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Welcoming the Diaconate Formation 2022 Cohort

April 5, 2022

Diaconate formation 2022 cohort with faculty and staff

On a quiet Saturday in March, a group of people from all walks of life gathered at Chaminade’s Mystical Rose Oratory to begin a five-year journey of academic, spiritual and pastoral formation aimed at preparing them for life as a deacon—or a deacon’s wife—in the Catholic Church.

Nearly 40 people attended the diaconate candidate orientation, including 22 program participants.

Dr. Dustyn Ragasa, director of the Master of Pastoral Theology program at Chaminade and an assistant professor of Religious Studies, said the newest diaconate cohort includes 10 couples and two single men. They are members of the military and law enforcement, teachers and professors, health care professionals, and business owners. “Each one brings along with them a wealth of practical experience that enables them to do theology in their own unique ways,” Ragasa said.

“Some candidates come to us with previous theological training and others are learning the fundamentals of disciplined theological inquiry. Some are lifelong Catholics and others are recent converts to the faith. This mosaic of perspectives enriches the learning experience as a whole.”

The March 12 orientation was the first held at the Mystical Rose Oratory—what Ragasa said underscores the strong partnership between the Diocese of Honolulu and Chaminade. Participants in the Diocese of Honolulu’s permanent diaconate formation program can opt to also pursue a graduate certificate, Master of Pastoral Theology or Religious Studies bachelor’s degree at Chaminade. Three women and six diaconate candidates across cohorts are currently pursuing a Master of Pastoral Theology at the University. Ragasa stressed that the degree also welcomes laymen and laywomen.

The role of deacon is an “ancient” one in Catholicism, Ragasa said, and described in the Bible.

Both married and single men can serve as deacons, and married men participate in the diaconate formation program with their wives. After being ordained, deacons serve their communities and the Church in many ways, Ragasa said. “Theirs is the responsibility to proclaim the gospel and to preach,” he said. “They also have the capacity to baptize, to distribute holy communion, to perform marriages, to officiate over funerals, to lead prayer and to take on leadership roles in their communities.”

But unlike priests and bishops, deacons hold “day jobs” in a long list of fields—from education to healthcare to engineering to social service. What unites them, Ragasa said, is simple: “It is expected that deacons will uplift and care for those around them regardless of the work they undertake.”

Participants complete the diaconate formation program in cohorts, dedicating three years to intellectual and academic growth and two years to intense spiritual reflection and pastoral work. Along the way, they’re mentored by those who completed the program and are now ministering in parishes.

Deacon Michael Weaver, MPT ‘14, a lecturer of Historical and Political Studies at Chaminade, attended the orientation with his wife to speak to participants and said a central element of the formation program is to help a candidate determine if becoming a deacon is their calling.

“Through both personal prayer and competent spiritual direction, together with academic and professional formation, each person discerns if such a vocation is truly present for him,” he said. “The core effect, I think, is to discover who you really are as a person and a believer. You develop confidence that manifests itself in a willingness to preach the Gospel and represent the Church in the world.”

The seeds for the strong partnership between Chaminade and the diaconate program were planted more than a decade ago, Ragasa said, and the Diocese of Honolulu has since garnered national attention for its commitment to a high quality of theological and academic preparation for its candidates.

“Honolulu is one of the very few dioceses that boasts this level of partnership with its local university,” Ragasa added. “Having local professors who understand our cultures, who sit in the pews enables them to address the specific educational needs of men and women ministering in our unique island context.”

The group of candidates that met on campus in March is part of cohort 11, and their academic preparation program officially began in April. Ragasa said the orientation was designed to both help candidates feel comfortable at Chaminade and familiarize them with resources at the University.

Bro. Edward Brink, vice president for mission and rector at the University, welcomed candidates and their wives to campus with an opening prayer and explained the rich history of Marianists in Hawaii. His talk touched on key hallmarks of Marianist education—including a mission to serve others—and encouraged cohort members to take an active part in campus life and the Chaminade family.

Participants also got a tour of the Sullivan Family Library and its vast collection.

Dr. Cheryl Edelson, dean of the School of Humanities, Arts and Design, also welcomed the program candidates at the orientation and spoke about the importance of the humanities in the Catholic intellectual tradition. She also invited cohort members to participate in school programming.

Fr. Martin Solma, Chaminade chaplain, closed the day with a touching closing rite for candidates and their wives. Ragasa said the commissioning liturgy—meant to prepare program candidates for the significant journey ahead—was the highlight of the day and a “fitting way to recognize the beginning of formation, with prayer and reflection.”

Marianists and the Arts Program

March 28, 2022

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

March 25, 2022

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.”

Silverswords Business Competition

March 23, 2022

Students and faculty who participated in the Silversword Business Competition

It started with a suggestion.

