Chaminade University of Honolulu

Alumni

Education with a Higher Purpose

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Jayne Mondoy, Master of Pastoral Theology '00

Jayne Mondoy was teaching fifth through eighth grade at St. Elizabeth School in Central Oahu—and enjoying the work—when she felt driven to build her leadership skills. She started looking for a graduate program that could prepare her for the rigors of Catholic school administration.

And she found Chaminade’s Master of Pastoral Theology.

“School administration was something that I believe God was calling me to do,” said Mondoy, MPT ’00.

At Chaminade, Mondoy found a graduate program that incorporated both “practical aspects of responsible stewardship” and the mission of Catholic schools. “It really was a wonderful blending of both,” she said. “The education at Chaminade really served me well in building an awareness and a level of competence in areas that school administrators require—and certainly in my current position.”

That position is the director of the Office of Religious Education at the Diocese of Honolulu, a role Mondoy has held since 2005. Previously, she served as dean of curriculum and instruction at Saint Louis School and spent seven years teaching in Hawaii Catholic Schools.

Mondoy took a circuitous route to teaching and educational leadership.

In the late 1980s to mid-1990s, she and her husband were living in San Francisco and climbing the corporate ladder. He was in engineering and she was in merchant banking. Everything changed when they had their first child. They moved back to Hawaii, where they had both grown up.

And Mondoy decided to pursue a lifelong dream of teaching.

Education was fulfilling, challenging, inspiring—everything she’d hoped it would be. She knew administration was her next step, but she needed the right preparation. At Chaminade, she said, she found professors who were passionate and happy to give students individualized attention.

Jayne Monody, MPT '00, at Book release celebration as a new author for Loyola Press

“They actually are involved in the stuff they teach. It’s not theoretical,” Mondoy said. “I didn’t have to look too far to find mentors that helped me understand how stewardship mission truly works together.”

Mondoy added that she still uses the foundation she built at Chaminade in her everyday work.

And she continues to expand on her knowledge, too, including as a consultant for the National Conversations of Parish Life and Committee for Cultural Diversity with the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. Mondoy has also published extensively on religious education, including with her 2017 Loyola Press title, Cultivating Your Catechists: How to Recruit, Encourage, and Retain Successful Catechists.

She said she is especially excited about helping to build a stronger voice for Pacific Islanders in the national Catholic community. And she said Chaminade’s inclusive and rich campus environment helped prepare her for her current role in helping to highlight and celebrate a diversity of voices.

“I often reflect on my experiences at Chaminade, collaborating with a community of peoples from around the world. This was another way I was being prepared by just being on campus,” Mondoy said.

And to today’s emerging religious scholars considering Chaminade’s MPT program, she has this message: “Be open to that call because our world needs your voice, your leadership. Our world needs well-formed young people who have the compassion of Christ and can play that sensibility out.”

Alum Named Straub Clinic’s Most Valuable Team Player

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Michael Ono ‘14 made friends at Chaminade that he “still considers family” today.

It’s those relationships and others that have helped buoy him as he works on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic as a registered nurse at Straub Medical Center’s Kahala Clinic and Urgent Care. “Working as an RN during the pandemic has been challenging,” said Ono, who received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Chaminade. “But I am so happy to have a great team and leadership support.”

Michael Ono '14 named Straub Clinic's Most Valuable Team Player

And they are grateful for him, too.

In fact, Ono was recently recognized as the Straub Clinic Most Valuable Team Player. As part of centennial celebrations for Straub, he was also named a “100 for Straub 100” honoree—one of 100 employees who are continuing Dr. George Straub’s legacy of providing quality care to patients.

Ono was nominated for the Most Valuable Team Player recognition by Straub clinic colleague Sheryl Doropan, who called him a huge blessing. “Coming from an ER background, he knows how to handle the difficult situations that walk in,” she said, in a Straub Facebook post. “He’s a solution seeker and a team player, caring and always energetic. There’s never a dull moment working with him.”

Ono said as a Straub nurse, he sees patients of all ages.

He previously worked in the ER and the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit at Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. He said he is so grateful to his mentors at Chaminade and Kapiolani for helping him grow into the registered nurse he is today. “The ability to see their dedication to their patients and the community has helped me set the bar high for myself and keeps me engaged,” he said.

