Chaminade University of Honolulu

Featured Story

A Cultural Experience

There are few traditions as beloved – or as fun – at Chaminade as the Pacific Island Review.

Pacific Island Review 2019, Samoan Club performance

Every year, hundreds come together to watch members of the University’s student cultural clubs take to the Sullivan Family Library Lawn to showcase their talents in music and dance with high-energy performances. It’s an evening punctuated by good food – and lots and lots of good cheer.

And this year was no exception.

From sunset well into the night on October 26, dozens of students from the Hawaiian, Micronesian, Marianas, Tongan and Samoan cultural clubs donned traditional garb and took to the lawn to perform.

Along the way, they got plenty of applause and encouragement from the big crowd, which included students, members of Chaminade’s faculty and staff as well as attendees from the community at large.

The Pacific Island Review is annually one of Chaminade’s biggest events.

And this year, it got some buzz in the press.

In the ramp-up to the big day this year, the Samoan Club got a chance to perform on KITV morning news. And the Star-Advertiser attended the event to capture hundreds of photos for an online gallery.

Missed it? Don’t worry, Jackie Martinez ’23 created a video recapping the exciting event.

Alumna Pursues Passion at Chaminade and Beyond

Jennifer Lai Hipp became a forensic sciences buff in high school, but she never saw it as a career path.

Forensic Sciences CSI class at Kaimana Beach

That is, until the college program she was in – studying American Sign Language – was put on hold.

Hipp, who graduated from Chaminade in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in forensic science, is now pursuing a master’s degree in human biology at the University of Indianapolis and has her sights set on a future in forensic anthropology. She said she’s even considering getting a doctoral degree.

“I took it as a sign I should follow my true passion and knew that Chaminade had one of the best forensic science programs in the country,” she said. “I decided to apply and luckily I got in.”

Hipp said she’s thankful for the strong educational foundation she built at Chaminade, where she thrived with small class sizes and engaging learning opportunities.

“The lab courses at Chaminade are built to give us hands-on experience that we can take into the real world,” she said. “I learned crime scene investigation techniques, including crime scene mapping and photography, latent fingerprint processing, and bloodstain pattern analysis.”

Along the way, she was able to build strong relationships with her professors and her peers.

Dr. David Carter and Jennifer Lai Hipp '17
Dr. David Carter and Jennifer Lai Hipp ’17 had a chance to catch up while Dr. Carter was in Indianapolis.

One of those mentors was Dr. David Carter, director of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade.

Hipp said Carter was “integral” to her success at Chaminade — and beyond.

“He helped me with everything from registering for classes and planning out my academic year to giving me advice about careers and applying for graduate school,” she said.

“I was nervous about attending college, but Dr. Carter was always positive and supporting. He was also great to talk to when I needed a break from studying.”

Hipp said that Chaminade’s Dr. Robert Mann also helped her immensely in the program, including by serving as a “source of inspiration” and advice about jobs in the field.

She said Mann even helped her secure internship opportunities and encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a forensic anthropologist.

“The faculty of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade integrated their work experience in the field into the classroom, which I believe was an important part of my education. They were able to relate the material in the textbooks to the real world,” Hipp said.

“They also worked closely with all the forensic sciences students to create a resume, critique scientific journal articles, and practice giving professional presentations.”

All that preparation proved key to Hipp’s next steps: Seeking a graduate degree in pursuit of a career.

“Being a non-traditional student, I did not have the typical college experience,” Hipp said.

“But I found my professors very easy to relate to and had a wealth of knowledge about both college and the working world.”

Women’s Soccer Making an Impact On and Off the Field

Women's soccer team visiting Kapiolani Hospital

Members of the Chaminade women’s soccer team made a special visit to Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children recently to visit with patients and learn more about the facility’s important work.

Team Coach Michelle Richardson, assistant Coach Conor Whittaker and eight members of the team made the visit as a way of giving back to the community.

They visited with four patients, spending some quality time with them in hospital’s playroom.

The Chaminade students played video games with the patients, helped a young chef-to-be cook up treats in the play kitchen, and got a lesson in Barbie doll hair braiding from another patient.

The coaches said that the group also got a special presentation and facility tour to help them better understand the cutting-edge services available at Kapiolani Medical Center.

The hospital offers a broad range of specialty care, including intensive care for infants and children, 24-hour emergency pediatric care, maternal-fetal care, and women’s health services.  

Students Present Findings at Leadership Alliance Symposium

Chloe Talana has a mantra in life: Don’t wait for opportunities to knock, go out and get them.

That how’s the Chaminade senior found herself researching Hepatitis C in a lab at New York University’s School of Medicine over the summer and then presenting her findings at a national conference alongside other undergraduates selected for the competitive Leadership Alliance program.

“You have to find the initiative,” she said. “That’s how I see opportunities. You go and find them.”

Chloe Talana and Nainoa Norman Ing at the Leadership Alliance Conference

Talana was one of two Chaminade students who participated this summer in Leadership Alliance, designed to prepare underrepresented minorities for academic research and graduate degrees. Also representing Chaminade: Nainoa Norman Ing, who conducted research at Vanderbilt University.

Chaminade is one of 35 institutions nationwide that are part of the Leadership Alliance. Other participating universities include Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Through the program, Chaminade students gain access to valuable research, mentoring and career development opportunities.

“This program specifically tries to gather people from different walks of life and really bring them together to let them see you’re not alone in this journey,” said Talana, who came to Chaminade from Farrington High. “Their mission is to really make sure that students who want to pursue Ph.D. in any field are able to do it, regardless of their background and the challenges they face along the way.”

