Chaminade University of Honolulu

Catholic

Marianists and the Arts Program

An exciting year-long workshop series at Chaminade is seeking to help tell the rich stories of the University and its Marianist founders through art in a bid to give participants an engaging and hands-on way to appreciate the institution’s sense of place—and reflect on their own place in it.

Each Marianists & the Arts workshop approaches Chaminade’s history through a different field of study or craft, from Olelo Hawaii to ceramics to digital art to woodworking. And when each workshop ends, participants walk away with their own hand-crafted “artifact” that helps tell Chaminade’s story.

The series was developed by Sr. Malia Wong, a Humanities, Arts and Design senior lecturer.

Wong said each of the Marianists & the Arts workshops include a presentation based on readings and a unique “creating session that’s focused on bringing a part of the story to a contemporary audience.”

In launching the workshop series, Wong was able to secure a grant from the Marianist Sponsorship Ministries Foundation for supplies and other costs. Additionally, she recruited a number of Chaminade faculty members and staff who were delighted to help tell Chaminade’s story in a new way.

Kumu Kahi Renauld teaching olelo as part of the Marianist and the Arts program

Wong said that by the end of each workshop, participants walk away with insight into “one or more parts of the history of Chaminade through the vision, dreams, struggles and successes, faith and humanity, and values of the first Marianists as represented by the artifact produced.”

In one recent workshop, Kumu Keahi Renauld explored the life and contributions of Bro. Oliver Mahealani Aiu—a Native Hawaiian who went away to study and then returned to serve his community. He said the participants considered how language and culture are intertwined, and how Olelo Hawaii plays a relevant and important role in the story of the Marianists and Chaminade today.

“We all need to realize the power of our words in everyday life,” Renauld said.

Dr. Junghwa Suh teaching a Marianist & the Arts workshop

Dr. Junghwa Suh, a professor in the Environmental + Interior Design program, used digital arts to illuminate the contributions of Bro. Joseph Becker, who helped to found Chaminade and wrote its alma mater. For her workshop, she tasked participants with visualizing the emotions of the lyrics.

Suh said she jumped at the chance to lead the workshop because she wanted to learn more about Chaminade’s founders. She added that giving participants the freedom to interpret emotions in art and then incorporate their perspectives is powerful. “These activities are designed to reflect on who and where they are in the story of our founders and journey, and learn about the University,” she said.

International Studies student Marl-John Valerio attended a Marianists & the Arts workshop that focused on the legacy of Bro. Bertram Bellinghausen, the first president of what would later become Saint Louis School. Attendees reflected on his life and work as they tackled a ceramics project.

“What I enjoyed most about the workshop was the process. Shaping and forming the art that you envisioned was difficult for a novice like me,” Valerio said. “My biggest takeaway is that mistakes are OK. You can envision what you may want in life but sometimes it won’t work out as you thought.”

Chaminade student working on a ceramics piece during the Marianist & the Arts workshop

Devin Oishi, a Fine Arts professor at Chaminade, led the ceramics workshop. In addition to helping students to make pinch pots or slab pieces, he created a collaborative piece with participants. “I threw a large base on the potter wheel and students, staff and friends then added coils as a mirror of how Chaminade developed, with a foundation and generations contributing to the legacy,” he said.

Oishi said he wants attendees to think of themselves as “the next layer of stones being added to the foundation” of Chaminade and members of a strong ‘ohana contributing to society in a meaningful way.

Kumu Kahoalii Keahi-Wood, a cultural engagement specialist in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, led workshops on campus la’au, or vegetation, and the teachings of Marianist Father Joseph Priestley. Keahi-Wood said he sought to underscore how Priestley, who was Native Hawaiian, embraced Marianist values without losing his cultural identity.

“In this workshop, we explored the values and steps required to be a practitioner, protocols involved in picking plants, carrying out healing, and basic chants that can be done to refocus your mind,” Keahi-Wood said. “We also take a look at plants that are found on campus and viewed for healing.”

Kahoalii Keahi-Wood instructing his Marianist & the Arts workshop

And the takeaway from the gathering? It’s simple.

“You don’t need to lose your traditions to follow Marianist ones. There is overlap,” Keahi-Wood said.

Dr. Dale Fryxell, dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Sciences, said he was honored to participate in the Marianists & the Arts series. He led a workshop focused on woodworking and the life of Father Stephan Tutas, who served as director of the Marianist community in Honolulu, taught at Saint Louis School, and was a professor and administrator at Chaminade before leaving the islands.

Fryxell said Tutas is well-known for his reflections, including his writings on an “attitude of gratitude.”

