Chaminade University of Honolulu

Innovation

Designed for What’s Next: Chaminade Introduces New Path to Marine Conservation Careers

Life in Hawai‘i is defined by the Pacific Ocean.

The ocean is the bedrock of the economy and plays a significant role in local and Native Hawaiian culture. The state is an ideal place to study and research the marine world, and Chaminade University students now have the opportunity to do just that.

Beginning Fall 2027, students can apply to the new Bachelor of Arts in Marine & Oceanic Sustainability program. The new degree aligns with Chaminade’s strategic vision to improve academic excellence and marks a step change in the university’s embrace of its Pacific heritage, exposing students to the rigors of scientific discovery and thoughtful inquiry through humanities traditions.

“The new degree program prepares students for careers in the burgeoning ‘blue economy,’” said College of Arts & Sciences co-Dean Gail Grabowsky, Ph.D.

“According to the United Nations, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, jobs in the blue economy are growing more rapidly than in other major fields,” Grabowsky explained.

The Marine & Oceanic Sustainability degree program is the only one of its kind in Hawai‘i, preparing students for careers in marine-oriented fields by combining studies in the natural sciences, including biology and oceanography, with humanities disciplines like psychology, law, and art.

“It is highly interdisciplinary, bringing together the sciences and humanities in meaningful and exciting ways,” explained Justin Wyble, Ph.D., and Assistant Professor of English at Chaminade University. “This program is quite unique for this reason.”

Wyble, who helped design the new undergraduate major with colleagues and university leadership, said the program’s coursework and schedule are designed to give students greater awareness and appreciation of Hawai‘i and Oceania while training them to conduct real, impactful marine science research and investigations.

The program is very much career-oriented, he stressed. Marine & Oceanic Sustainability students will be taught to apply their education and training toward clear career paths in the expanding marine policy, conservation, restoration, and tourism economies.

“This program is a great opportunity to highlight the unique ocean cultures of Hawai’i and the Pacific,” Wyble added. “It prepares our students for many popular ocean-related careers here and throughout Oceania.”

The coursework underpinning the Marine and Oceanic Sustainability major reflects this.

Pre-major courses include a first-year science seminar. That foundation prepares students for subsequent class and lab work in marine science, environmental science, fisheries science, biology, oceanography, and conservation science.

Upon becoming better grounded in natural sciences, students are then immersed in the rich humanities fields as they relate to the Pacific and the world’s oceanic environments. For instance, the path also includes coursework in law, anthropology, and psychology.

The major also incorporates study of oceanic arts and literature–how the oceans are depicted in popular fiction and film. Housed within the new College of Arts & Sciences, the Marine & Oceanic Sustainability major is as practical as it is artistically enriching. 

Foundational study of the sciences and humanities combined prepares Marine & Oceanic Sustainability majors for further fine-tuned training in marine policy, regenerative tourism, data science, and communications, among other offerings.

Wyble said that planners are emphasizing a strong balance between disciplines.

“As we were developing the curriculum for this program, we were committed to finding an equal balance between the science courses and the humanities courses, as well as related disciplines from the other colleges,” he said. “I see it complementing other major and minor programs across campus, especially Environmental Science; Environmental Studies; Law, History & Culture; and Applied Arts & Digital Media.”

Graduates of Chaminade’s Marine & Oceanic Sustainability program will be qualified to pursue work in fisheries management and science, natural resources management, coastal management and restoration, coastal recreation, ecotourism, coral reef restoration, education, advocacy and conservation, and even marine and coastal journalism, among a host of other potential paths.

The major also leans on the best of Polynesian and Native Hawaiian knowledge and experience to ground students with a better sense of purpose, place, and community wellbeing, in keeping with Chaminade’s 2030 strategic plan.

“We want them to know the ocean,” said Grabowsky. “We want them to know the ocean from the Pacific Islanders’ perspective as much as possible; that the ocean is a connector for them.

“It’s the blue continent, not a divider.”

Wyble says he hopes the new major will attract students looking to effect real and positive changes at home and abroad, considering the tremendous challenges facing the world’s ocean environments and communities.

The program’s organizers expect it to draw interest from not only Hawai‘i, but across the Pacific Rim and Oceania, especially from people “who want to give back to their home island’s cultures, economies, and ecologies after graduation,” Wyble said.

“If you love and care about the ocean, this major will prepare you to give back to it in meaningful ways: environmentally, economically, and culturally,” he said.

