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Chaminade University Appoints Dr. Asoke Datta as Assistant Dean

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Chaminade University has named alumnus Asoke Datta, Ed.D., as the new Assistant Dean of the School of Business and Communication. Working closely with the Dean, he will assess, develop and implement systems, processes and organizational changes and provide leadership to further the University’s mission.

Dr. Asoke Datta, assistant dean of the School of Business and Communication

“We are pleased to welcome back Dr. Datta to our Chaminade ‘ohana,” said Chaminade University President Dr. Lynn Babington. “He has incredible experience in serving the students and youth of Hawai‘i, and we are confident that his leadership will prove invaluable in identifying and nurturing new opportunities for our students and programs.”

With nearly 20 years of experience, Datta most recently served as Assistant Dean of the College of Business at Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU). Prior to that, he held a number of other positions at HPU, including Assistant Dean of Distance Education, Off Campus Programs and Assistant Dean of Academics, Military Campus Programs. Datta began his career in education at Chaminade University, where he served as Records Specialist in the Office of the Registrar and as Program Coordinator & Academic Advisor for the Accelerated Undergraduate Program.

Datta received his bachelor’s degree in History from the College of Charleston in South Carolina, his master’s degree in Criminal Justice Administration from Chaminade University, and his education doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California.

For more information on Chaminade University’s School of Business and Communication, visit chaminade.edu/business-and-communication.

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Chaminade University of Honolulu provides a collaborative and innovative learning environment that prepares graduate and undergraduate students for life, service and successful careers. Established in 1955, the university is guided by its Catholic, Marianist and liberal arts educational traditions, which include a commitment to serving the Native Hawaiian population. Chaminade offers an inclusive setting where students, faculty and staff collectively pursue a more just and peaceful society. For more information, visit chaminade.edu.

Economics, Democracy and Entrepreneurship

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Over decades of work as an educator and activist, Li Schoolland ’88 has appeared before young professionals in fledgling democracies around the globe to underscore the importance of cherishing—and fighting to preserve—freedom and to offer a path forward in crafting a free market future.

She counts among her former students the mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania, along with countless policymakers, advocates and leaders of non-governmental organizations across Eastern Europe, China, the Middle East and elsewhere. Last year, she was on the road for 200 days—traveling to 24 countries.

Schoolland, speaking from her Waipahu home on a recent day, says she’s driven by two passions in life.

“One is God,” she says. “One is liberty.”

And even amid the pandemic, with traveling out of the question, she’s continued her work. In September, she was preparing to speak to virtual classrooms in Africa, China and Europe via Zoom, a medium that she admits took some getting used to but that she’s proud to have since mastered.

Schoolland accomplishes her work thanks to loose affiliations with a number of international organizations and strong relationships with an army of economists worldwide. She says she doesn’t ask for speaking fees—and kindly requests that they all do the same.

In return, she says, she gets to see the positive impact of her work.

“Coming from a Communist country inspired me to help,” she said.

Schoolland grew up in China, the daughter of a surgeon and a professor, and says she saw the cruel injustices of authoritarian Communist rule firsthand. When she moved to the United States in the 1980s, she vowed to do whatever she could to promote liberal economics and do some good in the world.

After completing a Master’s degree in Japanese literature at the University of Minnesota, Schoolland made her way to the islands to enroll in Chaminade’s Master’s degree in Japanese Business Studies. She describes the program, which was offered through a corporate partnership, as “intense” and immersive.

“The experience was very valuable,” she said. “Six days of classes and a lot of homework.”

As part of the degree, she was able to complete a three-month internship in Japan. She was interested in retail so sought an internship at a department store. During her time there, she helped the merchandising department develop a new brand that launched in the store.

After graduation, Schoolland remained in retail, working with Duty Free and then starting her own business as an art dealer. She also worked with a Japanese development company into the early 1990s.

The crash of the Japanese economy in 1991, though, changed the course of her life.

The business she worked for had to liquidate and Schoolland found herself with a new purpose: as the caregiver to elderly relatives. She went back into the workplace seven years later, as a teacher. By then, she wasn’t interested in the hectic, round-the-clock world of development or retail. She wanted a position that would allow her to spend time, especially the holidays, with her family.

