Chaminade University of Honolulu

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A Record Year for Women’s Volleyball

If you want to win, you’ve got to work for it.

Chaminade women’s volleyball embraced that mantra this year — and it paid off.

Chaminade University's Women's Volleyball team 2021 in a huddle after a good play

The team wrapped up a wildly successful season after grabbing its first AVCA Division II Coaches Poll ranking since 2005, clinching its first PacWest title in a quarter century and going all the way to the NCAA Region West Division II tournament to end the year with a 27-6 record. 

“We didn’t want another season of a talented team falling short of goals,” said Head Coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke. “We knew that this year, we had to think differently if we wanted a different result. So the thought was that we will work for what we want. We will not expect anything to be given to us.”

Hoke said the team “embodied this culture” from day one.

Their motto: Huli ka lima i lalo or “turn the hand down.”

The saying encourages hard work (working the soil with hands down) to cultivate success, Kabalis Hoke said, over expecting things to be given to you (holding hands up to others). “The thought was we didn’t want to have our hands facing up, asking for anything to be given to us,” Kabalis Hoke said.

“We wanted to turn our hands down and work the aina.”

“I knew this team was different,” Kabalis Hoke added. “They were hungry to put in the work they needed to achieve success. They were committed to the process. They understood that there were sacrifices needed and our team leaders set a great example of work ethic and training with intention.”

The team started the season on solid footing and were picked second in the PacWest poll.

In mid-September, the Silverswords debuted at no. 21 in the AVCA Division II Coaches Poll. It was an incredibly strong showing for the team, which had previously been unranked for nearly 16 years. The Silverswords would then go on to beat the No. 11-ranked Metropolitan State University of Denver.

The season’s wins would only continue, including with their first-ever sweep of Azusa Pacific.

Chaminade University's Women's Volleyball team 2021

And then in November, a win 25 years in the making: the team captured their first Pacific West Conference title since 1996 and snagged a berth in the NCAA West Region tournament. While their subsequent fall to Central Washington was a bittersweet end to their eight-match winning streak and magical season, Kabalis Hoke is still immensely proud — and rightly so — of all her team achieved.

“This season was filled with highs and lows, from season-ending injuries to navigating COVID. We understand how blessed we are to achieve this result and we know it did not come easy and without a cost,” she said, noting the team clinched the highest regional seed (at no. 3) in Chaminade history.

Kabalis Hoke, who received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Chaminade, is in her 10th year as the team’s head coach. While an undergraduate at Chaminade, Kabalis Hoke was an All-PacWest First Team selection in 2003 and 2004 and ranked as a PacWest leader in kills, digs and service aces.

Kabalis Hoke said it’s been exciting to see women’s volleyball and athletics at Chaminade grow over the last decade, including with big investments in facilities and the student-athlete experience. “We have really been able to break new competitive ground as a program while unlocking new recruiting potential,” she said. “With each year of hard work and dedication these athletes and coaches put into the program, we level up. Every person who has stepped into our program either on or off the court has made a significant difference and helped us to represent Chaminade in the best way possible.”

In addition to all the wins this season, Kabalis Hoke and her team are celebrating plenty of recognition:

  • In early October, middle blocker Lataisia Saulala was named a PacWest Player of the Week following her standout performance against Dominican University and Holy Names University.
  • Saulala also clinched  the PacWest Defender of the Week title the following month. 
  • In post-season, Brooklen Pea was named PacWest Player of the Year.
  • Setter Alexia Byrnes earned the PacWest Setter and Newcomer of the Year awards.
  • Pea, Byrnes and Anna Dalla Vecchia were named to the All-PacWest First Team.
  • The All-PacWest Second Team included Greta Corti, Kyra McCain, and Saulala.
  • Additionally, Pea and Byrnes were named to All West Region first teams.

Kabalis Hoke also ended the season with high honors. She was named both the PacWest and AVCA Division II West Region Coach of the Year. She said all the praise is appreciated, but she — and her team — are already looking ahead to next year and what they hope is an even stronger season.