Workshop participants turned and assembled their own pen out of koa wood on a lathe.

“What better way to start each day than to use the pen that they created, to learn and write about things they are passionate about and will hopefully lead them to become leaders that will inspire others, just as Father Tutas did?” said Fryxell, who previously owned and operated a woodworking business.

Dr. Dale Fryxell watches a student woodwork during the Marianist & the Arts program

Fryxell said Tutas also wrote about “turning points in our lives,” and so he encouraged participants to consider the connection between these critical moments and the turning of an object on a lathe. “Often when you start to create something on the lathe, you may have an idea about what it will turn out to be. But in the process, it may end up completely different—similar to many of life’s journeys,” Fryxell said.

That was the big lesson that Nursing student Taylor Crawford walked away with.

“I need to have more patience as life has many turns,” she said, adding she hopes to take more workshops. “I enjoyed being creative and making something linked to the people we learned about.”

Charlie Clausner, MBA ’21, attended the workshop on Olelo Hawaii. He said he chiefly wanted to add to his Hawaiian language skills. But along the way, he said, he also “gained a deeper foundation of the Hawaiian language and learned a lot about some Chaminade classmates and the university.”

In addition to the various workshops, Bro. Edward Brink and Bro. Thomas Jalbert offered a walking tour of the Chaminade campus where participants learned of the University’s history and heard stories of the Marianists.

Catholic Intellectual Life

Fr. Dennis Holtschneider speaking to the Chaminade community about the Catholic Intellectual Life

Chaminade University is part of a rich Catholic intellectual tradition that not only seeks to educate and inform but also ask tough questions, prompt opportunities for reflection, create space for new ideas and assist the next generation of leaders in looking for ways to build a more peaceful and just world, said renowned Catholic education leader Fr. Dennis Holtschneider in a recent talk at the university.

“Higher education is complex and rarely possible without the assistance of charitable donations. We do it as a gift to the world. Why? Because ideas matter,” Holtschneider, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, told attendees at the March 15 address at Chaminade.

“Our graduates are gifts to a world that needs that gift for its improvement.”

Holtschneider’s talk was entitled “The Core of Catholic Intellectual Life,” and he spoke to university administrators, faculty members, staff, and others about the importance of embracing and admiring the intellectual, creative, teaching, and human development work that happens every day at the university.

Catholic universities, he noted, serve many roles. As a home for evangelization through campus ministries. As a place to offer opportunities to those from disadvantaged backgrounds. But first and foremost, Holtschneider said, “they’re in service of the intellectual life where ideas matter.”

And as the largest non-governmental provider of higher education in the world, he added, there is no shortage of ideas at Catholic universities. He pointed to just a few of the impressive projects happening at these institutions, from advancements in medicine to breakthroughs in economics or political theory.

“We prepare the next generation of teachers, social workers, nurse practitioners, business leaders, accountants, political advisers, communication professionals, counselors, scholars and more,” he said.

And this modern landscape of education is no “accident of history,” Holtschneider added, “but an expression of a Church that has welcomed, built, and supported the intellectual life for millennia. This is important work for us. This is one of our ministries. Now make no mistake, it’s a fray. If you hire an organization of independent thinkers, you get a lot of independent thought.”

In other words, he said, intellectual work means “intellectual upset.”

Beverly Sandobal, Shana Tong, Mandy Thronas-Brown, Bishop Larry Silva, Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, Dr. Lynn Babington, Dr. Scott Schroeder, Cynthia McIntyre, Bro. Edward Brink, and Margaret Rufo

It means debate. Disagreement. Growth. Reflection. And it means change.

Holtschneider pointed to the many scholars at Catholic institutions who helped present new ideas whose time had come. They were and are at the forefront of the civil and women’s rights movements, of the push to end poverty and of the monumental work to address the climate change crisis.

“It’s not a set of ideas. It’s a project. Catholic intellectual life is a project,” he said.

And importantly, Holtschneider said, while scholars in the Catholic intellectual tradition have no predetermined answers, they do have non-negotiable starting places that reflect a common set of values and ideals. “Our vocation as educators is to prepare the next generation, hoping they might even improve upon the world as we know it now. If that’s all we did, it would be enough,” he said.

“We care that our students become experts in the fullest sense of their chosen professions. We also care about who they become as they spend a life wielding the education that we have given them. We explore things with them and how they’re thinking about the world. We may not be ethics professionals all of us, but we dare not avoid ethics when teaching if we care about our students’ lives ahead.”