Schoolland found a teaching position at Punahou, where her daughter was attending school.

And during breaks, she and her daughter would try to squeeze in as much travel as they could.

At every destination, Schoolland would wear her teaching hat, sharing what she knew with others.

That wanderlust grew into a mission: Schoolland and her husband, also an economist, started coordinating educational camps and conferences for young professionals. Oftentimes, the events were in partnership with local universities. The topics: Free market economics and democracy.

Schoolland’s work has taken her across Eastern Europe, from Lithuania to Latvia to Estonia to Poland.

About 10 years ago, she was delighted to finally set up an event in China. She partnered with Northeastern University there and developed a summer school program with about 100 students. Last year, more than 200 students attended to hear well-known economists from around the world.

The speakers, she said, “sacrifice and they don’t get paid” to attend the events.

So far this year, Schoolland has had to cancel more than seven trips internationally. That hasn’t discouraged her. If anything, it has redoubled her resolve to promote market economics, democracy and entrepreneurship. She said she can’t wait to get back on the road (and in the air) when she’s able to.

Pushing Boundaries: Sushi with Attitude

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Remi Kohno '15

At Chaminade University, we talk a lot about adaptation and change—educating for adaptation and change is one of the five core tenets of a Marianist education. The concept is woven throughout our curricula, and our students learn about the importance of embracing change and adapting to meet it as they move through our programs.

Adapting to change is something that is very familiar to Remi Kohno ‘15. She came to Chaminade University from Pasadena, California to play basketball and major in elementary education. But after her first year, she realized neither of those were the right fit. She didn’t like the competition she found on the basketball court, and teaching wasn’t her passion. So she quit the basketball team and switched her major to communications with a focus in marketing.

Her junior year brought even more change when she joined the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program. It quickly started pushing her out of her comfort bubble, and it altered the way she reacted to pressure. 

“I saw all these great people join the Hogan program and I wanted to be just like them,” recalls Kohno. “Hogan definitely pushed my boundaries, which was nice. It really helped me grow as a person, both professionally and personally.”

Students who are accepted into the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program spend one or two years learning what it takes to become a successful entrepreneur. They mingle and network with some of Hawaii’s biggest business leaders, they travel, they participate in internships and they work with industry leaders to design their own business plans and fine tune their public speaking abilities.

The program helped Kohno break out of her shell and become more confident in her abilities to lead and engage.

One moment in particular stands out in her memory. Every Wednesday evening, Hogan participants gather to welcome and learn from a guest speaker from the Hawaii business industry. Guests range from Mattson Davis, the former president and CEO of Kona Brewing Co., to Chuck Cardinal, a former Colonel in the United States Army and the former Chief of Staff to a WWII Commander.

On this particular night, the speaker was Eddie Flores, Jr., the founder of L&L Hawaiian BBQ. Flores has an inspiring story—he’s the son of immigrant parents and the eldest of seven children. His family moved to Hawaii from China when he was a young child. His father worked as a janitor and his mother worked as a restaurant cashier and dishwasher. He himself struggled with a learning disability growing up that kept him behind in school. But as a young man, he worked hard, ultimately earning enough money to buy his mother a restaurant, in what would become the first L&L location. His restaurant chain now has over 200 locations and in 2019 it was ranked as the No. 1 Asian food franchise by Entrepreneur. 

Kohno had been designated as the evening’s notetaker, which meant it was her job to document Flores’ speech and at the end of the evening, stand up to present a recap to her classmates while Flores watched on.

She was just a little intimidated. “You’re listening and engaging, but you’re also taking notes so that you can structure it into a recap and presentation,” remembers Kohno. “After [Flores] was done, I had to go up in front of the whole class and do a quick overview of what was most important. It was nerve-wracking. But then I got to give him a lei, which was nice and helped alleviate any tension.”

Remi Kohno '15 at the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Multicultural Student program

Kohno’s senior year, right after returning from a semester studying abroad in France, one of her professors recommended her for the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Multicultural Student program. She was one of only a handful of students selected from across the nation to participate in the intensive immersion program, designed to connect diverse up-and-coming advertising talent with some of the largest advertisers in the nation. She once again found herself at the airport, ready to embrace the unknown, this time in New York City.

