Chaminade University of Honolulu

Innovation

AI Cannot Replace Human Values, Panelists Advise at the 2026 Marianist Lecture

Humanity can cope with the rise of artificial intelligence technology, as it has with other technological revolutions, without losing what makes us human. But we must first fully understand what AI is and how it should be used.

That was the greatest takeaway from this semester’s Marianist Lecture, held this past Sunday at Chaminade University and featuring two experts on AI and the Catholic Church’s position on this technology. The 2026 Marianist Lecture was titled “Timely Technology, Timeless Questions: AI and the Human Person.”

Kyle Ballarta is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has written extensively on the intersection of faith and technology. Louis Kim is an executive, technology advisor, and theologian with the Duke Divinity School. Both were this year’s guest lecturers, drawing hundreds to the Mystical Rose Oratory for a Sunday afternoon discussion on AI and human dignity.

Ballarta and Kim had earlier spoken to students and faculty last Friday to discuss AI as part of the University’s Wellness Week enrichment event. Sunday’s Marianist Lecture involved more formal presentations followed by a brief question-and-answer session with audience members.

Back in May, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV released his landmark encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas. In it, Pope Leo discusses AI technology at length, rejecting arguments that it represents some new form of consciousness similar to human self-awareness while accepting that AI is a powerful tool that must be managed responsibly.

“We cannot consider AI to be morally neutral,” the Pope’s encyclical states.

Ballarta imparted the same words of wisdom during his Marianist Lecture presentation. “We choose values, and those values choose technologies,” he said.

In other words, how this technology is used depends on the values of the people both building it and applying AI. Ballarta reminded the audience that new technologies have always drawn concern throughout human history–from Gutenberg’s printing press to the telephone–yet humanity has always found a way through these changes, incorporating new groundbreaking technologies into everyday life without losing ourselves.

“This has always been about how machines impact humanity,” Ballarta said.

Kim echoed Ballarta’s reflections, acknowledging the anxiety many are feeling about AI, particularly over its potential impact on jobs and human connections.

“What is precious about being human?” he asked the audience. “When AI gets so powerful, what are we going to hold on to?”

AI technologies, in particular the most popular large language models (LLMs) or chatbots, are based on computer processing architectures that empower computers to recognize and replicate common patterns and relationships between data points. Whereas computers could once only process text word-by-word, modern LLMs can read entire paragraphs and even books and recognize how the words and phrases contained within them relate to one another, enabling these machines to generate their own human-like responses to queries.

As impressive as this technology is, we should not mistake this processing power for actual human thought or consciousness, Ballarta cautioned during his talk, echoing one of the main points delivered in Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical. “We are more than numbers and data,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kim offered words of encouragement to people feeling overwhelmed by the rapid progression of AI technology and its intrusion into our daily lives. He argued that faith very much still has a seat at the table for this broader discussion, and that the Catholic Church in particular has a role to play.

The Church “has the power of cultural change,” Kim reminded everyone.

Ballarta agreed. Catholicism “can be a serious instrument in addressing these questions,” he said.

A powerful tool to be managed

On Sunday, Bishop Michael Thomas Tupou Castori, the sixth and presiding Bishop of the Diocese of Honolulu, returned to the Chaminade campus to hear Ballarta and Kim discuss AI and the Church’s position on its rise.

Questions from the audience reflected both general confusion over what AI technology is and genuine concern about how it may negatively impact society. Audience members reminded Kim and Ballarta that the people in Silicon Valley and beyond developing AI technologies do not necessarily have the best intentions in mind.

Kim said he has encountered both good and bad actors in his interactions with Silicon Valley technology company executives. Yet he acknowledged that this concern is legitimate. He said the only response is thoughtful and appropriate regulation of AI technology.

Ballarta agreed, saying governance will matter a great deal in determining how AI technologies ultimately impact humanity. “Does the technology serve us, or are we serving the technology?” he asked, asserting that AI must, of course, serve humanity and not undermine it.