“Knowing that we will have the bulk of this team return with a fire lit makes for an exciting thought for 2022,” Kabalis Hoke  said. “Huli ka lima i lalo is what we did for the conference championship and now that we’ve raised the bar, we will huli ka lima i lalo for a regional and national championship.”

Years of Service Milestones

Chaminade faculty and staff gathered in early December to celebrate the end of the Fall Term as well as the holiday season.

The event kicked off with the Chaminade Christmas Parade where faculty and staff drove through campus showing off their creativity and holiday spirit with decorated carts and cars.

After the parade, dozens of faculty and staff were recognized by their colleagues and celebrated their years of service milestones.

Among those honored: Dr. Chitha Unni, professor of philosophy in the School of Humanities, Arts and Design, who has served at Chaminade for 55 years.

Steven Downey, audio/visual assistant in Client Services, was recognized for 35 years of service and will be retiring at the end of 2021 (we wish him a wonderful retirement). 

And two members of the University ‘ohana are celebrating 25 years at Chaminade. Hector Mamaclay of Facilities and Evelyn Sanqui of the Business Office.

The end-of-the-year festivities are also a time for reflection – as faculty and staff members celebrate the accomplishments of the past year and look ahead to the next year.

Here’s the full list of Chaminade employees celebrating years of service milestones:

5 Years of Service
Dr. Hans Chun
Dior-Ashton Donner
Lynn Haff
Stacey Higa
Dr. Frederique Kandel
Rachel Nagai
Stari Nakano
Julie Tupuola
Kurt Van Lue
Lydia Villoria-Thoulag

10 Years of Service
Eric Bovaird
Sheryl Dohm
Kevin Hashiro
James Kahalewai
Keawe Leong
Dr. Edna Magpantay-Monroe
Terry McCandliss-Dowdell
Dr. Christopher McNally
Guy Paio
Richard Sevilla
Maritel Suniga
Russell Thoulag
Dr. Claire Wright

15 Years of Service
Dr. Joel Kawakami
Hieu Nguyen
Teresita Palma
Dr. Elizabeth Park

20 Years of Service
Dr. Lilia Castle
Steven Hee
Dr. Regina Pfeiffer

25 Years of Service
Hector Mamaclay
Evelyn Sanqui

35 Years of Service
Steven Downey

55 Years of Service
Dr. Chitha Unni

Silversword Basketball

Maui Invitational Chaminade versus Butler

It was born out of college basketball’s “biggest upset.”

In 1982, the Silverswords grabbed national headlines — and the national imagination — when they dominated No. 1-ranked Virginia. The final score: 77-72. Two years later, Chaminade launched what’s now known as the Maui Jim Maui Invitational as the premier early-season basketball tournament.

And the invitational is still going strong.

The 38th annual event, held in Las Vegas this year because of COVID protocols, wrapped up in November and once again attracting the nation’s top programs and continuing to underscore Chaminade’s outsized role in college basketball. There’s hope the invitational will return to Maui in 2022.

But this year at least, the Ninth Island was close enough — and a popular stand-in for attendees. Spectators converged on the Michelob ULTRA Arena at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino from Nov. 22-24 to watch the action. This year’s eight participating teams were:

  • Chaminade University;
  • Butler University;
  • University of Houston;
  • University of Notre Dame;
  • University of Oregon;
  • St. Mary’s College (making their first appearance);
  • Texas A&M University;
  • and University of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Badgers took home the championship title, beating St. Mary’s College.

Chaminade, which participates every other year in the tournament, was the sole Division II team represented. The Silverswords went up against the Oregon Ducks, Notre Dame and Butler Bulldogs.

Chaminade’s role in the tournament — both on and off the court — has continued to underscore the University’s strong tradition of basketball. So it’s no coincidence that a long list of Silverswords go on to play professionally. Here’s a look at some of the Chaminade alumni who are currently playing pro:

  • Grant Dressler ‘19 plays in Slovakia and previously played for a team in Germany.
  • Kuany Kuany ‘17 used to play in Australia and now represents Osijek in Croatia.
  • Rohndell Goodwin ‘17 plays with VfL Kirchheim Knights in Germany. Averaging 16.3 points a game, Goodwin previously played with the UK’s Bristol Flyers and for other teams in Germany.
  • Tyler Cartaino ‘20 plays for the Reading Rockets in the UK, averaging 18.8 points a game.
  • Eliet Donley ‘20 is playing with Japan’s Toyama Grouses.
  • Marko Kolaric ‘08, averaging 20 points a game, plays with a team in Austria.
  • Andre Arrissol ‘20 is on the UK’s VfL Kirchheim Knights team. 
  • Previously playing in Denmark, Austin Pope ‘18 has signed to Serbia’s Novi Pazar team.
  • Sam Daly ‘17 plays with Australia’s Sturt Sabres.
  • And Kendall Small ‘20 plays for the San Diego Guardians.

From Chaminade to the Hiphop Archive

Dominique Bocanegra '13 in the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University

Dominique Bocanegra ‘13 will never forget the advice that changed her life. It was from an inmate.

Bocanegra had just graduated from Chaminade University with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, returned to her hometown of San Francisco and landed a job at a jail helping inmates to transition back into the community. The work was challenging: recidivism rates were high and success stories rare.

One day, Bocanegra was working with an older man who was just about to be released and — she believes looking back on the moment now — he likely caught onto just how much she was struggling with her role and how little she could do for men trying to begin their lives again in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

“He told me, ‘Dominique, if I had had someone like you when I was young, I probably wouldn’t have lived the life I lived,’” Bocanegra recalled, in a recent conversation with Chaminade Magazine. “He was telling me to work with youth. To let them know this — in jail — is where you don’t want to end up.”

The inmate’s words inspired Bocanegra and started her on a journey that would take her to the Episcopal Service Corps, grassroots work with youth in communities and finally to Harvard University, where she now helps to oversee an innovative project to archive hip-hop’s rich and ever-evolving story.

Looking back on her path to one of the world’s most prestigious institutions, where she serves as administrator of the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute and works with a team of rising researchers and young scholars, she credits her time at Chaminade with helping her realize the importance of service and reflecting on the positive change just one person can make in the lives of others.

“The Marianist heritage and values. Campus Ministry. I remember that being a big pillar of my experience at Chaminade — finding ways to reflect,” she said. “The service, the search for justice and peace, I believe that was something really engraved in all of our teachings at Chaminade.”

Finding her way to Chaminade University
Dominique Bocanergra '13 with softball teammate on senior day

Bocanegra grew up in a little town in California called Brisbane (population: 4,000). It’s outside San Francisco and was the kind of place where a kid could be a kid. She grew up playing lots of sports, but it was soccer that she really loved. And it was soccer that would take her to Hawaii the first time.

Bocanegra was in fifth grade and traveled to the islands for a soccer tournament. She ended up not staying in Waikiki, but at a friend’s family home in Nanakuli. The surroundings and ambiance were everything that she’d imagined: sunny days, balmy nights and the food! She felt right at home.

“That was the start of the story,” Bocanegra said.

Years later, in high school, she was pondering where she wanted to attend university. She knew she wanted a campus with small class sizes and a strong criminal justice program. It was about that time that Chaminade made a visit to her campus. After sitting down with an admissions counselor, one on one, she knew she’d found the right place. “I felt like everything was individualized,” she recalled.

Dominique Bocanergra '13 receiving the Founders' Award, standing with Bro. Bernie Ploeger and Fr. George Cerniglia

More than that, Bocanegra said that from her first day at Chaminade she felt like she was part of a family. And there was rarely a moment where she wasn’t growing as a student and a person. She walked onto the soccer team in her first year and later played on the softball team and became president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She also participated in the Hogan Entrepreneurial Program and Campus Ministry.

Bocanegra acknowledged that she did feel homesick during that first semester at Chaminade. But support was never too far away. She fondly remembers one afternoon when a fellow student-athlete grabbed her and some other friends and headed up to the North Shore. It was during that excursion Bocanegra realized that she needed to enjoy the gift she’d been given and come out of her shell.

“I told myself, ‘I need to see what Hawaii has to offer,’” Bocanegra said. “It really helped me out.”

It also drove her to better understand Chaminade’s mission. As she sought to build on her own knowledge and consider her future career options, she started to ask herself, “How can I be of service doing the most justice I can? It was such a big part of Chaminade, including Campus Ministry.”

