Chaminade University of Honolulu

Alumni

Chaminade University Celebrates 2017 Spring Commencement

Hundreds of exuberant graduates celebrated their achievements with their families, friends, faculty, staff and colleagues at Chaminade University’s 59th Commencement. Approximately 429 students graduated this spring semester with nearly 335 participating in the May 15 ceremony held at Neal Blaisdell Arena.

The program featured as its keynote speaker Shelley J. Wilson, the president and chief executive officer of Wilson Homecare and vice chair and secretary of Chaminade University’s Board of Regents. In 1996, Wilson founded Wilson Homecare, one of Hawaii’s largest private-duty home health care agencies. Wilson Homecare provides in-home health care services island-wide. Also in 2013, Wilson Senior Living Kailua, a state-licensed Adult Residential Care Home opened in the Aikahi neighborhood.

Wilson inspired the audience with her story.  She found her passion during one of the most difficult times of her life.  Returning to civilian life as a wounded warrior, Wilson had to deal with the challenges of recovery in the home.  Her experiences gave her empathy for in-home-care patients. In response to those hard times, she founded Wilson Homecare.  She encouraged the soon-to-be graduates to find a cause and to dedicate themselves to that cause with a passion as a way to find purpose and meaning.

Commencement student speakers were Taylor Seth Stutsman, the undergraduate representative, and Rezettakahealani Eric Mulitalo, the post-graduate representative.

Stutsman graduated with his B.S. in Forensics Sciences, Cum Laude.  That night his family came from five different states to cheer for him. He moved to Hawaii from Pennsylvania and appreciated the diversity of Chaminade. “Hawaii has taught me more about acceptance and tolerance than I could have imagined,” he said, appreciative of the multi-cultural experiences made available to him at Chaminade.

Mulitalo graduated that night with her M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration. Raised in Western Samoa, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wellington, New Zealand. “You do not have to know what you are going to do with the rest of your life yet,” she reassured the graduating students. She advised them to remember what the Scottish scholar William Barclay had said. “’There are two great days in a person’s life –the day we are born, and the day we discover why,’” she quoted. “Watch your choices, follow your dreams and love what you do.”

Knowledge Learned at Chaminade Helps Nakoa ‘15 Earn Milken Foundation ‘Teacher of Promise’ Award

“Old school” chalkboards and erasers remain fixtures in many classrooms. But Chaminade University graduate Peter Kai Mana Nakoa ‘15, an instructor at Nānākuli Elementary School, knows the future of education is digital, not analog.

The knowledge Nakoa gained through Chaminade’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program helped him earn the prestigious “Teacher of Promise” accolade in March from the California-based Milken Family Foundation. Milken awards are often called “the Oscars of teaching.”

Peter Kai Mana Nakoa (MAT ‘15)Nakoa, affectionately known by his students as “Kumu Kai Mana,” is also the first Hawaiian Language Immersion Education teacher to win this award.

Since graduating from Chaminade, Nakoa has assumed additional leadership roles at his school on Oahu’s Leeward Coast. This includes joining a cohort that’s integrating technology into the classroom to support a Digital Common Core Curriculum. He’s also part of an instruction and assessment group that determines what curriculum will be implemented at the school.

Nakoa credits MAT with providing a solid foundation in the latest teaching methods.

“I was able to apply what I learned in my classes and use it with my current students at the time and get real results and data that I could then use to drive my instruction,” Nakoa says.

Another benefit of his Chaminade education, Nakoa says, was learning how to adapt teaching methods to multiple grade levels.

“Because I teach combination and multiple grades at one time, learning how to differentiate my instruction really does help me to address all benchmarks and standards for all my students, regardless of their grades,” Nakoa says.

And that, he says, “has become a key to ensuring that all my students succeed and holomua (progress).”

The Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program is part of Chaminade’s Division of Education. MAT is designed for students who graduated with a Bachelor’s degree and and seek licensure to teach. MAT includes these state-approved licensure programs: Elementary Education with Licensure, Secondary Education with Licensure (with an emphasis in Math, Science, English or Social Studies), Special Education, and Early Childhood Education with Licensure. Chaminade’s undergraduate and graduate education degree programs are accredited by the Hawai’i Teacher Standards Board. The Montessori Program is accredited by the Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education and affiliated with the American Montessori Society.

Alumna Becky Burns ’76 Creates Successful Granola Business

Elizabeth “Becky” Mann Burns, BA Psychology ’76 is the owner and founder of Anahola Granola, a successful local company which produces about five tons of delicious, fresh tropical granola per week. Located in Hanapepe, Kauai, the company employs 11 workers and has been in business for more than thirty years. Anahola Granola can be found throughout Hawaii in most upscale hotels, specialty shops, health food and grocery stores, as well as Costco.