Holtschneider himself speaks as a Catholic scholar who believes strongly that robust academic environments help to drive positive change. He received a doctoral degree in administration, planning and policy from Harvard University, holds eight honorary degrees, and serves as a member of the faculty at several higher education leadership programs, including at Harvard and Boston universities.

“Nothing is more powerful than an idea that breaks through and changes everything,” he said.

Fr. Dennis Holtschneider speaking to Chaminade faculty and staff

Holtschneider’s presentation at Chaminade was part of a series of lectures that were made possible through the Association of Marianist Universities. He is set to speak at Chaminade’s sister universities—the University of Dayton in Ohio and St. Mary’s University in Texas—later this year.

After his presentation at Chaminade, attendees were given a chance to follow up with questions or reflections. Several people said they were moved and inspired by Holtschneider’s message and wanted to seek out ways to share it with a broader audience. Holtschneider applauded those efforts while noting that the intellectual tradition offers a pathway without a set endpoint or destination.

He called the process of searching out ideas “humbling” and full of exciting discoveries.

And it’s not just scholars on that journey; students are there, too.

“We ask them to look long and hard at the world for four years. But we also ask them to look long and hard at themselves and think about how they want to be actors in that world, about what they will value, what they will fight for in their lifetimes, and what they will work for,” he told attendees.

“Most importantly, we give them questions that matter and to think about in the lifetime ahead. And that is the Catholic intellectual tradition. All of it. Not a pre-determined answer that one generation passes onto the next but a constant searching for what’s true, what’s good and what’s holy.”

Bishop Robert McElroy Discusses a Synodal Church

In late 2021, Pope Francis called on the whole of the Catholic Church to embark on a two-year journey of reflection, profound renewal, and transformative reform that seeks to touch every element of ecclesiastical life and drive an ongoing process of reflection among Catholics worldwide.

Bishop Robert McElroy speaking during the Chaminade Marianist Lecture

As Most Reverend Robert McElroy, Bishop of San Diego, explained in a recent Marianist Lecture at the Mystical Rose Oratory, this process of “synodality” is not about issuing new documents from Rome but embracing change together. It is, he added, “a continuing call to reform within the life of the Church.”

Bishop McElroy acknowledged that the term “synodality” is confusing and has been misunderstood.

And so, in unpacking it during his lecture on February 27, Bishop McElroy first noted that the concept of synod is not new but rather ancient and refers to a “coming together” or a religious assembly. “Pope Francis is calling for a moment of rediscovering, of going back and rediscovering part of our tradition,” he said.

In outlining the “architecture of synodality” at both the parish and personal level, Bishop McElroy said the process presents several key themes. Among them: that synodality “points to the reality that the whole people of God are engaged and journeying together in the life of the Church” and also demands a “constant state of discernment”—seeking answers as part of a community and in dialogue.

Bishop McElroy also underscored the importance of “authentic listening” and empowering diverse voices.

“A synodal church is a humble and honest church,” he said. “A synodal church seeks to discern its woundedness and embrace reform. Its holiness is exemplified by humility. A synodal church seeks a healthy decentralization in its structure and life. Practices that exclude groups must be rejected.”

Bishop McElroy continued, “Pope Francis has called us to transform the life of the Church and in turn the life of the world.” And that work—the process of reflection, listening and mission—“is not the work of a moment, but the work of a lifetime. At this moment, it is our work and is our mission.”

Bishop Robert McElroy speaking during the Chaminade Marianist Lecture

The global conversations on synodality in the Catholic Church will culminate with an international gathering in October 2023, during which church leaders will seek to explore key themes identified at dioceses. Bishop McElroy, however, cautioned against thinking of the dialogue as something that ends there. “This notion of synodality is a process of conversation. It doesn’t end at a particular time,” he said.  

Bishop McElroy delivered his address before an audience both online and in person, and then participated in a question-and-answer session to clarify key points or explore new ones. The talk was presented as part of the ongoing Marianist Lecture series, sponsored by the Marianist Center of Hawaii, Chaminade University and Saint Louis School, and designed to foster inclusive and robust dialogue.

Following his address, Bishop McElroy was presented with the Mackey Award for Catholic Thought.

Several attendees at the lecture thanked Bishop McElroy for helping them to understand the concept of synodality. They also wondered aloud about next steps, including what they could do to participate in the conversation and encourage their fellow parishioners to do the same.

“I think what stuck out most to me was the real inward focusing of it, about listening, changing our stance as a church to be more humble and just more understanding,” said Sebastian Conway-Phillips.

Another attendee, Our Lady of Good Counsel School Principal Chantelle Enos-Luarca, said the faculty and staff members at her campus participated in a robust dialogue as part of the process of synodality.

