Chaminade University of Honolulu

Press Release

Chaminade University Announces Legacy Gift of Over $1.6 Million

Angela Starke’s (BGS English ’85) bequest will go toward supporting the Bridges to the Future campaign

Chaminade University announces the receipt of over $1.6 million bequest through the estate of the late alumna Angela Starke, BGS English ’85. The major gift will support Chaminade’s ongoing Bridges to the Future campaign. Starke’s generosity represents one of the largest, single private gifts from an individual in support of the campaign, and the largest bequest in school history.

Born in Saint Louis, Missouri, Angela Starke graduated from Chaminade University in 1985 with a bachelor’s degree in General Studies. Continuing her passion for emphasizing the importance of higher education and showing her appreciation for her professors, Starke established the Fr. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award benefitting Chaminade faculty members, and also made charitable gift annuity contributions to further the university’s educational mission.

“Angela was a lifelong learner,” said Chaminade President Bro. Bernard Ploeger, SM, PhD. “Her history of giving to Chaminade began the year after her graduation and continued steadily throughout her long life. As a non-traditional student, Angela became close to many of our faculty and staff, particularly Dr. Al Lum and Fr. John Bolin, SM. When she established the Fr. Bolin Award, Angela remarked, ‘a university is only as good as its faculty.’”

In 2008, Angela and her husband, Vincent Mainelli, were inspired by the history of the Marianists in Hawaii, and in particular, a collection of rediscovered nineteenth century photographic glass plates of the Hawaiian Kingdom, taken by Bro. Bertram Bellinghausen, SM, the first president of Saint Louis School. In a letter written to then Chaminade President Sue Wesselkamper, Starke and Mainelli announced that they would donate $100,000 towards the “preservation, expansion, and maintenance of the Bertram material and other archival material relating to the Marianists in Hawaii.” The exhibit later traveled to the neighbor islands and Washington D.C.

“My Chaminade experience didn’t end with a degree in 1985,” said Starke, in a 2002 interview for Chaminade Quarterly. “Instead, it spelled out reasons to give back to the university. I appreciated the quality education I received at Chaminade.”

ABOUT BRIDGES TO THE FUTURE
Bridges to the Future campaign focuses on four critical areas: (1) ensuring student access and support; (2) advancing academic programs; (3) building a richer campus life; and (4) renewing Chaminade’s athletics tradition. To contribute to the campaign, interested individuals should contact Diane Peters-Nguyen, Vice President of Institutional Advancement at [email protected] or (808)735-4772.

ABOUT CHAMINADE UNIVERSITY’S PLANNED GIVING
The Planned Giving Program creates a lasting legacy and supports the continuing educational opportunities for future students and tomorrow’s leaders. In 2016, Chaminade University was selected as a participating organization in Hawaii Community Foundation’s two-year Legacy Giving Campaign.

$1 Million Awarded to Chaminade in Recognition of National Excellence in Science Programs

Chaminade joins select group of 24 universities nationwide recognized for inclusivity and quality in STEM programs

NSM Student in LabChaminade University of Honolulu today announced a grant of $1 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as an awardee in the 2017-22 ‘Inclusive Excellence’ program. Chaminade was selected as one of 24 awardees from a pool of over 500 universities who applied for the prestigious recognition as a Howard Hughes Undergraduate Institution. The program will fund culture-based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) education programs, Hawai‘i-centered research, and activities that link science to family and community for Hawaiian and Pacific Islander students.

Dr. Helen Turner
Dr. Helen Turner

“Chaminade has been building excellence in STEM for a decade with support from agencies such as National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF) and Kamehameha Schools, and this award recognizes the tremendous progress we have made in preparing the next generation of Hawai‘i and Pacific scientists” says Dr. Helen Turner, Chaminade’s Dean of Natural Sciences and Principal Investigator of the HHMI Program. “This award takes us to the next level of national recognition for the curriculum and cutting-edge teaching methods our faculty have developed. The HHMI program confronts the challenge of connecting STEM education with culture, family and community – which are critical for our local students to be successful and to build a strong Hawai‘i for the future.”

“Finding a way to include all students, from all backgrounds, in STEM is critical for building future generations of American scientists”, says David Asai, HHMI Senior Director for Science Education. “HHMI recognizes that science excellence depends on having a community of scientists that is rich in diversity of people and perspectives. This national experiment expects that the selected universities will produce useful models to address inclusivity in STEM.”

ABOUT THE HOWARD HUGHES MEDICAL INSTITUTE
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is the largest private, nonprofit supporter of science education in the United States. The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has created an Inclusive Excellence Commission whose role will be to evaluate the outcomes of this national experiment, and to disseminate to the broader community what is being learned.

Bridges to the Future Campaign Nears $100 Million Goal

Bridges to the Future Campaign Nears $100 Million Goal

With a shiny, newly renovated campus and more building blessings and dedications on the way, Chaminade’s $100 million “Bridges to the Future” comprehensive campaign has gathered serious momentum — some $95 million, in fact.

With just eight months left to reach the total, the University is reaching out to alumni, friends and the community at large to join forces and propel the campaign successfully past its finish mark.