From Chaminade University to the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute
Dominique Bocanergra '13 with her peers in the Episcopal Service Corps

After graduation and that life-changing advice from an inmate, Bocanegra turned her attention to youth-focused initiatives. She enrolled in the Episcopal Service Corps, living on a stipend and seeking to help build better communities. After serving in Los Angeles, she moved to Boston with the Corps.

She later transitioned into part-time youth ministry and sought additional work at universities.

It was actually through a temp service that she landed a job at Harvard. Not long afterward, she was offered a full-time position at the Hiphop Archive, a center for exploring the scholarship and teachings of the hugely-popular musical genre. “It’s a complete lifestyle,” Bocanegra added. “A celebration of poetry and art. It has solely come out of the United States and spread around the world.”

In her current role, she works with a host of research assistants on new initiatives and develops community service projects aimed at engaging, inspiring and empowering youth. “As a hip-hop listener, I can tell you … it’s always had an undeserved negative connotation. Some call it ghetto music,” she said. “That’s inappropriate. Hip-hop music is a way to understand and celebrate modern America.”

Dominique Bocanegra '13 in the Hiphop Archive and Research Institute at Harvard University

Bocanegra added that it is so important that an institution like Harvard show its support for this artistic movement, not least of which because of the message it sends to young people. “We’re taking this research and using it for community-building activities. That’s so powerful,” she said.

And wherever Bocanegra goes, she brings Hawaii (and what she learned at Chaminade) with her.

“A big part of my job is to bring the aloha everywhere,” Bocanegra said, adding that she’s become known as the woman who wears aloha shirts and throws shakas. “It’s just letting folks know there are different ways to the world and that a smile is often the start of important conversations.”

Paying it forward

The 2013 graduate also stays connected to Chaminade through friendships with other alumni.

She’s remained very close to two fellow Silverswords — also former student-athletes — and they’re hoping to spearhead the start of a scholarship for student-athletes at the University. “We’re trying to find ways to be good stewards for the future. How can we give our time, talent and treasure?” she said.

That’s also got them looking ahead to their 10-year reunion, which they hope to hold on campus.

As she reflects on her time at Chaminade, she said her biggest takeaway was the power of the aloha spirit. “There’s nothing that can top my experience at Chaminade more than walking away with my love for others — the people, the place and staying true to that aloha and that mission every day,” she said.

Bocanegra added her message to current students at Chaminade is one of strength in fellowship: “You’re part of a bigger community, whether it’s those who came before you or those who will come after you. You are there to receive and then leave something even better for the next students.”

And that, she said, “is what countless Chaminade alumni have tried to do for you.”

Partnerships and $15M Grant to Improve Health and Wellbeing in Hawaii

Research has shown Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, Filipinos and other medically underserved populations in Hawaii have disproportionately higher rates of physical ailments and mental health conditions. And the pandemic has only exacerbated those issues — and spotlighted a lack of community resources.

Addressing these health disparities will require everyone’s help.

That’s exactly the idea behind the newly-formed Center for Pacific Innovations, Knowledge and Opportunities (PIKO) — an innovative collaboration of Hawaii universities, including Chaminade, and organizations that will support critical areas of study and seek to turn research into positive change.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences awarded the University of Hawaii PIKO a five-year, $15 million grant in which Chaminade University is a partner of the initiative. The funds will be distributed to researchers, especially those at the beginning of their careers, but will also go to professional development opportunities, outreach programming, and other opportunities.

The PIKO partnership includes the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Chaminade University and Hawaii Pacific University — along with the statewide network of organizations. PIKO is led by two UH professors: Dr. Joseph Keaweaimoku Kaholokula, who is chair of Native Hawaiian Health, and Dr. Neal Palafox, whose focus at the John A. Burns School of Medicine includes community health.

Kaholokula said PIKO is focused on improving the health and wellbeing of Hawaii’s people and supporting new research. “This is an unprecedented partnership and initiative in Hawaii to support talented junior researchers in doing culturally responsive and community-engaged research,” he said.