“We have some great ideas … but what’s next?” she asked.

Bishop McElroy responded, “I think the most important consequences are the conservations that occur at the local level. All of these parishes, there are certain things that come up that are good things to do.” He added that there’s no need to wait on implementing those good ideas. “Do them now,” he said.

Watch the entire Marianist Lecture below.

Chaminade Students ‘Build Bridges’ with Pope Francis

College students with Pope Francis on Zoom

It’s not every day that a Zoom meeting is also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But then, it’s also not every day that your virtual meeting features Pope Francis.

That’s exactly what two Chaminade students got the chance to experience recently. The historic encounter with the Pope was part of a dialogue with students from North, Central and South America on the economic and environmental pressures contributing to migration and displacement.

Chaminade junior Alycia Tausaga, who is majoring in Environmental Science, and senior Joseph Durocher, a Biochemistry major, were part of a group of about 20 students in the West and Pacific Region. In total, the Pope met with about 100 students from across the three regions during the virtual meeting on February 24.

Tausaga said she felt inspired after listening to the Pope speak directly to her group.

Alycia Tausuga participating in the Building Bridges event with Pope Francis

“He took his time out to come to this historic encounter and to listen to what university students have to say and provide encouragement for the youth,” Tausaga said. “It was such a good opportunity to build the bridge, and it also allowed me to connect with other students from around the globe.”

The meeting was organized as part of an initiative called Building Bridges. University students were challenged to come together to seek ways to overcome the walls separating the peoples and cultures of South, Central and North America and provide opportunities for authentic dialogue and leadership.

Chaminade’s Rector and VP for Mission Bro. Edward Brink learned about the program after reading an article in the National Catholic Reporter. He reached out to Loyola University Chicago and was able to secure spots for two Chaminade representatives in a group of students from Catholic universities in the West and Pacific. Loyola University Chicago hosted the event in collaboration with the Argentinian theologian, Emilce Cuda, the head of the office of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, who asked the Pope to participate.

Tausaga and Durocher were selected because of their interest in climate change.

Joseph Durocher participating in the Building Bridges event with Pope Francis

Durocher, who is a Ho’oulu Scholar, said students in the group coordinated before the meeting to discuss key issues and put together a presentation. “People are already aware that are migration and environmental issues,” he said. “This was about starting actual change.”

He added that he felt honored and “very special” to have been included in the dialogue.

“We have to stop just talking and not doing anything,” he said.

Tausaga, who is a National Science Foundation S-STEM Scholar at Chaminade, said as a Pacific Islander she’s seen the impacts of climate change firsthand. She said the meeting with the Pope reminded her of a well-known Hawaiian proverb: Huli ka lima i lalo or “turn the hand down.” In other words, instead of turning your palms out expecting something from others, turn them down and get to work in the soil.

“Turn your hands down to give and to work in the community,” said Tausaga. “Have heart and compassion for others. Be the voice to allow others to bring about change. That’s what this meeting with the Holy Father really highlighted for me. It strikes at the heart.”

Building Bridges Recording

Media Coverage

The Spirituality of Justice: Racism & Climate Change

Fr. Dan Horan speaking at the Mystical Rose Oratory during Chaminade's Marianist Lecture Series

The “Catholic response” to racism, climate change and other societal injustices — including those plaguing Hawaii communities — must be one centered in faith-based action that “ought to discomfit the comfortable, humble the powerful, and lift up the oppressed,” said noted author and speaker Fr. Dan Horan during a recent talk at Chaminade’s Mystical Rose Oratory for the Marianist Lecture series.

Horan, acknowledging his own status as a “temporary guest” in Hawaii, added that people in the islands must seek to learn from indigenous communities and understand their unique ways of knowing the world so they can help craft holistic, place-based responses to the greatest crises of our time.

The engaging talk on September 26 comes as the Marianist Lecture series celebrates 25 years of promoting Catholic responsibility and service, and launches a new honor — the Mackey Award for Catholic Thought — to recognize leaders advancing the Marianist spirit and educational mission.

Horan, a columnist for the National Catholic Reporter whose most recent book is titled A White Catholic’s Guide to Racism and Privilege, was the inaugural recipient of the Mackey Award. In his lecture, Horan unpacked the writings of scholar, social activist, and monk Thomas Merton (1915-1968).

Merton may not be a household name. But in 2015, Pope Francis highlighted him as one of four “representatives of the American people” who fought for equal rights—alongside Martin Luther King, Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and Dorothy Day. Horan said Merton’s writings from the 1950s and 1960s offer important lessons for modern America, including about the importance of respecting others.

