursuit of a career.

“Being a non-traditional student, I did not have the typical college experience,” Hipp said.

“But I found my professors very easy to relate to and had a wealth of knowledge about both college and the working world.”

Bringing the Aloha to California

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Huntington Beach gathering at Wahoo's

Dozens of Chaminade alumni gathered earlier this month in Huntington Beach, California for a good dose of aloha — and updates on some of the initiatives underway at their alma mater.

The Chaminade University ‘Ohana Gathering attracted a wide range of graduates, from those at Chaminade in the 1970s to one who graduated in May.

Huntington Beach gathering at Wahoo's

The October 3 meet-up was hosted by Chaminade graduates Tom and Barbara Orbe (‘73 and ‘76), and annually offers alums a chance to catch up with each other — and University administrators.

President Dr. Lynn Babington attended the get-together and touched on a number of key events, including the University’s first-ever Giving Day on Oct. 10 and the upcoming Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

One fun highlight of the evening: The reunion of former roommates Jim McGuirk ‘80 and Ralph Suarez ‘80, who jokingly referred to themselves as “Oscar and Felix” from “The Odd Couple.”

If you missed the California gathering, don’t worry, you’ll have the chance to come back to campus, connect with former Silverswords and reminisce about the “good times.”

The Alumni Reunion Weekend is happening spring 2020. The event, from April 17 to 19, will honor the Class of 1970 and feature fun events and activities that you won’t want to miss!