Designed for What’s Next: Chaminade Launches Accelerated 3-Year Applied Management Degree

A faster, more flexible path to a bachelor’s degree and career success is coming to Chaminade University in Fall 2027.

The new Bachelor of Science in Applied Management will allow students to earn their degree in just three years through a fully online, 90-credit program designed to help them get a head start on their careers.

In introducing a new three-year accelerated path to a diploma, Chaminade is responding to increasing calls for curriculum that allows students to complete their studies in three years as opposed to the traditional four-year track.

This new accelerated approach is designed to help students control the costs of their higher education while jumping on the career path faster.

“More and more institutions are looking at applied degrees,” said Amir Toosi, Ph.D., Dean of the College of Business, Innovation & Technology. “Not only domestic schools, but international schools are also going to three-year degree programs.”

The shorter time to graduate detracts nothing from the educational experience.

The curriculum is designed for working professionals and full-time students. Practical business and management courses will teach students the ins and outs of effectively and efficiently managing for-profit businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits.

Required courses for the new major will include classes in Business Foundations, Organizational Behavior, Applied Management Concepts, and more. Eligible electives include tracks in Leadership & Communication, Liberal Arts traditions, and Writing, Science and Ethics.

The coursework prepares students for a variety of management-related positions, from project coordinator and business analyst to account manager, human resources specialist, operations associate, and project coordinator, among other fields.

Toosi said the degree is particularly well suited for working professionals looking to “upskill” and acquire additional education and workplace know-how to advance their careers or win promotions at their existing workplaces.

In other words, the three-year Applied Management degree fits “people who know what they want to do, get their degree faster, and then move on quicker,” he said.

Administered by the College of Business, Innovation & Technology, the Applied Management undergraduate degree will become the newest academic program under Chaminade University’s Flex Online Undergraduate program. Flex allows students to complete course requirements online at their convenience. Applied Management

The degree will be Chaminade’s first three-year accelerated undergraduate program. 

Designed for What’s Next: Hawai‘i’s First Pre-Law Degree Launches at Chaminade University

Students interested in pursuing a career in legal affairs or a law degree now have the option to pursue a major that gets them closer to their dreams.

Starting Fall Semester 2027, Chaminade University will begin offering a new undergraduate pre-law training program, the first and only one of its kind in Hawai‘i. Applications for the new Bachelor of Arts in Law, History & Culture program will be accepted in the current cycle, and enrollment will likely begin starting late Spring through Summer 2027.

College of Arts & Sciences co-Dean Cheryl Edelson, Ph.D., said the new bachelor program is explicitly designed to steer students toward legal professions or law school.

“It’s a pre-law program,” she said. “A lot of students are interested in law, so we built this into our curriculum.”

The new major is designed to fulfill Chaminade University’s strategic plan of enhancing academic excellence and the career relevance of degree programs while improving student outcomes, gearing graduates toward career success. It marks a milestone in Hawai’i’s higher education landscape as Chaminade continually adjusts to meet the needs of the community it serves. 

The Law, History & Culture program prepares students for law school and/or the paralegal profession. Graduates will also be primed for success in business legal compliance offices and law administration, among other pathways.

The new major combines training in criminology, criminal justice, and forensic science with history, communications, and writing to create an applied, career-oriented education that meets expanding workforce needs. Students will learn legal and criminal justice concepts while honing their written and verbal rhetorical skills–at this while gaining a firm grounding in the historical contexts in which society’s laws emerged.

Edelson said the first pre-law program in the state is a natural fit with Chaminade University’s strong position in forensic science and criminal justice education, now with additional layers added in.

“The pre-law path is something that students have wanted for a long time,” she explained. “We have a good history of our students in historical, political studies, criminal justice, or criminology going into law school, but we’ve tried to build in more policy, especially policy about the Pacific region.”

Housed within the College of Arts & Sciences, Chaminade’s faculty leadership plans to introduce new courses over time as the new degree program is fully integrated into the broader university educational architecture.

“There are going to be some new courses developed as we move along,” said Frank Bailey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Historical and Political Studies.

Yet the program is ready to accept students now, he emphasized, with existing and retooled courses meeting pre-law educational standards and goals.

“At the moment, it has selected history courses that are already developed, that are ready to go, and selected criminal justice courses already developed, ready to go,” said Bailey, who will co-chair the new degree program. “There are some forensic science courses, and then we also try to make it very interdisciplinary.”

Meaning Law, History & Culture students’ studies will couple their practical legal training with coursework in relevant humanities disciplines. About half the course load will be specific to the major, while students will be free to choose from a list of electives to fold into their major depending on where their interests and passions lie.