“Merton was attuned in an unusual way for a white man of his time to the failure to honor the wisdom, heritage, beauty, value and dignity of culture, traditions and religions that are not part of a Euro-American hegemony that came with the colonization to these lands,” Horan said.

He added that Merton offers “timely insights” and opportunities for further reflection on Hawaiian history, colonialism, and the “local response to both systemic racism and climate change.” Perhaps a key point of inquiry, he said, is Merton’s belief that the “spirit of God draws near not just to human beings but to the whole family of creation. Everything that exists reflects or points back to the Creator.”

In other words, Horan said, Merton would have “nodded along approvingly” to indigenous understandings of nature as not something that is separated or distinct from human existence but as central to life, familial relationships to and to society. “The global response to climate change … can only take place with the privileged species, humanity, embracing a sense of creational humility,” he said.

Horan also elucidated three points for white Christians seeking to respond to racial injustice.

He said those in positions of privilege and power because of their race must focus on diagnosis and criticism, “embracing a spirit of praxis and engagement.” They must also step back, listening to those in diverse communities rather than seeking to prescribe solutions. And they must “get out of the way,” Horan added. “They need to follow rather than lead. They need to listen rather than instruct.”

Horan sought to do just that in his own talk, opening his speech by noting that aloha is “not to be granted but always earned” and allowing time after his lecture for a question-and-answer dialogue with the audience. “As a guest, I seek to support the various strategies that the indigenous peoples of Hawaii are using to protect their land and their communities,” Horan said, near the start of his speech.

“I come to this land with a deep respect in a spirit of openness — and with a desire to learn.”

Watch the full video here

Chaminade University and Hawaii Catholic Schools Announce 2021 Ka Ho’oulu Innovation Recipients

Chaminade University’s Center for Strategy and Innovation, in partnership with Hawai‘i Catholic Schools, has announced the recipients of the 2021 Ka Hoʻoulu Innovation Awards: St. Louis School’s Principal Devin Oshiro, EdD, and St. Joseph Parish School. The awards recognize the demonstration of substantial innovation that has greatly advanced Catholic education in Hawai‘i.

Devin Oshiro, EdD, recipient of the 2021 Ka Ho'oulu Award
Individual Award – Dr. Devin Oshiro, principal of St. Louis School

Dr. Oshiro has led and worked collaboratively with St. Louis School’s faculty to create a diverse learning environment that addresses the needs of all students. Their six-point system, which consists of ‘aina-based learning, global learning, personalized learning, whole group learning and learning specific to young men, has resulted in stronger GPA levels, improved standardized test scores and the school’s highest enrollment in 20 years.

Institution Award – St. Joseph Parish School
Located in Waipahu, St. Joseph Parish School has integrated a community-wide Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum to address a much-needed facet for all learners. The school partnered with the Institute of Social and Emotional Learning and formed an internal SEL Committee to develop and implement the curriculum through workshops for administration, faculty and staff to develop a common language and basic understanding of the process, and reinforce the belief that SEL is essential to student achievement.

The Ka Hoʻoulu Innovation Awards were created in 2020, as a way to recognize outstanding educators from Catholic schools throughout the state. Award applicants submit projects that exemplify the Catholic world view, support quality academics, integrate technology, demonstrate data-driven decision making or promote operational vitality. Those who submit projects with the highest marks receive recognition at an annual award ceremony and a grant to continue their work.

“We are so delighted to sponsor this award,” said Dr. Helen Turner, vice president of Chaminade’s Center for Strategy and Innovation. “The winners represent Catholic education in Hawai‘i, where teachers and administrators are continuously innovating in support of their students and their shared mission to provide high quality, affordable education. Students who are benefitting from the creativity of educators like Dr. Oshiro and teams like that of St. Joseph Parish School are part of a talent pipeline in Hawai‘i that is grounded in values and strong academics. We at Chaminade look forward to seeing them as future Silverswords!”

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Chaminade University of Honolulu believes in the power of education to drive positive change, broaden perspectives and deepen our understanding of one another. With an emphasis on transformative service-learning experiences, we prepare students to serve as tomorrow’s leaders, inspiring and challenging them to use their minds and their hearts to help build stronger and more just communities. We are proud to serve as Hawai‘i’s only Marianist university, and rely on these values to guide us in delivering a high-quality education with an individualized approach and a focus on excellence, innovation and change. Established in 1955, we offer more than 30 undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral degrees in education, psychology and nursing practice. Learn more at chaminade.edu.