It was actually the second year that both Talana and Norman Ing participated in the program, completing internships that give them real-life experiences in labs and then presenting what they learned to their peers – and to experts in the fields they’re interested in pursuing.

Norman Ing said the Leadership Alliance symposium, held in Connecticut this year, is aimed at giving researchers-in-training a taste for what it’s like to defend your conclusions – while also considering what you might have missed. He added that the experience of working in a cutting-edge university lab and then reporting on what you’ve learned is aimed at preparing students for graduate school.

“This experience … reminded me that while I live and learn on this island, the world is a much bigger place,” Norman Ing said. “One of the biggest lessons I learned from experiencing living with people from across the country in a diverse setting is just how important it is to be grounded in one’s own culture.”

He said that while he’s learned so much at Vanderbilt University about organic chemistry – his presentation at the conference was titled, “A vision for vaccines built from fully synthetic cell-surface antigens” – the biggest takeaway of the internship for him was that he could envision a future for himself in academics. It was “just the pure experience in and around the university,” he said.

As for Talana, she said she’s already gunning for that next opportunity.

After graduation from Chaminade, she hopes to secure a post-baccalaureate appointment at a university on the mainland in order to further build a foundation of knowledge. After that, she plans to seek a dual medical and doctoral degree, with a focus on infectious diseases.

She added that she’s grateful for all of the opportunities she’s been able to grab at Chaminade. “The attention from faculty is amazing,” she said. “The help they provide to students, I can’t even pick words to describe it. It’s really wonderful how they’re able to help students pursue what they want to do.”

Writing Songs to Tell Stories

A Student’s Perspective: written by Elijah Abramo ’21

Peter Buffett is the son of Warren Buffett, but he is much more than just that.

Elijah Abramo '21 and Peter Buffett

“Actually people thought I was related to Jimmy Buffett the singer”

Warren Buffett, the biggest name in the investing business is known for his massive success and dedicated frugality. Peter, is quite frugal himself. Despite being thrust into the spotlight in 2006, as his father gave away his fortune to his children to each start billion-dollar foundation, Peter has stayed humble. This was quite apparent in my time with him.

If you don’t know Peter, you may believe that he is business-focused like his father. Rather, he is a composer, pianist and Grammy Award winner for soundtracks he has created over the years. He still composes but has focuses on philanthropy as co-chair of the Novo Foundation, which supports initiatives to end injustices to women and indigenous communities around the world.

He is also visiting university communities around the United States with his Concert and Conversation series, which was his reason for being in Hawaii.

This was Peter’s first time being in Hawaii. Not only did he want to “relaxercise” (how he says he stays fit) and take in the wonderful scenery, but also learn about Hawaii’s poverty, homelessness, early childhood development and various other social issues that were brought via colonialism and the current economic system.

I was fortunate to be given the opportunity to have a one-on-one interview with Peter.

As any college student would, I asked about his advice for me. He brought it back to his career.

“(When first starting in his music career) I said yes to everything because I knew it was more about my agreeability and willingness to kind of get in there and do whatever it took than my talent to some extent, cause I had enough talent but it was more my personality.”

He encouraged me to be passionate about my work but also broadening my possibilities.

“Sometimes people can get so narrow in what they want to be that they forget that there’s a whole ecosystem of possibility around that (their passion), that could still give you joy.”

In a short time, It was clear that he could talk about anything while not overstepping his credibility. “That’s why I tell my story as opposed to telling advice,” is one of Peter’s guiding principles.

He knows that he has been very lucky in life, but he also has gone through his own struggles just like all of us.

I attended his Concert and Conversation event the next day at the Hawaii Theatre, ready to learn more.

The concert was something that most people didn’t expect, He discussed topics such as feminism and colonialism in the detail and his music followed his own story.

First, Peter discussed his childhood growing up in Omaha, Nebraska saying, “I was safe, seen and heard. Peter cited the importance of each while growing up.

He then discussed his career from writing music for TV ads to soundtracks for movies.

Next, he discussed his foundation work, where the conversation got heavier. Peter talked about his first time being in Kolkata and having met a girl only 10 years old being sex trafficked. “I asked her how I could help, and she said ‘tell my story,’ so I did.”

Through his music, he transported the audience to the red light district of India, broken villages of West Africa and many other impoverished communities. Images of people in despair were heightened with the tense somber playing of his cellist Michael Kott.

Finally, he discussed the hope for the future, “community will be the last thing we have in humanity and will be the key to solving our problems.”

Here in our Chaminade ohana, let’s stay committed to keeping these conversations going.

Bringing the Aloha to California

Huntington Beach gathering at Wahoo's

Dozens of Chaminade alumni gathered earlier this month in Huntington Beach, California for a good dose of aloha — and updates on some of the initiatives underway at their alma mater.

The Chaminade University ‘Ohana Gathering attracted a wide range of graduates, from those at Chaminade in the 1970s to one who graduated in May.

Huntington Beach gathering at Wahoo's

The October 3 meet-up was hosted by Chaminade graduates Tom and Barbara Orbe (‘73 and ‘76), and annually offers alums a chance to catch up with each other — and University administrators.

President Dr. Lynn Babington attended the get-together and touched on a number of key events, including the University’s first-ever Giving Day on Oct. 10 and the upcoming Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

One fun highlight of the evening: The reunion of former roommates Jim McGuirk ‘80 and Ralph Suarez ‘80, who jokingly referred to themselves as “Oscar and Felix” from “The Odd Couple.”

If you missed the California gathering, don’t worry, you’ll have the chance to come back to campus, connect with former Silverswords and reminisce about the “good times.”

The Alumni Reunion Weekend is happening spring 2020. The event, from April 17 to 19, will honor the Class of 1970 and feature fun events and activities that you won’t want to miss!