Faculty from Chaminade University who are part of this PIKO project include:

  • Dr. Jonathan Baker, assistant professor of Biology, who is one of the leads for tracking and evaluating the grant,
  • Dr. Rylan Chong, assistant professor of Data Science, who is the data science lead for the biostatistics, epidemiology and research design core, and
  • Dr. Claire Wright, an associate professor of Biology at Chaminade, is the lead who oversees the grant distribution and broadening the center’s reach.

Dr. Claire Wright said the pandemic has magnified the impacts of health disparities on underserved communities and underscored the need for action-oriented research.

“With this grant, we really wanted to focus on where the rubber meets the road,” she said.

In particular, the center and its partnering institutions will be working to recruit and fund more emerging researchers who come from the communities they hope to serve — and give them support along the way. There is also a strong emphasis on engaging community members, Wright said, by partnering with them for research projects and then communicating the results.

She added the center’s goals and the overall grant align with Chaminade’s mission to help build stronger, more resilient communities and to support projects that pursue social justice, peace and equity. “There is a lot of positive impacts you can make in this type of research,” Wright said.  

Funding for the first year of the grant is already rolling out, and projects for year two are being sought.

Wright said a call for abstracts is set for December.

She added that she’s optimistic about the positive impact the collaboration is poised to bring about and excited about the prospect of helping to develop more researchers—across a variety of disciplines—who are focused on addressing health disparities. Those researchers will in turn serve as mentors.

“At Chaminade, we have a close relationship with our students,” Wright said. “To be able to show more faculty entrenched in this kind of research, showing their students how they can help with their community, that’s a massive win for Chaminade and for changing their perspectives.”

Students’ Stress-Related Project Awarded First Place in National Competition

Stress is a fact of life, but two innovative Silverswords want people to know the story doesn’t end there.

And their work is getting wide recognition.

Aloha Lei Garo and Taylor Ishisaka with their first-place medals

Earlier this year, Aloha Lei Garo ‘22 and Taylor Ishisaka ’22 embarked on a research project aimed at helping their fellow students recognize when their anxiety levels were getting too high and giving them new tools to manage stress, build resilience and seek out opportunities for self-calming and reflection.

The two then spent long hours preparing to present their research at the HOSA-Future Health Professionals’ Virtual International Leadership Conference over the summer. The event features a competition with postsecondary students from around the nation and the globe, all spotlighting their work and detailing its potential implications for the field. Garo and Ishisaka were pleasantly surprised by all the positive feedback they got — and then were even more wowed by their first-place win.

The two took home the top prize in the Health Education category.

The title of their project was “Finesse Your Stress,” and included self-assessments for students, information on why stress can impact your overall health and easy activities anyone can do — from fun games to movement exercises to guided meditation — aimed at boosting resilience.

The presentation also included guidance on when to get professional help.

Lei Garo is studying Biology at Chaminade while Ishisaka is pursuing a degree in Data Science. Both got involved in HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) and its leadership development programming in high school and have remained active members at Chaminade.

“I was very shocked and surprised that we won first place in our category,” Lei Garo said. “It was wonderful to see that all of our hard work has paid off to have this moment for us. I’m glad to not only have represented Chaminade University but also the state of Hawaii.”

Aloha Lei Garo and Taylor Ishisaka's HOSA research presentation

Ishisaka added she’s hoping to continue sharing their research and positive message more broadly, including “just how important it is to take care of yourself because we all get stressed. It is something we all face and it is vital to take control of it. It was our goal to educate young adults on the meaning of stress, how to recognize it and supply them with resources so they can maintain a healthy lifestyle.”

Ishisaka also said they had to remember their own advice as they put together their presentation, especially in overcoming no shortage of obstacles presented to them by COVID. Because of the pandemic, they had to prepare remotely and frequently chatted with each other over Zoom.

“We adapted to every obstacle,” she said.

“And started to expect the unexpected,” added Lei Garo.

Lei Garo said she wants her fellow students and the broader community to know taking breaks and caring for your mental health is just as important as doing well in school or succeeding in sports. “We get so caught up in the moment that we forget we should stop for a bit and take care of ourselves,” she said. “Taking at least a 10-minute break from stress is sometimes all you need to rejuvenate.”