Luckily, she had learned how to network and interact with business leaders through the Hogan program. “We got to meet a ton of people and tour their facilities and headquarters,” says Kohno. “It was an opportunity to connect with businesses and send them your resume, and hopefully get a follow up interview to help jumpstart your career after college.”

Through all of the change and opportunity that came her way at Chaminade, Hogan taught Kohno to remain calm and collected, and cool under pressure. Through Hogan and her professors, she learned to see challenge as opportunity. It’s something that has served her well after college, particularly today.

Remi Kohno '15 with her family—Sushi With Attitude

Before COVID, her family ran a small restaurant stall called Sushi with Attitude at a night market in Los Angeles. While she has a full-time job at NBC during the day, she helps them on the side. When the pandemic shut down the market, they had to completely rethink their strategy and their focus. With Kohno’s help, they converted the business into a cloud kitchen model, meaning they are operating completely on delivery apps without a storefront, and launched a new product: the sushibi. It’s a combination of sushi and musubi.

“We wanted to offer musubi, but a lot of people in Los Angeles don’t know what they are,” says Kohno. “We also wanted to be able to show up in the sushi category on delivery apps—it is one of the most used keywords. So we rebranded our musubi to be sushibi to bridge the gap.”

The business has received a bit of media attention as a result, and Kohno’s Hogan training has come in useful.

Remi Kohno '15 and her family being interviewed for their family business, Sushi With Attitude

“Hogan helped me learn to speak and structure what I’m going to say, which has helped a lot with media interviews,” says Kohno. “I recently interviewed with KTLA news. I was really nervous because it was live, but it was nice to be able to do something that I wasn’t really comfortable with, and Hogan taught me how to do that.”

Kohno attributes much of her recent success to Hogan and the opportunities she had at Chaminade. “Definitely Hogan, all of the professors I had at Chaminade and being part of the American Advertising Federation, they have all helped me grow into this role that I have right now.”

She works full-time as a manager in paid social media at NBC. And only five years after graduating from college, she feels like she’s almost landed her dream job.

“I love what I do at NBC. They’re a really great company,” says Kohno. “I want to continue to grow and become a director, and continue to be knowledgeable about all the various platforms and their nuances and updates. That is my dream goal. I think I’m almost there.”

Keeping Communities Afloat

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Close to 200 community leaders gathered online for Chaminade’s 17th annual Nonprofit Organizations Seminar on August 14. While the event has become an annual staple of Chaminade’s School of Business and Communication, this year’s seminar felt even more timely and served as a testament to the incredible work that nonprofits across the state do to protect the most vulnerable communities during times of need.

“It is a challenging time right now for nonprofits,” says Dr. Bill Rhey, the new dean of the School of Business and Communication at Chaminade University. Under the leadership of the Seminar’s Board, the school waived this year’s registration fee and offered the seminar free of charge. “With all of the uncertainty around COVID-19, many nonprofits are stretched thin—they’re working longer, harder hours with fewer resources and more risks to keep their communities afloat. This event was our way of telling the community that we see you, we hear you, and we’re here to support you.”

Screenshot from the Nonprofit Organizations Seminar 2020

The all-day event called on well-known speakers from across the state to help nonprofit leaders stay abreast of new changes and develop new skills and techniques for running their organizations. The morning focused on relevant financial updates for organizations. Trever K. Asam, partner at Cades Schutte, followed tradition of seminars past in presenting his annual IRS Federal Tax Update and helped listeners understand recent developments for tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations. He was followed by Tom Yamachika, president of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii, who explained how to apply and respond to new tax laws.

The technical sessions of the morning were followed by more high-level conversations around governance and program evaluation in the afternoon. Chaminade Professor Richard Kido discussed board governance and responsibility and Linda Axtell-Thompson, principal of Axtell Consulting LLC and adjunct faculty member at Chaminade, followed later in the afternoon with a presentation on governance ethics.