Becky Burns (B.A. Psychology '76) and daughterBurns has always had two synergistic parts to her life which have energized her and her business. She has an entrepreneurial streak, and she enjoys people. While growing up, Burns would make cookies weekly for her family. Then during her first year of college on the mainland, she began a birthday cake business.

Using the income from that first business, she was able to buy a one-way ticket to Hawaii, and in her mid-twenties, Burns decided to return to school and complete her degree.

Transferring from the University of Denver, she arrived at Chaminade. The faculty inspired her, igniting her passion for psychology. The smaller classes also suited her well. “I liked it at Chaminade, so I stayed until I graduated,” she explained. “I rode my bike along Harding Avenue back and forth from school,” she reminisced.

Though she did not take a lot of undergraduate classes, she had always liked people and psychology. Her favorite classes were taught by women psychology professors.  She appreciated their insight and their compassion and had a rapport with them because as an older student she was closer in age to her professors than her fellow students. She identified with them.

Burns remembered one particular course.  The course on “Death and Dying” based on Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’ book of the same title moved her.  “The subject matter at that time was very new and cutting edge…I was fascinated,” she said.

Energized by what she had learned, Burns chose to volunteer as the social director for seniors at a home on Waialae Avenue across from Zippy’s.  In fact, she received a recognition award from Chaminade for her work there.

After graduation, Burns had no idea that she would become a business person.  She began making her organic granola. “It wasn’t a surprise I started a business in granola. I always ate well and loved organic gardening. In fact, my first garden I had was on the front lawn of the house where I lived when I went to Chaminade. I got a heap of manure from the Honolulu Zoo and dug it into the ground. In the end, I found out I got too much manure, and the nitrogen killed most of my crops,” Burns shared a smile.

Becky Burns (B.A. Psychology '76) and daughterBecause of her slow growth philosophy, Burns never got a business loan and only used money from the previous week’s sales to buy raw goods and packaging.  “My business is the epitome of slow growth. So slow that perhaps many businesses couldn’t survive as slow as Anahola Granola grew,” said Burns.

Burns recalled that people were very kind to her, and that was what helped her through the years. When she sold her first bags of granola at a Christmas fair, a woman, who owned a store in Kilauea, Kauai, kept coming back for more bags. That woman encouraged Burns to find a certified kitchen so that she could buy more for her store. “Without her, I doubt my granola would have gone any further than the few fairs that winter,” Burns said. “Another gift was the small amount of rent I was charged by All Saints Church. It was a small kitchen, and I paid month by month. I was there right after Hurricane Iniki until I bought a building in Hanapepe. My responsibility now is to give back and help whenever I can.”

Burns is a strong believer in giving back. She helps other small business owners, mentoring them with advice. Her business donates product to various charities on Kauai, including school programs. “I feel that if you are a generous business owner, the rewards come back a million. Obviously, I am not saying to give away all of your product. But whatever you can do, consider doing it,” she advised.

Though she has not been back to Chaminade since she graduated, she will be on Oahu in August for the Made in Hawaii Festival and will try to visit. “Certainly having a degree in psychology has helped me in all realms of my business,” she reflected.

And her love for people and her business acumen made her life abundant.

Microbes are Hot Topic in Forensic Science; Book by Chaminade’s Dr. David Carter Tells All About It

After more than a century of absence from forensic science investigations, microbes are once again in the spotlight. And a new book by Associate Professor David Carter, director of Chaminade University’s Forensic Sciences Program, explains why.

Dr. David Carter

“Forensic Microbiology,” edited by Dr. Carter and co-authored with two Chaminade graduate students, tells all about those tiny bugs. Specifically, the book details how microbes help scientists determine when a person died, how they died and where they were before they died.

“Using microbes is the hottest, trendiest, sexiest area of forensic science right now,” Dr. Carter says. “This is the thing everybody wants to know about because it’s new.”

Actually, the use of microbes in forensic science is both old and new. The new part involves cutting-edge technology that enables scientists to extract DNA evidence from microbes and sequence the material with a genetic analyzer.

The old part of using microbiology to solve crimes is really old. So old, in fact, that the practice far predates “CSI” TV shows and the invention of television itself.

“There were folks using microbes in the 19th Century as evidence,” Dr. Carter says, “and then people forgot about them for a hundred years. Now people are coming back to microbes and going: ‘Huh. Maybe this is worthwhile.’”

Although Dr. Carter emphasizes that microbes won’t replace more mundane forms of evidence – such as fingerprints, cell phone records, etc. – these tiny organisms do have “one huge advantage.”

“Microbes are present everywhere a human goes,” Dr. Carter says, “because they are always on you, they are always in you. And not all forms of evidence do that.”