Bro. Bernard J. Ploeger, S.M., will complete his tenure as president in June. However, that has not slowed down the pace of fundraising in the least. “Meeting with the generous Chaminade donors who, one by one, have agreed to help us achieve our goals has been gratifying and rewarding for me personally,” he said.

After the initial launch in July of 2008, tremendous early campaign support came from the Clarence T. C. Ching Foundation, The Atlantic Philanthropies, and the US Department of Education’s Title III (for Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions).

In recent years, however, alumni and board members have quietly stepped up, as have local organizations. In the past year alone, a $5.4 million grant from the Kamehameha Schools for the Ho’oulu STEM scholarships and another $1 million from the Alaka`ina Foundation through Chaminade University Board of Regents chair Vaughn G. A. Vasconcellos have moved the university into striking range of its goal.

“Chaminade’s story is an unparalleled ‘Little College That Could’ story,” said Vasconcellos, recalling the famous basketball upset when Chaminade defeated top-ranked Virginia in 1982. In the mid-1990s, newly appointed President Mary Civille “Sue” Wesselkamper, D. S.W. brought on Ploeger and, with the help of the Marianists and the Catholic religious community which sponsor Chaminade, ushered in an era of growth and transformation.

Last year, Chaminade celebrated six decades of educating students for “life, service and successful careers” and looks forward to welcoming a new president in August. Dr. Lynn Babington will be the third woman to head a university in the state.

On hand for the campus salute to the outgoing president, Babington congratulated Ploeger and the team for their efforts related to the Bridges to the Future campaign. “Chaminade represents a beacon in the higher education realm due to its remarkable achievements with the under-served, particularly the Native Hawaiian community. I congratulate Bro. Bernie on the tremendous success of the campaign to date and look forward to joining efforts to surpass our overall goal.”

The campaign focuses on four critical areas: (1) ensuring student access and support (via new scholarships, for example); (2) advancing academic programs (such as recent grants to renew Chaminade’s pedagogy); (3) building a richer campus life (through the renovation of the Clarence T.C. Ching Hall and other facilities); and (4) renewing Chaminade’s athletics tradition. Gifts and grants in this latter area have enabled the renovation of the campus tennis courts as well as the construction of new coaches’ offices dedicated this year and a locker room and training facility to open in fall 2018.

For more information or to contribute to Chaminade’s Bridges to the Future campaign, interested individuals should contact Diane Peters-Nguyen, Vice President of Institutional Advancement at [email protected] or 808.735-4772.

Dr. Lynn M. Babington, 10th President of Chaminade University of Honolulu

Dr. Lynn Babington

Chaminade University’s Board of Regents has announced the selection of Lynn M. Babington to serve as its 10th President. She will begin August 1, 2017, and succeed Bro. Bernard Ploeger, SM, president since 2009.

Babington, Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Fairfield University in Connecticut, has held multiple leadership roles and is well regarded as an outstanding educator and academic thought leader.

“I am honored and humbled to be chosen as the new president for Chaminade University at such a pivotal time,” said Babington. “I am deeply inspired by its heritage, holistic learning approach and dedication to the community. I look forward to working with the University’s outstanding faculty and staff to help fully realize its mission.”

Chaminade University’s Board of Regents Chair Vaughn Vasconcellos remarked on Babington’s extensive experience in healthcare and nursing, dedication to serving others and genuine warmth. “Her established record and blend of experience in the private sector and academic settings will serve us well. I am confident in Dr. Babington’s ability to lead Chaminade into a future filled with promise and opportunity,” he said.

“Chaminade is very fortunate to have Dr. Babington serve as its next leader,” said Bro. Ploeger.  “She brings both a passion for Catholic, Marianist higher education as well as a vision for new ways in which Chaminade may better serve our students and communities.”

Babington will serve as Interim President of Fairfield University until June 30, 2017. Prior to her positions at Fairfield, Babington held leadership roles at Northeastern University from 2003 to 2011 and also studied as a Fulbright Scholar at Ben Gurion University in Israel.  A lifelong advocate of teaching and learning with extensive experience in garnering external support, Babington was selected in 2013 as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Executive Nurse Fellow designed to nurture industry leaders in their efforts to improve the nation’s health care system.

Babington earned her bachelor’s degree (magna cum laude) from the University of Michigan in nursing. She received her master’s degree (MSN) and doctorate (PhD Nursing) from University of Washington.

Chaminade University of Honolulu offers its students an education in a collaborative learning environment that prepares them for life, service and successful careers. Guided by its Catholic, Marianist and liberal arts educational traditions, Chaminade’s inclusive learning environment is committed to educating the whole person. Here you will find a diverse and inclusive setting where students of all faiths, or none at all, come together in the collective pursuit of a peaceful and just society.

Fairfield University is a Jesuit University, rooted in one of the world’s oldest intellectual and spiritual traditions. More than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students from 36 states, 47 foreign countries, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are enrolled in the University’s five schools.  In the spirit of rigorous and sympathetic inquiry into all dimensions of human experience, Fairfield welcomes students from diverse backgrounds to share ideas and engage in open conversations. The University is located in the heart of a region where the future takes shape, on a stunning campus on the Connecticut coast just an hour from New York City.