The lunchtime session featured Thomas Kelly, Jr., an expert in nonprofit program evaluation who joined the Hawaii Community Foundation as vice president for knowledge, evaluation and learning in 2012, after spending 13 years managing evaluations at the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore. Kelly walked participants through how to evaluate program impacts, and then how to use those impacts to communicate successes to constituents and donors.

“Donors are interested to know how well a nonprofit is performing, how much progress it’s making and whether it’s contributing positively to the community,” explained Kelly. “If a nonprofit actually spends the time to report out its impact and measures of progress and success, then it can actually influence donors to invest in them.”

This message was particularly relevant today, as the fundraising landscape for nonprofits looks vastly different than it did a year ago. In 2019, the U.S. was the most charitable country in the world, with 175 million Americans donating to charities. Nonprofits accounted for $2.5 trillion in revenue and employed nearly 12 million people.

But according to a recent poll by LendingTree, 15 percent of donors have paused donations due to income loss, and 5 percent have decreased the amount they contribute. And a March survey by Quickbooks found that 47 percent of donors were giving less than they were a month ago. Stories about nonprofit layoffs and furloughs due to revenue loss are plenty. Yet, at the same time, many nonprofits are seeing an increase in demand for resources and programs as communities struggle to navigate the economic downturn.

“As a Marianist institution, it is our responsibility to serve our community,” says Dr. Lynn Babington, president of Chaminade University. “Right now our community is facing a tremendous economic crisis with no foreseeable end. We are forever grateful to the nonprofit leaders and workers who are serving on the frontlines during this crisis, and it is our duty to support them during this time of need.”

Dr. William Rhey Named Dean

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After an extensive search, Chaminade is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. William Rhey as the University’s new Dean of the School of Business and Communication.

Dr. William Rhey, dean of the School of Business and Communication

Rhey comes to Chaminade with years of experience in university leadership roles, including most recently as the Dean of Hawaii Pacific University’s College of Business.

In addition to an impressive resume and a history of fostering development and growth at business schools, Rhey also brings a strong enthusiasm and belief in Chaminade’s strong public service mission.

He is especially passionate about the role of ethics in business development and entrepreneurship.

Rhey takes on this new challenge as the state faces an uncertain economic future. Chaminade looks forward to the School of Business and Communication serving as a hub of expertise and solutions as Hawaii looks to diversify its economy and bolster new and emerging growth areas.

In his new role, Rhey also hopes to explore opportunities for growing the School of Business and Communication in ways that meet community needs, including by offering new graduate programs and tracks, micro-credential and certificate programs, and other continued learning opportunities.

Rhey’s scholarly pursuits include entrepreneurship, business ethics, and international marketing.

He received his doctoral degree in Marketing at the University of Mississippi, and has master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration from Baylor University and Bucknell University, respectively.

Rhey is also proud to volunteer his time at several organizations that serve the community, including the Hawaiian Council for Economic Education and the Metro Honolulu Rotary Board.

Chaminade looks forward to Rhey’s leadership at the Dean of the School of Business and Communication, and welcomed him to campus on July 1.

Alum’s Passions Turn into Business Ventures

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It’s not often that our childhood fantasies turn out to be true. For many of us, our dreams of going to the moon one day or riding on the back of a garbage truck are never realized.

But for the lucky ones, like Dan Mangum ‘18, the life they envision as a child turns out to be exactly what adulthood is all about. 

Dan Mangum '18

Growing up, Mangum had two passions in life: music and basketball. And a family trip to Hawaii in the fourth grade left him determined to make the islands his home as an adult.

Now, as a young professional, Mangum has made a career for himself in both music and basketball, all from his island home in Honolulu.

As a high-school senior in New York, eight years after that life-changing trip to Hawaii, Mangum had his eyes set on studying in the Islands. He explored a few schools, but Chaminade stood out. He liked that the classes were small and that he would be able to form relationships with his professors and classmates.

“I didn’t want to be just another statistic in the classroom,” describes Mangum. “I was hoping to develop long-term relationships with my professors and classmates, which, looking back, was absolutely the case.”

His parents were also impressed with how responsive and attentive the Chaminade staff was. It’s not easy for a parent to agree to let their child travel 5,000 miles away and across the Pacific for school. But the Chaminade admissions team took the time to answer all of their questions, no matter how small they were. That put his mom at ease.