Pre-law foundations


The new four-year BA in Law, History & Culture degree is carefully designed to prepare students for the rigors of a juris doctorate (JD) program.

Of course, students interested in advancing to formal legal training must first gain admission to a law school. That’s why Chaminade’s new pre-law program includes solid preparation for the Law School Admission Test, or LSAT.

“That’s one of the things that is really important,” said program co-chair and Historical and Political Studies Professor Michio Yamasaki, Ph.D. “That’s central to our degree.”

Yamasaki noted the College of Arts & Sciences is working with LSAT preparation training companies to give Law, History & Culture students access to preparation materials and even full LSAT prep courses, in addition to the advantages they’ll get from the program’s curriculum.

Chaminade University has also secured an articulation agreement with St. Mary’s University, our sister Marianist Catholic institution in Texas, whereby St. Mary’s School of Law has agreed to fast-track acceptance of Chaminade’s Law, History & Culture pre-law graduates, so long as they meet entrance requirements.

Yet, one does not have to be law school-bound to pursue this specialization.

The curriculum is designed for students interested in pursuing careers in legal professions that do not require a law degree immediately upon graduation, including opportunities in government services and the private sector.

Scoping research conducted prior to launching the program unveiled an expanding job market for legally trained college graduates. Opportunities include jobs for new paralegals, legal researchers, claims adjusters, court clerks, compliance officers, and public affairs specialists. The program also offers applied training for those interested in becoming law enforcement officers, social service workers, child advocates, legal writers, and law and crime journalists.

“Paralegal, obviously that’s one,” Professor Bailey noted. “But there are also a bunch of jobs in business where they can use somebody with a law background.”

Pre-law students will also benefit from practical internship experiences before graduating. The faculty is leveraging connections to Hawai‘i’s legal and business communities to secure internship opportunities.

High school students, recent graduates, and working professionals interested in learning more about the new BA in Law, History & Culture degree program are invited to read up on its structure and degree requirements on Chaminade University’s website.

“There’s flexibility to enjoy college in the fields that you want, while getting a well-rounded education focused on legal studies,” Bailey said.

‘Just Get Involved’: Chaminade’s Hogan Students Hear Life Lessons From Nonprofit Leader

“Surfing is a metaphor. You fall off your board; you get back on. That’s life.”

So advised Dr. Richard Kebo, Executive Director of Surfrider Spirit Sessions, at Wednesday night’s Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership Program guest lecture held on campus.

The Hogan Entrepreneurial Leadership lecture series invites business and community leaders, including Hogan alumni, to Chaminade University to share their experiences in entrepreneurship and to impart words of wisdom, advice, and encouragement. The series aims to expose Chaminade students to real-world examples of entrepreneurial success in Hawaii, demonstrating how what they are learning leads to real career outcomes post-graduation.

The last Hogan lecture of the 2026 speaker series featured a former consultant to Hawaiian Airlines and current entrepreneur, educator, and nonprofit leader.

In his talk, Dr. Kebo told Hogan students that success in all areas of life depends on commitment, hard work, and approaching endeavors not with the mindset of what you can get out of it, but rather what you can give.

Kebo assumed the leadership role at Surfrider Spirit Sessions just four weeks before he visited Chaminade University. Surfrider Spirit Sessions, established 20 years ago, is a not-for-profit organization that engages and mentors adjudicated and at-risk youth through surfing, exposing troubled young people to the ocean’s healing and equalizing power and the determination it takes to learn to surf.

As in surfing, success in life, entrepreneurship, and career depends on perseverance, Kebo said, a lesson just as relevant to all of us as it is to the youth partners Surfrider Spirit works with.

You also must be willing to show up, get involved, and chase opportunities wherever they may turn up, he said.

“I’m a local boy,” Kebo told the Hogan students. “Us local kids, sometimes we don’t get as many opportunities, but I’ve figured out a way to find those opportunities, and it’s just getting involved.”

During his lecture, Kebo shared the struggles his own operations are currently experiencing.

He owns a local surfboard and paddle board manufacturing company that’s still fighting to turn a profit. Kebo took over as leader of Surfrider Spirit at a time when it’s increasingly struggling to find outside financial support to keep serving the community.

“As a nonprofit, you have to find funding,” Kebo said.

Furthermore, a spinoff nonprofit founded to financially support Surfrider Spirit, a cultural tour company called Royal Adventures, is facing its own challenges in the current downturn in Hawaii’s tourism industry. Royal Adventures markets ocean sports adventures and other excursions to tourists with an emphasis on culturally relevant activities, or activities that educate guests on Hawaiian culture and history.