Ono added, “I am still learning so much about outpatient nursing.”

Alumna Motivated to Reframe Literacy

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Only 9% of students at Waianae High School can demonstrate competency in English Language Arts.

It’s an alarming statistic.

Shay Zykova, MEd '00

But for Shay Kaleo’oluho’iloliokawaipahe Zykova, MEd ’20, it’s also a motivator.

The ninth-grade English teacher says she’s on a mission to not only bolster her students’ reading comprehension and literacy skills, but help them develop a passion for words. That’s why she joined forces with her colleagues in 2020 to form a literacy team at her school with the intention of reshaping the Language Arts curriculum at Waianae High. She hopes to eventually take the model statewide.

“There’s a big need for literacy intervention and development,” said Zykova, who has designed her curriculum to put students at the center of their learning. They get to choose—as a class—what novels and other texts they want to read and what topics they want to write about. And along the way, they get intensive literacy instruction aimed at dramatically improving their reading and writing skills.

“We couldn’t stick with the status quo,” she said. “How can we read Shakespeare if I’ve got kids struggling to read words like ‘cat’? I want to give my students complete control over the novels they’re reading in class. It’s really exciting, a little bit stressful and 100% student-directed.”

Zykova’s work hasn’t gone unnoticed.

The National Council of Teachers of English recently named her a recipient of its 2021 Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award. The recognition includes mentorship support, career development opportunities and an invitation to attend and present at upcoming NCTE conferences.

Zykova is delighted at the chance to build her skills—and build out her program.

“The real goal is to reframe what literacy is. I want my students to read things for fun,” she said.

Zykova started teaching in Hawaii in 2018, after a stint as an ESL instructor in St. Petersburg, Russia. (Her husband is Russian.) “It really was the starting point for everything,” Zykova said, of teaching English overseas. “I got that job and realized, ‘I don’t really know English as well as I thought I did.’

“That was my introduction to teaching.”

At the same time, Zykova was in contact with friends back in Hawaii who were teaching in public and charter schools. She said she realized that she needed to return to the islands—and pursue a degree in teaching. During her first year in Hawaii schools, she served as a long-term substitute at Kuuelawela Elementary in Kalihi. The following year, she was selected for the Teach for America (TFA) program and assigned to Waianae High. At the same time, as part of a partnership with TFA, she enrolled in Chaminade’s Master of Education in Instructional Leadership cohort program.

She said that first year of teaching was anything but easy. “I had high school students reading at the kindergarten and preschool level. I thought, ‘What is going?’ I was completely lost,” she said. But she got through it, thanks to the relationships she was building at her school and at Chaminade.

She quickly realized that the “prescribed curriculum” would need some tweaking.

And she started to look for ways to make reading and writing relevant to students. For her students’ argumentative essays, for example, she encouraged them to choose topics that were of consequence to them. Some considered the debate over the Thirty Meter Telescope at Mauna Kea. Others wrote about being multi-ethnic in Hawaii. One student wrote about the benefits of slippers over shoes.

As Zykova continuously tweaked the trajectory of her class, she says she was thankful to have Chaminade peers and mentors who could offer additional insight and guidance. She said Chaminade instructor Ralph Keahi Renaud inspired her to reflect on her Native Hawaiian identity and how it informs her teaching. After his course, she enrolled in Hawaiian language classes (and is still taking them).

Zykova also found mentors in Chaminade instructor Jessica Martinez, who taught language development, and Associate Professor and Director of Teacher Preparation Programs Katrina Roseler, who oversaw her capstone experience.

The preparation helped Zykova through 2020, a tough year for everyone—especially students and teachers. She said remote learning allowed her to throw her old plan out the window entirely and try a new direction aimed at getting students engaged (and keeping them engaged).

It worked.

“My attendance was 85 to 95%. The majority of students were in class every single day,” she said, adding one of her many future goals is to help her students not only expand what they’re reading but start telling their own stories. “I’m hoping my students will publish,” Zykova said.