Other audience members expressed anxiety that, given enough time, generative AI technology will become so powerful that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to know when an image, video, or audio recording is real or not.

On this point, Kim offered optimism, recalling his own experiences allowing AI to generate writing on his behalf; no matter how good it is, he said, the AI cannot quite imitate his voice and writing style, suggesting that people will be able to recognize when something is off in encountering AI-generated content.

Humans are keen enough to recognize when something doesn’t quite fit the world we know.

The next Marianist Lecture will feature Msgr. John Paul Kimes and a local panel on “The Saints of Hawaiʻi” and will take place on Sunday, February 21, 2027, at 4 pm. 

Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program Kicks Off 24th Year

The Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program is now celebrating its 24th year mentoring students seeking independent business opportunities or leadership skills to help organizations succeed, both for-profit and nonprofit. On Wednesday evening, past and current Hogan participants, alumni, and business leaders gathered to launch another year of Hogan with an inspiring keynote address and opportunities to connect, network, share inspiring stories, and celebrate one of Chaminade’s most successful institutions.

Chaminade University President Lynn Babington, Ph.D., welcomed attendees to the celebration and thanked them for supporting the Hogan initiative over the years.

“It’s such a pleasure to be here with you this evening and again kick off the 24th year of the Hogan program,” Babington said.

“We are very proud of the Hogan program,” she said. “Linking students with community members enriches new ideas and opportunities here in Hawai‘i.”

This year’s Hogan Kick-Off Celebration, held at the Sullivan Family Library Lawn, featured music, good food, drinks, and time for attendees to mingle and socialize. The featured speaker for the evening was Melissa Crounse Kaufman, a renowned entrepreneur and Founding Executive Director of The Garage, a startup incubator at Northwestern University.

“Previous speakers have been terrific, but I think this is one of the best ones we’ve had that I can remember in my time,” said Roy Panzarella, Ph.D., Director of the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.

Kaufman, who now lives in Maui and works as a school teacher, shared a story with the audience of how she once tested the entrepreneurial instincts of her students against artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

She split the class into two groups and asked each to develop an innovative idea for a new snack product. One group had unlimited access to AI tools; the other had to use their wits.

Upon conclusion of this exercise, the class determined that the best idea came from the “brain team” that was denied the use of any AI advantage. The winning team proposed selling hibiscus-flavored popcorn that comes in resealable bags.

Kaufman told the audience to take this lesson to heart.

“AI is a pattern matching machine,” she said. “It draws from what already exists, and it optimizes for what has worked before, in the past.

“The winning idea in my class didn’t come from a prompt. It came from a teenage girl’s lived experience.”

Kaufman said she owes her success not to building successful companies, but to building up people and helping them make personal connections they can translate into winning enterprises.

“Students cannot build judgment or persuasive speaking or interpret body language or build connections alone in their dorm rooms talking to Claude,” she stressed. “Students need to interact with real businesses and real business problems in real time.”

Panzarella said Kaufman’s message is poignant for the times as the rise of AI technology leaves everyone nervous for the future.

Kaufman pleaded with business leaders in the audience to deepen their engagement with Hogan students. The program’s long success lies not with technologies like AI, she said, but with the personal connections the program fosters.

“You have to help in this mission because we can’t do it alone,” she said. “You need to share your time, your expertise, and your network with the students by serving as a mentor or a guest speaker.”

In addition to raffle prizes, the event presented two awards recognizing present and future entrepreneurial success.

Kai Cowell was honored with the Hogan program’s “In the Arena” award for her success with Ka‘iulani Spices, a healthy foods and flavoring company selling products at major retail outlets. The $1,500 student award went to Liliyah-Joy Quel-Kaina, a Hogan junior juggling two majors and minors who recently landed a coveted internship opportunity. 

The latest Hogan kick-off celebration comes at the midpoint of the semester and also lands in the middle of Chaminade’s first Wellness Week, a series of events aimed at helping students pause and reset.

