Chaminade University of Honolulu recently received a $20,000 grant from the G. N. Wilcox Trust, Bank of Hawaii, Trustee to provide educational technology packages to high-need students. The packages will include a laptop computer, headphones with a microphone, and an external flash drive for secure data storage.
“This generous grant from G. N. Wilcox Trust will help us meet some of our students’ critical technology needs and allow for continued student success,” said Dr. Helen Turner, Chaminade’s Vice President for Strategy and Innovation. “Even as face-to-face classes have resumed, ensuring our students have the proper equipment will provide resiliency against future lockdowns, and provide for those students who have elected to stay online because they or their family members have compromised immune systems.”
Across the nation, the transition to distance education in response to COVID-19 has exposed a digital divide. The Technology Package program reflects Chaminade’s continuing mission to serve low income students with an exceptional college education.
G. N. Wilcox Trust provides support for programs that better the lives of individuals and families in Hawai‘i. It was created by George Norton Wilcox, who began his career growing sugar at Hanalei, Kauai in 1863 and later became owner of Grove Farm plantation. He also served as a representative for Kauai from 1887 until annexation of the Islands in 1898. As a philanthropist, Wilcox’s interests centered largely around religious and educational work and expanded to include arts & culture, community, environment, health and human services.
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Chaminade University of Honolulu provides a collaborative and innovative learning environment that prepares graduate and undergraduate students for life, service and successful careers. Established in 1955, the university is guided by its Catholic, Marianist and liberal arts educational traditions, which include a commitment to serving the Native Hawaiian population. Chaminade offers an inclusive setting where students, faculty and staff collectively pursue a more just and peaceful society.