Once a Silversword Always a Silversword

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Jeannie Lum

Chaminade Director of Alumni Relations Jeannie Lum ’05, MBA ’07 believes building strong alumni relationships begins long before students walk across that stage to accept their diplomas. It starts, she says, on their first day at Chaminade—and throughout their time at the University.

“The whole journey of becoming an alumni begins when you’re a student,” said Lum.

That approach to alumni relations means that one of Lum’s top priorities since taking on her directorship role at Chaminade in April has been reconnecting with graduates, rekindling their fond memories of the University, and asking them what they want their alumni network to look like.

It was that work that led to the creation of a new alumni council.

The council is a group of engaged—and proud—Silversword alumni from different graduating classes. Members bring a diversity of perspectives and a variety of ideas about what it means to celebrate Chaminade. Lum described the group as part focus group and part planning committee.

“They represent various years and right now, we’re brainstorming ideas and looking to get the momentum going,” Lum said. “These alums have a huge affinity for Chaminade and its mission—and they want to show their support. I am so looking forward to how they will inform our direction.”

The council is now eight members strong, and Lum said she’s interested in expanding it.

She also sees the council members as ambassadors for their classes, helping her office get out communications about upcoming events, reunions or other opportunities. “They’re also spreading the word for us, reposting our appeals on social media. It all comes full circle,” Lum said.

“These people have the same heartbeat for Chaminade.”

As a graduate of Chaminade, Lum also brings her own passion for the university to her work. She attended the University after going to Catholic schools and wanted to select an institution that would offer small class sizes, a warm and supportive atmosphere and an emphasis on serving others.

She said she learned about Chaminade at a college fair at her school.

“I thought, ‘This is definitely the school for me,’” she said. “The focus was on the whole person.”

While a student at Chaminade, Lum actually had an internship at the Advancement office and got an early taste for alumni relations and giving. And after graduation, she remained connected to Chaminade.

“Chaminade has never left my heart,” she said, adding that as she started her family she didn’t have quite as much time for volunteering. Lum said her own experience as a busy mom and a devoted grad has underscored how individualized approaches are needed for alums at different stages in their lives.

Her message to Chaminade alumni is simple: we want to reconnect with you.

She’s inviting graduates to support the University in whatever ways they’re interested in, and she’s hoping the council will also provide additional inroads for alumni to get reengaged. After all, Lum said, “There’s just something magical about this place. Everybody who comes here has a connection.”

Meet the Alumni Council

Roselee Aguigui, Chaminade University Alumni Council
Roselee Aguigui ’18
B.A. Business Administration

Roselee was technically born on an airplane en route to Honolulu but was raised in Guam. She currently resides on O’ahu and is a government recruiter. Her favorite Chaminade memory is the 2017 Pacific Island Review where she was able to showcase Guam through dance—saying it was the best experience ever. Her advice to fellow alumni is to not be afraid to reach out, ask questions and use everything you possibly can as a resource.

Ohulani Aiona Battisto, Chaminade University Alumni Council
Ohulani Aiona Battisto, MBA ’08
Master of Business Administration

Ohulani is a full-time mommy and was born and raised in Kapolei. Her favorite memory of Chaminade is being part of a family and working with people who have the same drive and goals—giving her confidence as well as a sense of team. She says that Chaminade is an amazing school that is a family and pushes you to grow, adding that you will also make lifetime connections.

Suzy Cerda, Chaminade University Alumni Council
Suzy Cerda ’92
B.S. International Relations

Suzy was born in Honolulu, moved to New Jersey and return to Hawai‘i to attend Chaminade. For the past 22 years, she has been an insurance agent. Suzy says all of her fondest memories at Chaminade pertain to life in the residence halls and being on campus—shenanigans and hilarity that occurred on a daily basis will never be forgotten. She says that most of her lifelong friendships were forged at Chaminade. Suzy looks forward to being active in the Chaminade community again.

Antonia Coffelt, Chaminade Alumni Council
Antonia Coffelt ’05
B.A. Communication

Antonia’s favorite memory of Chaminade is the long days and late nights in Eiben Hall editing The Silversword (student newspaper). She credits Chaminade with not only a place where she earned her degree but a place where she made lifelong friends and realized that being a genuinely rapt guest in the Islands was the key to her immersion. Fun fact, Antonia may live in Chicago, but she still has an 808 phone number.