Private wealth advisor Eric Fujimoto, MBA ‘94, who is chair of the School of Business and Communication’s Advisory Board, encouraged the university to craft a real-life business experience for undergraduates. The idea: help them understand all the skills required to run their own venture.

At first, the plan was to have students open and manage a pop-up concession on campus.

But then another approach was decided: in Fall 2021, the School invited students to participate in a business competition that would allow them to show off their creativity, their ability to work with others and their aptitude in everything from marketing to accounting and customer service.

Student teams came from accounting, economics, marketing and social media courses.

Dr. Bill Rhey, School of Business and Communication dean, said each team got $250 in start-up money—which was paid back at the end of the competition—and were told they’d be judged on their net profit, their “business for good” approach and their social media impact. Each of the four teams also had a faculty coordinator and mentor during the competition, which ran from October to December.

And the winners were promised a big reward: $2,500.

Washed Ashore with their $2500 check for winning the Silverswords Business Competition

That winning team was called Washed Ashore, and they created jewelry out of microplastics reclaimed from Hawaii beaches. The idea was an instant hit, and they plan to keep the business alive.

“Living in Hawaii, you go to the beach often,” said student Kelsie Inoue, who was on the five-student Washed Ashore team. “While you’re there, you usually see trash and plastic washed up on the beach. We thought about how these microplastics could be repurposed in a way that would bring awareness to keeping our beaches clean and the impact we make. By making necklaces sourced from the microplastic and sea glass found on the beach, our customers wear a reminder of the difference we can make.”

From the outset, Inoue said, the team wanted to create a business with a strong mission.

And they knew their environmentally conscious message would appeal to lots of younger people, including their peers. That’s why they started by creating an Instagram account with college students as their target audience. Their @washedashore808 handle kept hundreds of customers updated on their product lines, upcoming sales, environmental impact and when they were sold out of certain items.

“The biggest takeaway from this competition was that you always need to adapt,” Inoue said. “Sometimes, you need to think on the spot or adjust to situations that aren’t the most comfortable for you, but by doing so it provides newfound skills and confidence in yourself.”

Rhey said while there was only one winner, all the student participants got something out of the competition. They applied concepts of pricing, operations, marketing, management and leadership.

And along the way, they got to imagine themselves as small business owners and entrepreneurs.

“The idea behind this competition was to give our students a greater appreciation for what they are learning in business, how it is applied in the marketplace and the importance of relationship-building,” Rhey said. “The students showed resilience and resourcefulness that was surprising and gratifying.”

He said all four participating teams took very limited resources and created “impressive micro-businesses.” One of the other teams, Silversword Sweets, was popular on campus right as the holidays rolled around. Another team, We Over Me, sold beach clean-up bags. And 3rd Avenue Attire created custom art design shirts and got more than 3,000 hits on their social media page from potential buyers.

Dr. Guanlin Gao, an associate professor of economics at Chaminade and mentor for the Silversword Sweets team, said it was wonderful to see students working together to create a product line and seek to entice customers. “Students learn so much from this high-touch, high-impact activity,” she said. “Their biggest challenge was juggling between school, work and this business competition.”

Gao added that she was especially impressed with how well students worked together.

“I hope they gained experience of developing soft skills in team-working,” she said.

Wera Panow-Loui, a marketing lecturer at Chaminade and mentor for Washed Ashore, was also excited to see just how much students got out of the experience. “I am all about teaching theories and models in a way that makes them interesting, relevant and practical for students,” she said. “This was a great opportunity to engage the students and connect classroom learning with practical application.”

She said her favorite part of the competition was getting to see her students’ creativity.

And she is very excited about the future of Washed Ashore. She’s wearing the upcycled necklaces and said the students received interest for their products from people around the state and as far away as Germany. “I strongly encourage my students to keep going and even try to find some investors,” she said.

Jackie Martinez, a junior in Communication, was captain for the 3rd Avenue Attire team and really enjoyed getting the chance to bring her artistic skills to the business competition. “I’ve always wanted to see my hand-drawn designs on tangible, wearable articles of clothing,” she said, adding that the “birth of the brand” came after a conversation among team members about the need for positive change.

The name, she added, was a nod to Chaminade and Kaimuki.

“My biggest takeaway from all of this is that anything is possible,” Martinez said. “This business competition gave me the confidence I needed to take on more challenging roles in both academic and employment settings. After seeing what I was capable of in such a short amount of time, I realized that I could realistically accomplish anything I set my mind to if I just approach it the same way.”

She added the clothing line is still taking orders under a new name, “World on Fire.”

And that is music to Rhey’s ears.

He said the competition had students doing everything from handling production to tackling group dynamics to showing off their leadership skills. Rhey added he’s grateful to Fujimoto for his vision and is looking forward to the next steps for the competition. The hope is that it will become a regular fixture at the school. “We’re discussing how we can weave this competition into our future curriculum,” he said.

