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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.”

The Importance of Kindness

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When Henry “Jamie” Holcombe first arrived on-island in 1986 as an Army Officer, he knew he wanted an MBA. He explored a few different universities, and ultimately settled on Chaminade University.

Alexandria, Virginia -- February 27, 2019 -- Portrait of Jamie Holcombe, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). (Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO)

He was Catholic, and he liked that Chaminade educated in the Marianist tradition. But he was also attracted to the diversity that the campus offered.

And thus began his two-year foray acting as soldier by day, and student by night.

Over 30 years later, and Holcombe finds he still uses the knowledge he gained at Chaminade nearly every single day.

He’s the Chief Information Officer at The United States Patent and Trademark Office, and his department is responsible for overseeing nearly 10,600,000 patents.

When someone comes up with an idea that they want to implement, they have to make sure that it’s a unique and novel idea and that if they were to patent it, their patent would stand up in a court of law.

His office is responsible for designing and maintaining an easy-to-use platform so people all over the world can search for unique and novel ideas. His team relies heavily on computers and search algorithms, and builds classifications for all types of information, from genetics and microbiology to artificial intelligence.

Chaminade’s prime location offered Holcombe a valuable insight into Eastern business philosophies, which, as a businessman, has proved invaluable. When he was a student, Japan’s economy was surging and served as a great model to study. He also gained a better understanding of Japanese culture which is vital as he works regularly with his counterpart in Japan.

But the one thing that really impacted Holcombe, and that he reflects on every single day, are the pillars of the Marianist philosophy. At Chaminade, Holcombe came to value the importance of having a heart and extending kindness toward others. “I try to use kindness as a theme throughout my management style,” he says. “We’re all about results and getting things done better and faster, but life is too short. You have to have kindness.”

Student Named to Most Promising Multicultural Class of 2020

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Chaminade Communication senior Sofia Vela jetted off to New York in February for a four-day conference of the American Advertising Federation’s Most Promising Multicultural Class of 2020.

Sofia Vela in NYC for Most Promising Multicultural program

Vela was among just 50 students from around the country selected for the class, a prestigious honor that recognized her portfolio of work and academic accomplishments. A panel of industry representatives from across a host of big-name companies selected the honorees.

The federation launched the Most Promising Multicultural Student program in 1997 to link the advertising industry with top multicultural students from around the country, setting up sit-downs with mentors and recruiters in a bid to create a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

Those selected this year traveled to New York from February 10 to 13 for a packed agenda—with workshops, “industry immersion” opportunities, and the Building Bridge for our Future luncheon.

The students were also treated to a Broadway show: “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.”

Vela said she couldn’t contain her excitement when she’d found out she was selected for the honor.

And the New York City conference didn’t disappoint. “I had no idea that this trip would be so life-changing,” Vela said. “Each MPM student was hard-working and driven. Together, we lifted each other up and created an energy that continues to motivate me, even after returning home.”

All the honorees in the class are minorities and 43 are women. The diversity left Vela inspired. “We were all there for a similar, unspoken reason: to redefine the norm,” she said. “The time to increase populations of multicultural men and women in the workplace is now.”

Vela said she’s now ready to take on just about anything after college. Whatever her next steps, she knows she’ll have some new peers to share them with. “I made some lifelong friends on the trip,” Vela said. “The students on this trip were all absolutely wonderful.”

Hogan Kick-Off Event: Lessons from the Business World

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Anton Krucky speaking at the Hogan kick-of event

Anton Krucky, whose decades of business leadership experience include years as an executive in marketing, sales and product development at IBM, now consults corporations and government agencies on how to effect organizational change in ways that will inspire employees and boost morale.

But at the Hogan Entrepreneurs kick-off event earlier this month, Krucky wasn’t consulting business leaders. He was talking to a group of business leaders-in-the-making – Hogan Entrepreneurial Program students who are working to build their business acumen and pursue their dreams to start a company or help one grow.

Krucky, the keynote speaker at the October 15 event, told attendees that he first dipped his toe into the business world with a paper route. He made $120 month, putting about $100 in the bank and spending the rest on anything he wanted. But in business, he said, spending and saving doesn’t work that way.

And herein was the first lesson of his speech: “If you run a company, every dollar is like your grandmother’s dollar,” he said. “You have to know where it comes from. You have to know where it goes. Once you take an investor’s money, you have to tell them what you’re doing with that money.”

Krucky should know.

In addition to serving at IBM, he co-founded a regenerative medicine company called Tissue Genesis, Inc. in 2001 and now serves on its Board of Managers. He’s also invested in emerging tech businesses.

On top of all that, Krucky also dedicates significant time to the community. He’s vice chair of Chaminade’s Board of Governors, is on the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program Advisory Board, and serves on the boards for Bishop Museum and Child and Family Service.