At first, Mangum was struck with culture shock. Hawaii was polar opposite to New York—he had grown up with long, cold winters and a fast-paced energy, and suddenly he was surrounded by a warm tropical climate where everything operated on island-time.

Chaminade was also the most diverse school he had ever attended.

“At Chaminade, my immediate group of friends included people from American Samoa, Guam, Hawaii and Australia,” says Mangum. “I don’t think you’re going to get diversity like that many other places.”

It didn’t take long for Mangum to adjust to the island lifestyle. He’s always been an outdoorsy person, and Oahu had so much to offer. He knew a lot of people that went off to college and started spending a lot of time at parties and at bars, but he didn’t want that for himself.

“I didn’t want to fall into the trap of just going to bars for four years,” he recalls. “Being on an island gave me healthier choices and provided alternative sources of fun, like hiking, surfing and diving.”

He remembers one of his philosophy professors, Dr. Peter Steiger, taking him and a few of his friends out surfing one morning during his freshman year.

“He woke us up at 5 a.m. and took us to this awesome local surf spot,” says Mangum. “He spent the day surfing with us and teaching us about local culture. I don’t think there’s a better place to learn philosophy than during sunrise on the ocean.”

But Mangum’s favorite class was news writing with Adjunct Professor Kim Baxter. He liked the class so much that he took it twice. Mangum was a writer for the student newspaper, the Silversword, and Baxter used to work for ESPN. She knew Mangum was a huge sports fan, so when the Clippers came to Honolulu for their pre-season games, she got Mangum a press pass to attend the team’s games and practices.

“I remember sitting courtside at this game, and I was right next to the reporters from the L.A. Times and ESPN. And here I was this 21-year-old kid from Chaminade,” says Mangum. “Not only was it an experience that I don’t think you can get at any other school, but it really gave me confidence that a professor who I had a lot of respect for was willing to put her reputation on the line for me.”

Dan Mangum '18 with Bro. Bernie Pleoger (9th president of Chaminade University)

At Chaminade, Mangum was also part of the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program. Students who participate in the program meet several times a week to learn the ins and outs of starting and running a business, and they network with business leaders around the Island. He found a second family through the Hogan program and a true mentor in retired Hogan director Dr. John Webster, and it gave him the connections he needed to launch one of his companies post-graduation—an adult basketball league.

Today, the league meets weekly at the Honolulu Club and encompasses four teams and over 30 players. The sales manager at the club was familiar with the Hogan program, and had faith enough in Mangum to offer up the space for the league’s games. One of Mangum’s Hogan mentors now also plays in the league.

Dan Mangum '18

As a communications major, Mangum took away two key lessons: how to write and how to market. He believes he’ll use those skills for the rest of his career.

After graduating he became the full-time marketing director for Nextdoor, a cinema lounge and concert hall in Honolulu’s Chinatown. He promotes their concerts, secures sponsorships and works with musicians to encourage them to visit Honolulu while on tour.

He also started his own company to book shows for musicians on the neighbor islands, and to market and promote events and small businesses. He loves his job—it puts him in contact with some of the musicians he used to idolize as a teenager.

Dan Mangum '18 and his parents

“These are all musicians that I was a huge fan of in high school,” says Mangum. “And now, just a few years later, I am able to be in business and work with them, which was a pretty cool realization.”

Coronavirus lockdowns have put much of his career on hold—concert venues are closed, musicians have paused their tours and the basketball league is postponed. But as a Chaminade graduate, the importance of adaptation and change is deeply ingrained in him. The core Marianist value has proved crucial as he finds ways to navigate the future.

“We’ve been adapting with various strategies to make sure we stay relevant, to find new ways to operate,” says Mangum. “I definitely credit Chaminade’s core values for helping me think through that.”

Mangum doesn’t know what the future holds, but if he can continue on his current path, he’ll be a happy man.

“I really love what I do now,” says Mangum. “I just hope to keep expanding and do it on a larger scale. Some day, I’d love to sell out something like the Blaisdell Arena. For now, I’ll just keep working harder and doing more.”