Panzarella said the timing for the 24th Hogan Kick-Off is deliberate. He finds participants are more engaged and primed for action at this point in the academic year compared to the beginning of the semester or in the summer.

“We wanted to take time to let the semester sort of breathe a little bit,” he said. “We found that people are much more amenable to celebrating, to community building.”

He said the 24th year of the Hogan program won’t be delivering any major new surprises, but the year will still feature plenty of exciting gatherings and inspiring speakers. He said the team is planning new leadership initiatives, including one that may happen at Pearl Harbor.

Much of this year will be spent planning for the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program’s 25th anniversary year, coming up in 2027. Panzarella promised great things to come as the Hogan program rings in 25 years of incubating new business ideas and preparing young entrepreneurs for success.

“25 is going to be big,” he said.

Chaminade University Welcomes Amir H. Toosi as Newest Dean

When Amir H. Toosi was 18 years old, he was tasked with writing down the place that he would choose to live. He wrote: Hawaiʻi. 

The first time he visited Hawaiʻi was on his honeymoon in 2004. The second time was in 2024 with his wife and daughter to look at colleges. And the third time was in 2026 when he was named a finalist for the Dean of Chaminade Universityʻs College of Business, Innovation & Technology.

Now years later, he has been named dean of Chaminade University’s College of Business, Innovation & Technology, bringing nearly three decades of leadership experience in higher education, business consulting, and academic program development to the univeristy.

Toosi joins Chaminade after serving for 14 years as dean of the Division of Business and Security Studies at Rivier University in New Hampshire. Throughout his career, he has led academic innovation, expanded academic programs, and built partnerships that strengthen student learning and workforce development. 

“I am excited and thrilled to be joining the academic leadership of Chaminade University and look forward to building relationships within the University and throughout the broader community,” Toosi said. “Hawaiʻi has always been a special place for my family and me, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to continue growing the outstanding programs at Chaminade.”

At Rivier University, Toosi also served as program director and professor, overseeing academic affairs and contributing expertise in risk and crisis management, learning management systems, and program administration. He previously held leadership positions at Herzing University and American InterContinental University.  His applied approach to business practices is an ideal fit for Chaminade as well. 

“Dr. Toosi brings a wealth of experience as an innovative academic leader and a deep commitment to student success,” said Chaminade Provost Dr. Lance Askildson.  “His collaborative leadership style and vision for business education will strengthen our College of Business, Innovation & Technology as we continue preparing graduates to lead with purpose in an evolving global economy.”

In 2025, Toosi received the President’s Good Steward Award from the Education Alliance for New Hampshire and was recognized with the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce’s Chamber of Champions Eminence Award.

Born in Iran and growing up throughout the United States as his father is a college professor, Toosi earned his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University, a Master of Business Administration from Heidelberg University, and a Doctor of Business Administration in Management from Argosy University in Chicago.

Chaminade’s College of Business, Innovation & Technology offers undergraduate programs in Accounting, Business Administration, Computer Information Systems, Economics, Entrepreneurship, International Business, Marketing, and Sport and Event Management. The College also offers a 12-month Professional MBA program designed for working professionals and is home to the Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program and the Economic Education Center for Excellence.

Marketing Students Drive Nonprofit to Thrive

Re-Use Hawai‘i has been serving the community on Oahu for 20-plus years.

The innovative nonprofit is a living, breathing example of the circular economy put to good use. Describing itself as an “employment social enterprise dedicated to reducing waste and expanding green job opportunities,” Re-Use Hawai‘i creates meaningful jobs and community good will by rescuing abandoned construction materials from work sites or demolition projects to resell them at bargain prices for do-it-yourself handytypes across the island.

They’re “turning Hawai‘i’s waste into reusable materials and green jobs” as they say on their website, but Re-Use Hawai‘i recently ran into a problem: their newest store front wasn’t generating the kind of foot traffic they were hoping for. That’s where Chaminate University marketing students came in.