Luana Moreno, Chaminade University Alumni Council
Luana Moreno ’17
B.A. Religious Studies

Originally from California, Luana’s favorite memory of Chaminade is graduation. She believes that Chaminade provided her the opportunity to learn more about the world’s differences and similarities in beliefs, and the way that our minds are impacted by our environments. And in turn, provides acceptance of all people and a willingness to learn and give back. Luana currently serves as an advocate for the Hawaii Domestic Violence Action Center.

Jana Paz, Chaminade University Alumni Council
Jana Paz ’98, MBA ’18
B.A. Business Administration
Master of Business Administration
Hogan Entrepreneurs Certificate

Jana currently serves as the assistant vice president of M.Dyer Global. Originally from O’ahu, she has lived and worked in the mainland and Hawai‘i. She currently sits on the board for the Western Motor Tariff Bureau, Kalaheo High School Foundation and Alumni Association, and is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Hawaii Chapter, a Vistage Member, as well as being actively involved in her high school community and graduating class. Jana is a strong believer in teamwork, collaboration, communication and transparency.

Pono Riddle, Academic Advisor and Internship Coordinator
Andre “Pono” Riddle ’18
B.S. Psychology

Pono currently serves as a Chaminade academic advisor. He enjoys listening to music, spending time with friends and family, working out at the gym, reading, catching up on tv shows and sleeping. He joined the Alumni Council because he hopes to be a voice for young alumni—helping them to stay involved and connected, wherever they may live.

Kuldip Shergill, Chaminade University Alumni Council
Kuldip Shergill ’10, MBA ’12
B.S. Accounting
Master of Business Administration

Born and raised in American Samoa, Kuldip currently resides in Hawai‘i and has his own production company and YouTube channel—you’ll know him as Kooldip. He says he can’t pinpoint his favorite Chaminade memory because he had so many “crazy moments” and would like to keep some of them a secret. He says, “happiness! You’ll never catch it by pursuing it! So if there’s anything I want my fellow alums and Chaminade community to know is, live happy in the present!”

Chaminade’s Advancement Team is on a Mission to Build Relationships

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Gary Cordova, vice president of Advancement at Chaminade, says his job—and the work of his five-member team—is all about building strong relationships. With alumni, with members of the broader community and with others who understand and believe in Chaminade’s strong social service mission.

Chaminade's Advancement team photo

“We have immediate needs for the university, but relationship building is in the long view,” Cordova said. “The engagement approaches have to be individualized—it’s not a one size fits all. Philanthropy is so impactful in the lives of our students and we need to ensure we’re conveying that message.”

Cordova took over his current role at the University in July 2020, bringing more than 20 years of experience in public and private universities and independent private schools. And he’s hit the ground running, bringing on team members to stabilize what he calls the three-legged stool of advancement.

Two of those legs are enrollment management and public funding.

The third leg—private philanthropy—required significant short- and long-term strategic planning.

“That’s where we come in,” Cordova said, of his office, adding that one of his top priorities has been beginning the work of building a strong alumni outreach program and conducting relationship-building with community philanthropists who share and understand Chaminade’s mission.

Data science students in classroom

That work has already paid off.

Cordova said the University’s Chaminade Fund, which offers direct aid to students, saw an increase in support during last academic year and beat previous records. The help, he added, was more needed than ever as many students and their families struggled financially because of the COVID pandemic.

Serving with Cordova in the Advancement office are:

  • Jill Higashi, assistant vice president of Advancement
  • Jeanne Lum, ‘05, MBA ‘07, director of alumni relations
  • Kendra Sia, director of the Annual Fund
  • And Joanne Nakano, executive assistant to the vice president

It’s been Lum, working closely with other members of the team, who has sought to build an alumni network from the ground up. Cordova said reconnection and engagement are key to bringing Chaminade graduates—no matter when they got their degrees—back into the fold.

Chaminade alums at the alumni reunion in 2019

Perhaps most importantly, Cordova added, alumni need to be reminded of their warm memories of Chaminade and that whatever they give back to the institution (in treasure or time) is so very valuable.