Forensic Microbiology Book

Dr. Carter’s book, which he describes as “the first of its kind,” provides a much-need resource for university students and forensic science professionals, including investigators, microbiologists and pathologists. Among those contributing to the book were leading scientists from America, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and other countries.

Helping Dr. Carter write the 424-page book was Emily Junkins, who graduated from Chaminade in 2016 with a master’s degree in forensic science. She’s currently pursuing a doctorate degree in microbiology at the University of Oklahoma.

“Being a co-author for two chapters in this book, and chapters in other books or manuscripts, has had a major impact on me pursuing a Ph.D.,” according to Junkins, who credits her Chaminade education with providing valuable opportunities for in-depth research.

“I would not be the scientist I am now without these opportunities,” says Junkins, who plans a career in academia as a professor and principal investigator focused on microbial biology.

Also serving as a book co-author was Whitney Kodama, who’s graduating from Chaminade this spring with a master’s degree in forensic science.

“I think this experience helped me gain a better understanding of the scope of my research project as well as insight into a field of forensics that I was not aware of before entering the program,” Kodama says.

“I also think this experience has helped the quality of my scientific writing,” adds Kodama, who recently accepted an investigator position with the City and County of Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner.

“I learned that stepping out of your comfort zone and doing something that seems intimidating/difficult at first can only benefit you in the future,” Kodama says. “One can grow from these experiences, and I feel that has happened to me.”

Editing “Forensic Microbiology” with Dr. Carter were Dr. Jeffery K. Tomberlin from Texas A&M University’s Department of Entomology, Dr. M. Eric Benbow from Michigan State University’s Department of Entomology, and Dr. Jessica L. Metcalf from Colorado State University’s Department of Animal Sciences.

All royalties from book sales support student research projects of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Chaminade University’s Division of Natural Science and Mathematics is accepting applications for its bachelor’s degree program in forensic sciences. This degree provides students with a wide range of graduate school and career options in the fields of law, medicine, veterinary medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.

Business Alumnus Juno Chung ’07 Relishes the Small Successes Leading Up to the Big Goals

Juno Chung Koa Cafe (B.A. Business '07)Drawn back to Chaminade University out of gratitude, the proud alumnus Juno Chung, B.A. Business ’07, accepted the invitation to participate in the Hogan Entrepreneurs Program Speaker Series this spring. “As an entrepreneur, you always have the freedom to do what makes you happy,” shared Juno, who during the last 10 years since his graduation has acquired much wisdom and experience.

Juno took over his family’s business on September 10, 2014, seven years after graduating from Chaminade University with a bachelor’s degree in Business.  He will always remember that day. His parents held a company party and announced to all the employees of the six Koa Pancake House restaurants in operation that they were retiring and turning over the business to Juno.

For many, it seemed like an automatic given, but in reality that Rubicon moment came after years of grooming, struggles, pushbacks, and challenges.  Juno grew up in the restaurant business from a very early age.  He remembered being nine or 10 sitting in the back of the cash register with his calculator.  People would come up to pay.  Always good with math, he would figure out the costs, take their money and give them their change.

In high school, he had liked cars and wanted to work as a valet.  Dad nixed that idea and told him firmly that if he were going to work anywhere other than at one of the Koa Pancake House restaurants, it would have to be at another restaurant.  So Juno took a job at Zippy’s.

Juno’s parents Il Man and Sam Soon Chung were immigrants from Korea who did not graduate from college, and Juno was their only son. Therefore, he was expected to carry on the name and take over their business. Mr. Chung did not think that college was necessary and wanted Juno to work full time at the restaurants so that he could teach his son everything he knew. Juno thought that at least he could go to Kapi’olani or Windward Community College.  However, Mrs. Chung, adamant on a four-year college for her son, stepped in and settled the discussion.

So after graduating from Maryknoll High School, Juno chose Chaminade University with its rolling enrollment.  Both schools were small and had small class sizes. Chaminade was a small enough university that everyone seemed to know his name (in fact, he still stays connected to Chaminade classmates and faculty members).  The teacher to student ratio fitted him well.  Juno admitted to not being the best of students, but the faculty found ways to bring the best out of him.  With the family business always top of mind, Juno tuned into everything taught in class that he thought would be relevant for the restaurants. He remembered fondly on how his accounting professor, Wayne Tanna, reached out to his students.  Tanna was the one to first bring up issues of second-generation businesses including tax challenges and the need for a business plan. Juno appreciated Tanna’s business law and ethics classes.

As Juno moved forward, graduating in 2007, he sought his own way in the world.  His parents had their very traditional ways, and he had new ideas and new approaches. As the conflict peaked, Juno realized that it was time to strike out on his own and moved to New York.