The challenges are real, but Kebo remains undeterred, sharing several initiatives he and his team are working on to turn their difficulties around.

Facing a tough, competitive, and shrinking market in Waikiki, Royal Adventures is branching out, marketing tours to active military members on the island. The nonprofit is also pursuing potential partnerships with schools.

In addition, Royal Adventures reached out to other local nonprofits to seek room for collaboration and growth. This effort is now bearing fruit, he said, taking tourists away from Waikiki and into the mountains of Oahu, where partner organizations are getting them involved in ecological restoration and invasive species eradication.

Never underestimate the potential power of collaboration, he said. “If you can amplify the people that you are collaborating with, it’s a win-win situation all the way around,” Kebo said. “It’s not easy to do.”

‘Flipping the Script’

Kebo keeps busy running his manufacturing business while leading two nonprofits, as both organizations work to find firmer footing in a difficult economic climate. The adventure isn’t over, but Kebo reflected on his more than two decades of success in business and community involvement, and said he regrets nothing. 

One winning strategy for success, he said, is counterintuitive: when pursuing any venture, don’t think about money first.

He called it “flipping the script,” approaching new ventures thinking about “not what I could get, but what I could offer.” Money will come from the value of your output and contributions, he advised.

That, and perseverance.

“It’s like surfing,” he said. “If you want to catch that wave, you’ve got to commit.”

“The same thing with business.”

From Paper Fish to Banana Bread, Campus Marketplace has it all

From paper fish to shell bangles to banana bread, the Fall Campus Marketplace had a little something for everyone—and plenty of reasons to linger.

Held Wednesday in the Ching Conference Center, the annual event transformed the space into a lively collection of pop-up shops featuring crocheted bags, homemade baked goods, matcha making, thrifted T-shirts and more. More than 300 people stopped by to browse, shop and support student entrepreneurs. Some left with shopping bags full of goodies; others may have left empty-handed, but few could leave without a smile and a renewed appreciation for the creativity and camaraderie that make up the Chaminade community.

Promoting the theme “Campus Made, Campus Inspired,” the College of Arts & Sciences hosted its sixth annual Marketplace under the leadership of Sr. Malia Wong, who works tirelessly to bring this fun, family-oriented event to campus each year.

“Marketplace is unique because it really brings the entire Chaminade ‘ohana together, from students, parents, alumni, faculty and staff,” Wong said.

And what an ‘ohana marketplace it was. Forty sellers filled the conference center with their creations and carefully curated finds, sporting names as imaginative as the goods themselves. “Designs by Baibai,” “MJ Stickers,” “Something Fishy” and “She Shells Sea Sells” were just a few of the memorable names drawing shoppers in. When the Marketplace first launched six years ago, it featured just 23 pop-up shops. Today, that number has grown to 40—a testament to the event’s growing appeal and the entrepreneurial spirit thriving on campus.

For fourth-year psychology major Evan Cepeda, the business model was refreshingly simple. His booth, “Everything $1:D,” offered a little bit of everything: T-shirts, books, highlighter pens, a neck massager and more. The price? One dollar. No haggling required.

A self-described thrifter, Cepeda said he believes in reducing, reusing and recycling rather than constantly buying new things from big-box stores.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” Cepeda said, proving the point as one of his classmates purchased a plastic bin cover for a buck.

Across the conference center, Adrienne Senining and Ava Walker helped showcase another kind of student talent: handmade ceramics. Senining, a nursing student who also serves as a teaching assistant in the ceramics department, explained that ceramics students create an inventory of bowls, plates and other pieces to sell at the Marketplace each year.

“This is a great opportunity for students to show off their talents,” Senining said.

And that is part of what makes the Marketplace more than just a place to shop. Behind every crocheted bag, ceramic bowl and secondhand find is an opportunity for students to share their interests, put their ideas into action and learn by doing. Running a booth can mean practicing communication, building confidence, managing money, thinking creatively and connecting with customers—all skills that extend well beyond the classroom.

Just as importantly, the Marketplace creates space for the Chaminade community to come together in support of one another. Students get to showcase what they can do, shoppers discover the people and stories behind the products, and the campus ‘ohana grows a little closer in the process.

Whether shoppers came looking for a bargain, a handmade gift or a slice of banana bread, they found something more: a celebration of student initiative, creativity and community. At the Fall Campus Marketplace, the merchandise may have been made by hand, but the connections made along the way were just as valuable.

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.