Big Dreams to Achieve Big Things

March 22, 2022

Meshelle Hirashima receiving her Chaminade diploma from Bro. Bernie Pleoger, SM

Meshelle Hirashima’s advice to young people is simple: you need big dreams to achieve big things.

She would know.

Hirashima, who graduated from Chaminade in 2017 with a degree in Historical and Political Studies and a Biochemistry minor, receives her Doctor of Medicine degree in May from Boston University School of Medicine. She is seeking to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and credits strong female role models—including the grandmother who raised her—for helping her believe in herself so she could reach her goals.

“I’ve had remarkable people in my life to be an example and help guide me to where I am today,” Hirashima said. “No one would think I would come this far knowing my history. I just feel so blessed.”

Hirashima was adopted as a toddler by her grandmother because her mother was struggling with substance abuse issues. Her mother has since turned her life around, Hirashima said, and the two share a special relationship. It’s because of her grandmother and her mother that she wants to be an OBGYN.

Hirashima is also the first person on her mother’s side to graduate from college.

And she’s the first person in her family to go to medical school.

In addition to her role models, she credits Chaminade with helping her get there. Hirashima was able to secure an early admission spot at Boston University’s School of Medicine thanks to Chaminade’s articulation agreement program with the institution—and the preparation she got along the way.

She also said immersive experiences at Chaminade helped her build her confidence.

Among them, in 2014, advisors at Chaminade encouraged Hirashima to apply for a six-week summer program at UCLA aimed at helping students from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds get a taste for what it feels like to be a medical student and understand the steps to become a doctor. She said the program put a big emphasis on health disparities and helped her see how she could serve others.

“It gave me a taste for what I could expect, and I was hooked,” she said.

An early dream to help others

Hirashima was born and raised in Hawaii and attended Moanalua High School.

From a young age, she said, she dreamed of becoming a doctor. She wanted to help others like the people who had helped her grandmother when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. And as she got older, she realized that being a doctor didn’t just mean providing medical care but helping people through everyday struggles and “being with them through momentous points in their lives.”

At Moanalua, many of Hirashima’s friends were eyeing larger universities.

But she wanted something different—a place where she could try out different things and pursue disciplines that intrigued her. That’s why she found herself initially majoring in Environmental + Interior Design at Chaminade before switching to Historical Political Studies with a Biochemistry minor.

How did that fit into her path to medical school?

Hirashima said she wanted to broaden her horizons and take the opportunity to dive into a course of study that would help her better understand the world. To her, the study of history and political studies was the opportunity to figure out why people decide what they decide and why they act as they do.

That foundation of knowledge, she said, helped her become a more empathetic, well-rounded person.

‘I knew what I wanted’

Meshelle Hirashima wearing her white coat at Boston University

Along the way, by minoring in Biochemistry, Hirashima was able to secure the science and math prerequisites she would need to apply to medical school. And she got a unique taste for what her life as a medical student would entail with those immersive experiences, like the one at UCLA.

Chaminade’s articulation agreement with Boston University’s School of Medicine was key to her admission. The program, in which Chaminade partners with a host of highly-esteemed universities on the mainland, allows students to set an early course to advanced studies in healthcare careers—establishing a strong academic record and completing prerequisites while at Chaminade.

After completing the requirements of her Chaminade degree, Hirashima also spent a year at Boston University preparing for medical school, taking graduate courses and studying for the entrance exam. “It was like drinking from a fire hose. And unconventionally, I put all my eggs in the Boston basket,” she recalled. “I’d never even been to the East Coast, have no family there, but I knew what I wanted.”

And she got it.

She said she was at the pool with a friend when she learned she’d been admitted.

“I just started screaming and jumping up and down,” she said.

From there, there would be more grueling work and long hours ahead. The COVID pandemic sharply curtailed the number of in-person learning hours she got. But in her third year, she moved on to rotations—a chance for medical students to work hands-on in different medical specialties.

Internal medicine. Psychiatry. Pediatrics. Hirashima loved them all.

But the OBGYN rotation was special. “It was about building connections with women. Just kind of through reflection, I thought, ‘Where am I going to make the biggest impact with my career?’ I had such strong female role models growing up and I knew I wanted to help women like them,” she said.

‘I used to be in those shoes’

Meshelle Hirashima '17 on Match Day—she is paired with University of Hawaii

While one chapter of Hirashima’s journey ends in May, when she earns her medical degree, another begins as she continues on her path to residency.

Her dream of returning to Hawaii to serve the people and communities that helped her remains alive. On Match Day, she was paired with the University of Hawaii’s Obstetrics and Gynecology program.