Chaminade marketing professor Wera Panow-Loui recently issued a challenge to her students: create a marketing strategy and presentation that can help Re-Use Hawai‘i re-introduce itself and its newest location to the community – revive a business model that’s been proven successful for two decades.

Her students more than met the challenge.

“I believe it was a standout student project for Re-Use Hawai‘i highlighting experiential learning, community impact, and our students’ excellence in their work,”Panow-Loui said.

Chaminade students Christopher Cody, Cory Alfred, Kyla Castro, Madelynne Knowd, and Tessa Stanley joined forces to see if they could aid Re-Use Hawai‘i using the skills they learned in Professor Panow-Loui’s class.

After talking with the nonprofit’s staff, conducting some research, quizzing store patrons, and assessing the situation, the five marketing students devised a strategy that they felt could help Re-Use Hawai‘i solve their conundrum. Re-Use is now using their presentation and training for future business planning.

First, they had to identify the problem. This was fairly straightforward: as their final presentation notes, the nonprofit was contending with “low foot traffic at the new Re-Use Hawai‘i Salt Lake location.”

The goal? Bring the customers back, and improve the experience of the customers who were visiting the new site. So, the students put their market research skills to work. 

They surveyed 97 customers to the new site, quizzing the visitors about what was working and what wasn’t. They broke the survey respondents down along demographic lines, noting gender identities, ages, and where they came from. They then asked them a set of questions designed to measure how familiar they were with Re-Use Hawai‘i, how often they relied on the nonprofit for their do-it-yourself projects, and what they thought of the newest storefront.

The research proved invaluable to Re-Use.

Overall, respondents said they were satisfied with their shopping experience. But there were issues that could use some attention, the students soon discovered.

“Many customers said the new store location took some getting used to,” they reported. That’s not all. Survey participants told them, frankly, that the parking and new store layout was somewhat difficult for them to navigate. They complained about a lack of tools on hand to use at the new store location. “Even long-time customers mentioned it took several visits to feel comfortable,” they reported.

The students’ presentation lays out in detail what the customers themselves were saying, thus informing Re-Use Hawai‘i of the likely reasons for the fall in foot traffic. In short, the 20-year old standard bearer of Hawai‘i’s circular economy had become something of a stranger to the island’s residents again.

The solution? Reintroduce themselves to the DIY crowd, a community in need of a centralized home or hub, one that Re-Use is well positioned to become.

Having identified the problem, Christopher, Cory, Kyla, Madelynne, and Tessa were in a good position to identify good solutions, as Professor Panow-Loui explained.

Her students were assigned “to help the client identify effective promotional strategies to increase foot traffic at a newly opened retail location, using data-driven insights to inform strategic marketing decisions,” she explained.

Their presentation lays out in careful detail proposed strategies that Re-Use should adopt.

They proposed Google Ads, a relatively inexpensive way to improve local customer engagement and re-establish their brand. They also recommended targeted marketing focused on those parts of the island where most of their customer base seems to be located, in particular Kaneohe, Kailua, and Honolulu.

Their boldest recommendation was that Re-Use Hawai‘i create a specialized Facebook page designed to organize the island’s community of DIY enthusiasts. Currently, there isn’t one. Thus, Re-Use Hawai‘i is in a unique position to organize that community and support it through the nonprofit business model that it’s already pioneering, the students discovered.

“It became evident that there were not very many DIY Hawaii Facebook groups despite demand,” the student marketing team noted. “Creating a Facebook group would allow Re-Use Hawai‘i to connect with the DIY community.”

Panow-Loui says that the five students’ market research and consulting initiative has become far more than just a class project. Re-Use is putting their recommendations into practice.

“The client indicated that their leadership team is using the report to actively guide their current marketing decisions,” she said.

The students’ marketing research results are professional, insightful, impressive, and useful.

Re-Use Hawai‘i has been creating jobs and saving Hawai‘i residents money for over 20 years, and thanks to Chaminade University students, they’ll continue their important work for many years to come.