Juno’s love and respect for his parents were clearly evident as he shared his story.  “I valued the relationship I have with them so much. Moving away was an opportunity to save that relationship,” he said.

In New York, he would develop his successful product and clothing brand MyOutlet, which grew out of life’s frustrations.  He included a non-profit aspect to his line and strived to be socially responsible in his business decisions and his profits. He also cofounded JCBL Products.It was a good enough life.

Then his sisters called him with their concerns about their parents’ health. They asked that he try to get their parents to sell the business and retire.  Juno reached out to his aging parents and found that they were both having health issues.  He asked them what they wanted to do. They shared that they had always meant to hand the business over to him.

Juno thought carefully about his decision.  His sisters did not want the restaurant business. Juno, who identified with the character Neo from the Matrix film series, felt that like Neo, he was “the one.” He accepted his destiny with one major stipulation.  Though his parents would be welcomed advisors, Juno would be in full control.    Happily and full-heartedly, they accepted their son’s leadership.  Since then, Juno has added two Koa Cafes and continues to run the other six Koa Pancake Houses.

Juno, like Neo, has moved through a personal metamorphosis that draws him back to the Matrix. He has wrestled with his destiny and has won. This is not to say that business did not have its ups and downs, or that Juno did not have doubts about whether he belonged in the restaurant business or not.  “‘Money doesn’t come easy. If it did, everyone would be rich. When you make mistakes, recognize them early,’ my dad used to tell me,” Juno recalled as he was going through a particularly tough business loss. “My mistakes are like I’m earning my master’s degree at an Ivy League school. This is part of the journey,” he said with inner resilience.

Juno’s parents and his fiancée are foundational reminders that he is where he was supposed to be. His parents are available as sage advisors, and his fiancée reminds him to be grateful.  The relationships are strong and loving. He has also found that noticing the small successes along the way to the big goal makes him happy and gives him encouragement for the long haul.

His enthusiasm for his alma mater continued to be unfettered. He humbly shared that Chaminade contributed to making him who he was.

If there was anything he would tell students, it would be to take advantage of the opportunities available to them at the school.  “Enjoy the friends and the faculty mentors along the way,” he said.

Chaminade’s School of Business and Communication offers a Master of Business Administration degree. Undergraduate degrees are available in Accounting, Business Administration, Communication and International Trade, along with a minor in Computer Information Systems. The school also offers undergraduate degrees in Management and Business Administration through the Professional and Continuing Education (PACE) online program.

Alum Shares His Journey from Employee to Business Owner

Brittain Komoda and Grelyn Rosario
Brittain Komoda (Hogan Entrepreneurs Program student) and Grelyn Rosario (B.A. Business ’94, McDonald’s Franchise Owner)

It was a privilege to hear from Chaminade alumnus, Mr. Grelyn Rosario, owner and operator of Maui McDonald’s of Dairy Road, Kahana, Kahului, Lahaina, Pukalani, and Wal-Mart of Kahului.

Mr. Rosario is a second generation owner of McDonald’s franchises. In 1969, his mother moved to Oahu from the Philippines and started working at McDonald’s. Mr. Rosario also worked at McDonald’s at the age of 16. After graduating from Aiea High School, Mr. Rosario’s mother moved to Maui to open her own franchise. Mr. Rosario stayed back in Oahu to attend Chaminade University. He continued to work at McDonald’s throughout his undergraduate and graduate career and was able to learn more about the ins and outs of the company. After receiving his MBA degree, Mr. Rosario moved to Maui and attended Hamburger University. With timing, luck, and preparation, he opened his first franchise in Wal-Mart on Maui. Today, he owns and operates six McDonald’s on Maui.

Mr. Rosario shared with us McDonald’s “three-legged stool.” McDonald’s foundation is based upon three “legs”: franchise, corporation and its suppliers. The balance and relationship between the three legs is vital to McDonald’s journey to success. Mr. Rosario also emphasized the importance of serving the community. He has served the community through supporting educational projects, feeding needy children and providing the necessary materials to upkeep church in Ilocos Sur, Philippines. Serving the community provides the opportunity to positively impact the society, especially the community around you.

Lastly, he ended his talk with a very memorable phrase: “fire in your belly!” This means finding your motivation, your muse, and your inspiration. Mr. Rosario’s “fire in his belly” was his mother. She motivated and inspired him to be the success that he is today. He also told us that it is okay to fail because that’s how you learn and succeed. It doesn’t matter what you want to do in life, just be the best at it.

“Failure is success in progress,” – Albert Einstein

Written by: Hogan Entrepreneurs Program student, Brittain Komoda
Speaker Session with Grelyn Rosario 4/12/17