“Universities with very strong alumni programs have very strong endowments. Because they are engaged and they believe in the engagement,” he said. “We need to reimagine our alumni program to reach a varied alumni community. We need to engage our alumni in the life of the university.”

To help do just that, Lum has created an Alumni Council made up of graduates across the decades.

She has also sought to set up exciting opportunities for alumni to offer networking and career development opportunities to current students, and has begun to bolster outreach and communications with alumni about upcoming events and initiatives at the University.

“We want people to remember why they love Chaminade so much,” she said.

Cordova added that alumni relations don’t begin at graduation. The Advancement team is seeking to build bridges between alumni and current students so that both groups feel like they’re part of the same family—“this culture of connectedness that’s got them bleeding blue and white.”

The same goes for broader philanthropic outreach, Cordova said.

He said his team members have sought to strengthen relationships with those who have already given to the university, offering not only their gratitude but important details about where their donations went and how much of a difference it made in the lives of students and their academic journeys.

“How do we create systems that can intentionally engage with our supporters? That’s an important question for us in our planning and outreach,” Cordova said. “When we are reporting the effectiveness of a gift over time—helping donors understand the power of their contribution—we are creating a stronger relationship and potentially creating a cycle of philanthropy that never ends.”

Alumna Creates Scholarship to Pay It Forward

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Caylee Orsinger '11 posing for the camera in her work uniform

Caylee Orsinger ’11 may live and work in Oklahoma, but her heart is still in the Islands. To prove that, you need look no further than the name she gave her medical distributorship company—Aloha Medical—or the slogan she puts on her business cards: “Where aloha meets medicine.”

It’s that passion for Hawai‘i and its people that drove her to think about ways to give back.

And after reaching out to a mentor at Chaminade, Biology Assistant Professor Dr. Jolene Cogbill, she made up her mind: she decided to establish a scholarship at Chaminade to help STEM-focused students achieve their dreams. The Caylee Orsinger Scholarship will help support 10 STEM students in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. The funding is available to rising juniors or to incoming transfer students.

It’s not every day someone celebrating the 10-year reunion of her college graduation sets up a scholarship fund. But Orsinger said her upbringing in Hawai‘i and her time at Chaminade solidified her resolve to pay it forward. “It’s a full circle. We get out what we put in,” she said.

“I always wanted to donate to science technology and invest in other people.”

Just like people invested in her.

Caylee Orsinger '11 scrapbook page of her graduation from Chaminade

Orsinger said the scholarships she was awarded at Chaminade made a significant difference, and sometimes all the difference, in helping her accomplish her goals. “I worked my way through college and tried to make my way through school,” she said. “Scholarships were huge. They helped me a lot.”

Orsinger grew up on Maui and graduated from King Kekaulike High School in Pukalani.

She knew she wanted to pursue the sciences, but didn’t see herself flourishing in lecture halls with hundreds of students. That’s when she learned about Chaminade and jumped at the chance to pursue a degree in Biology at a campus with smaller class sizes and a strong public service mission.

And once enrolled, she learned about the University’s leading Forensic Sciences program.

She ended up double majoring, with an eye toward eventually becoming a doctor.

After graduation, she moved to Oklahoma to begin preparing to apply for medical school. But while there, her life took another path. She was bartending when she ran into someone who owned a medical distributorship company. She ended up getting a job there to gain valuable experience.

“I fell in love with it,” she said.

Orsinger’s work takes her into operating rooms, where she ensures surgeons and other healthcare professionals have the tools and equipment they need for complicated procedures. She is also proud to serve the community of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of two Cherokee tribes.

And she’s excited about continuing to grow her company.

She said she’s hopeful her trajectory since graduation—from her small Maui upbringing to a rising entrepreneur—offers inspiration to Chaminade students just beginning on their path to a profession.

She has some advice for them, too: remember all the support and encouragement you got as you sought to accomplish your goals so you can do the same for someone else one day. Facing a group of young people seeking degrees in STEM, she would tell them to “never get discouraged.” She would also leave them with some food for thought: “how are you going to give back later?”