Anton Krucky speaking to students t the Hogan kick-of event

The Hogan kick-off event is an annual gathering and always draw a healthy crowd. In addition to students, dozens of leaders from across the business community attended the Pacific Club gathering.

Over the course of his speech, Krucky sought to impart key lessons for young business leaders.

To help highlight the value of problem solving and leadership over skills alone, Krucky pointed to his years at IBM. He was hired for a highly-competitive spot at the company, he said, because he was able to demonstrate how his previous work experience – as a lifeguard and a traveling representative for a fraternity – made him personally accountable for his performance and required him to adapt quickly.

“You’re looking for responsibility,” Krucky told the IBM recruiter after initially being turned down.

“Is there any more responsibility than saving a life? … They ended up hiring me as a system engineer.”

Once at IBM, Krucky found that he was doing well – sometimes better than those trained at elite Ivy League schools – because he applied himself. He recounted one episode early on in his career at IBM in which his boss – who didn’t seem to like him much – handed him a complicated formula and asked him what he made of it. His boss walked away and Krucky got to work, turning to colleagues elsewhere in the company for their expertise. Within short order, he handed a folder to his boss with an answer.

“He opens up the folder and he walks back to his office, shaking his head,“ Krucky said.

A short time later, the boss calls him into his office for an explanation. Instead of taking credit for the work, Krucky talks about how he’d turned to colleagues he knew – and colleagues they knew — for help in deciphering how to proceed. In other words, he told the truth. And that was the right thing to do.

Within two hours, Krucky was being offered the coveted job of marketing rep.

Anton Krucky speaking at the Hogan kick-of event
Anton Krucky, Dr. Lynn Babington and Dr. John Webster

The branch manager for IBM said Krucky was getting the promotion because of his creativity and initiative. But, the manager added, “It wasn’t just that you were good. You were honest.” Krucky said the words resonated with him. “People buy from people who are honest,” he told attendees.

Later in his career, Krucky built a model to help CEOs and their executives understand how people change in an organization. It’s called the “four box model,” and it uses a basketball analogy to ensure those across fields can understand it. In the model, box four is for the best high school basketball players in the country. Their competency is high and their morale is high, he said.

But once they get recruited to a college basketball team, they’re in a new box: Box 1.

Box 1, Krucky said, is the announcement box. It’s where a new recruit is told they’ll have to change.

With the right coaching, though, they can get to box 2: Where they understand they’re on a journey. “This is the teach box,” Krucky said, in the keynote address. “You have to learn the journey you’re on.”

The problem? The morale in box 2 is pretty terrible, and the competency isn’t any good, either.

Those elite high school players want to retreat to box 4. But their old box 4 isn’t there anymore.

If they can push through, a player learning the ropes can progress to box 3. That’s where they’re changing to meet a leader’s expectations. Here, competency is going up and morale is going up, too.

And eventually, with enough practice, they find themselves in a new box 4.

Krucky told the Hogan students that employees’ journey through change happens again and again in healthy companies. And leaders need to know how to inspire and mobilize employees so when they are going through the tough process of change, they don’t want to retreat to their old boxes, he said.

“You have to let the people know there is this model,” Krucky said, “so they know they will be happy” – if they put the work in to change for the better.

Nonprofit Organizations Seminar

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Everything from federal tax law changes for nonprofits to cybersecurity trends to the value of crowdfunding to raise supplemental operational funds were among the high-interest topics discussed at this year’s Nonprofit Organizations Seminar at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

The event, in its 18th year at Chaminade, attracted representatives from some 80 Hawaii nonprofits.

They came together Aug. 16 for a day of professional development and collaboration.

Shari Chang, CEO of Girl Scouts of Hawaii, delivered the lunchtime keynote speech. She’s a 35-year veteran of the hospitality marketing industry and is now using her strong business background to help oversee the expansion of her organization’s leadership development programs for girls.

Other speakers at the event included Spencer Lau, a two-time Chaminade University graduate and interim director of finance at the Honolulu Community Action Program, who talked about how more and more nonprofits are using crowdfunding to help cover institutional expenses or existing programs; and Trever Asam, a partner at the Cades Schutte law firm and an expert on tax law, whose presentation focused on important legislation and court rulings that effect tax-exempt organizations.

The nonprofit seminar is put on annually by Chaminade’s School of Business and Communication.

And the impressive slate of experts who made presentations at the event included several from the University’s own faculty and staff roster. Rylan Chong, co-director of Chaminade’s data science program, spoke about the risks of organizational identity theft and how nonprofits can protect themselves while three Chaminade accounting professors offered presentations on tax fraud prevention and auditing.

The day also included an engaging panel discussion, titled “To accept or not to accept, that is the question,” on the importance of gift acceptance policies that reflect the values and overall work of a successful fundraising charity or nonprofit. On the panel: Michael Coppes, senior executive director of estate and gift planning at the UH Foundation, and Hugh Jones, the foundation’s chief legal officer.