As Panow-Loui put it, her students “completed a professional-grade marketing research project for a real community client, applying strategic marketing and consumer research methods,” and the client and Hawai‘i are grateful for their hard work.

Student Surfboard as Art

Who says surfboards are meant only for surfing? They also double as works of art. That’s what Shania Lindsey Gervacio proved by winning the Maui Invitational Surfboard Design Contest this past November.

 A third year student majoring in Environmental + Interior Design, Gervacio initially based her design off of island tribal patterns and flora specific to Hawai’i. This concept later transitioned into the foundation icon of Chaminade Athletics that represents the Marianist approaches to education. 

“I also included hibiscuses as well as plumerias to refer to the pua commonly seen around the university campus,” she said. For the ‘silverswords’ in the center of the board, this was inspired by the fact that the previous surfboard designs mentioned ‘Chaminade’ or ‘Chaminade Silverswords,’ rather than only ‘Silverswords.’”

Gervacio’s professor, Dr. Junghwa Suh DArch, encouraged her to participate in the surfboard design competition during the 2025 spring semester. While designing, she also balanced working on a huge design project yet was able to brainstorm three different surfboard designs and fully execute one. 

The experience of designing a surfboard adds to the experience of her reaching the goal of becoming an interior designer after she graduates from Chaminade for hospitality spaces, such as restaurants, hotels, resorts and spas. 

She’s off to a great start. The Maui Invitational surfboards will eventually be displayed in the Silversword Cafe for all to enjoy and see. 

“I feel extremely excited that the surfboard will be displayed in the Silversword Cafe!” she said. “I feel that utilizing my design skills to create something tangible was an incredible accomplishment, and I hope for many Silverswords and Chaminade faculty to enjoy the design when they view it.”

Entrepreneurship Soars in Silversword Competition

In the spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity, business and community leaders gathered in Chaminadeʻs Ching Conference Center on November 20 to hear and judge five student business pitches in the annual Silversword Business Competition. Director of Chaminadeʻs MBA Program, Masahisa “Masa” K. Yamaguchi, and Dean of the School of Business and Communication, Annette Taijeron Santos, as well as President Lynn Babington greeted guests. Program. 

As part of the Business Strategy Class in the School of Business and Communication, student businesses provided goods and services that ranged from  baked goods to menʻs hair cuts to fitness. All of the student presentations and business plans were well-done. 

1st Place: Open Oven – Team Members: Kyla Castro, Daniella Bali, Lrae Anne Pungtilan

2nd Place: C.U.H. Cuts – Team Members: Jace Tsutomi, Cade Fujii, Max Patterson

3rd Place: Fuel Soda – Team Members: Adrianna Nichols, Marianna Carpenter, Owen Malone

Wags for Wishes – Team Members: Isabella Minaudo, Nathan Medina, Delaney Poling

Step Wealth – Team Members: Eli Loebll, Kira Ferguson, Killen Kawelo

Following each presentation, judges asked students about their finance and marketing strategies as well as provided guidance and advice for their  emerging businesses. 

Judges included: Eric Fujimoto, MBA ʻ94 member of the Chaminade University Board of Regents and President of Hoʻea Wealth Advisory; Jerry Garcia ʻ82, former Chief Financial Officer of Aria Home Health in Dallas, Texas and and owner of Consolidated Sports Products Hawaii; Alana Iuga, co-owner of Voyage Rental Cars; Stacey Katakura, Chief Financial Officer of Accumulus: Lisa Kracher, Vice President at Array Corporation; Lori Lum, Senior Vice President at Anthology FINN Partners; and Tim Moore, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Hawaii at Republic National Distributing Company. 

Mahalo to all of the judges who shared their wisdom, insight and served as role models for students. Special thank you to Eric Fujimoto, MBA ʻ94 who provides the prize money to encourage students to gain real-world experience while applying what they’ve learned at Chaminade to an actual business plan.