She is excited to come home, continue her training and cross off another goal from her list. Along the way, she hopes to inspire other young people to think big. “I had lots of humbling experiences growing up, but that didn’t stop me,” she said. “Overcoming obstacles will never be easy. But with help, it’s not impossible.”

Hirashima’s biggest piece of advice to others is simple: take advantage of opportunities presented to you. “It can sometimes be scary to get outside of your comfort zone,” she said. “I’m so lucky to have had people around me, including at Chaminade, who really believed in me and who helped guide me.”

She added that her “humbling experiences” growing up helped her build understanding for others. “When I talk to a patient who is struggling, I know a little bit about what that feels like. I used to be in those shoes,” she said. Her big dream now: serve as a role model just as many did for her.

“I want young people to know there’s so much out there, and they just have to go out and get it.”

Student’s Business Makes Paw-sitive Impact

March 16, 2022

Oliver Carson, Business Administration student, creator of Better Place Brands

By day, Oliver Carson is studying business. And by night, he’s running one.

The Chaminade University senior and Hogan Entrepreneurial Program student owns Better Place Brands, whose mission of giving back is baked right into the name. Carson started the business with his father in August 2020, launching a line of private-label coffee brands geared toward animal lovers.

“Customers not only want a great product, but they want the product to stand for something. That’s what this company is all about,” Carson said. “It also feels good to make those donations every quarter.”

Carson’s Better Place Brands has different “companies” named after pets.

There’s the Great Dane Coffee Company. The Golden Retriever Coffee Company. And most recently, Carson launched the Cat Rescue Coffee Company. In all, he has 13 private coffee labels. And each of them donates 20% of the proceeds to charities and rescue shelters located across the United States. Two are located right here in Hawaii—Cat People of Oahu and Lanai Cat Sanctuary.

In 2021, Carson’s companies gave $10,000 in cash and in-kind merchandise to organizations.

“We did better than expected,” he said, adding he hopes to donate even more this year.

‘A really perfect fit’

Carson grew up in a suburb outside of Cleveland and attended Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School, a Marianist school. As a child, he visited Hawaii several times with his family—and it became a dream to study in the islands. It turned out that dream was much more achievable than he realized.

A basketball coach who used to play at Chaminade chatted with him about the university.

He then learned about the Chaminade Scholars program, which offers up to 75% off tuition to students who are members of a Catholic parish or attend a Catholic or Marianist high school, demonstrate academic excellence, and participate in experiences of service and faith.

Of everything Chaminade had to offer, he was most excited about joining a vibrant community and learning more about Hawaii’s rich cultural traditions. “I grew up in a diverse environment and that has always been something that I’ve been attracted to,” Carson said. “It was a really perfect fit.”

At Chaminade, Carson also found the same values of family spirit, serving others and giving back that he’d embraced at his Marianist high school. “It really felt similar to that tradition I experienced,” he said.

In fact, Carson said he felt a special connection to Chaminade on his very first day in the residence halls. He attended Mass at the Mystical Rose Oratory and met Fr. Marty Solma, SM, who also grew up just outside of Cleveland and attended Villa Angela-St. Joseph High. “It was such a crazy moment,” Carson said.

From there, Carson jumped into life in the islands.

His roommates, who were from Hawaii, showed him the best beaches and taught him how to surf. He became the manager of the basketball team. And, he served as a peer mentor for CUH 100, a welcome course for incoming students.

At the beginning of his junior year, he joined the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program.

Carson said Hogan’s programs and networking opportunities continue to inspire him—and Hogan Program Director Dr. Roy Panzarella has given him the confidence to pursue his own business ventures. “We have been so lucky to hear from entrepreneurs from all over the world doing great things,” he said.

A business that gives back

Oliver Carson's Boxy Brown's Coffee Co pillow and boxer

Carson is busy enough as a student that it’s hard to imagine how he has time to run a business.

At Better Place Brands, he handles everything from customer service to social media. And he’s particularly proud of his business model: Selling a good product while supporting a good cause.

As a Business Administration student, he has been able to use his experience as a business owner for class projects, getting input—and no shortage of encouragement—from his professors and peers along the way. He has also thrived in the School of Business and Communication’s “business for good” approach and believes strongly that everyone has a role in making the world a better place.

After all, he does own a company called Better Place Brands.

Carson is an animal lover himself and started his Great Dane Coffee Company first in honor of his family’s Great Dane. He then partnered with pet rescue organizations, which were able to promote what he was doing—and help him continue to grow and launch more companies along the way.

He said while he’s gearing up for graduate school—he plans to pursue an MBA degree—he’s also looking ahead to expand his business. “We want to continue to add more brands and to eventually grow beyond the dog rescue world,” Carson said. “Our ultimate goal is to do even more good out there—with the help of our customers and the causes they believe in.”