Chaminade University of Honolulu

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Founders’ Week celebrates Chaminade’s roots

It seems to me that we must not become discouraged if we encounter some obstacle in the way of the necessary change. Never has change been done, and never will it be done, without difficulty.”

Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, Letters, March 23, 1833

In 1955, Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was declared safe and effective. Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. The United States began its involvement in the Vietnam conflict. And St. Louis Junior College was established and would eventually change its name to Chaminade College.

“Founders’ Week gives us the opportunity to honor our founders, including the university’s namesake Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, Venerable Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon and Venerable Marie Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous,” says Chaminade University President Dr. Lynn Babington. “Central to Father Chaminade’s legacy is his commitment to forming schools as a principal means for transforming society. Today, we perpetuate that tradition and remain committed to a holistic education of the whole person.”

Throughout the week of Jan. 16-21, events are planned to acknowledge Chaminade’s past founders and presidents, who have all significantly contributed to the Marianist heritage of respecting both faith and reason as means to the truth and justice.

“Founders’ Week allows us to affirm our Marianist spirit and carry forward the Marianist values,” says Bro. Ed Brink. “In 1883, eight Marianists arrived aboard the steamboat S.S. Mariposa, but only five would be assigned to organize the fledgling St. Louis College with the other three departing for St. Anthony’s on Maui.”

Honoring the Past

Father Marty Solma once again led staff and students in prayer.

On Tuesday afternoon at 12:30, Chaminade and Saint Louis School communities are invited to gather on the Front Lawn at the Oval for a Lei-Draping Ceremony at the Father Chaminade statue. The annual tradition precedes the week’s festivities, including the Marianist Founders Day Mass on Wednesday, where students, faculty and staff are invited to gather as one Chaminade ‘Ohana in prayer, and the Servant Leadership Day on Saturday.

Embodying Marianist Values

During the Founders’ Day Mass, Bro. Brink will announce this year’s Heritage Awards honorees. To recognize their exceptional contributions in personifying the Marianist values, Dr. Darren Iwamoto, Maritel Suniga and Kobe Ngirailemesang will be honored with this year’s Heritage Awards. It’s a distinction that Bro. Brink says “shows the breadth and impact an individual may have on campus and in the community.”

This year’s awardees are:

  • Dr. Darren Iwamoto, Associate Professor in Education and Behavioral Sciences will receive the Chaminade Award, given to a faculty or staff member who has exhibited a continuous commitment to Marianist values in education;
  • Maritel Suniga, Payroll Specialist in the Business Office, will receive the Marianist Award, given to a staff member who has exhibited a continuous and extraordinary commitment to the vision and mission of Chaminade University while drawing others into the collaborative community;
  • Kobe Ngirailemesang, a graduating senior, will receive the Founders’ Award, given to a student who has exhibited a commitment to Marianist values by outstanding generosity, respect for others, and spirit of faith.

Sowing Forward

On Saturday, Founders’ Week culminates in service.  Faculty, staff, and alumni will join students to outwardly express their Marianist Catholic values together. From sorting out clothes and household items at the Institute for Human Services (IHS) to refurbishing furniture at Habitat for Humanity, from cleaning up the campus to cleaning out an ancient fishpond in Heeia, Chaminade volunteers devote their energy into doing good work across the island.

This year, the Servant Leadership Day will take place at the Women’s & Family Shelter at IHS.

Join us throughout Founders’ Week to celebrate the Marianist future.

Founders’ Week Recap Video

The Father Chaminade Statue is draped with lei every Founder’s Week celebration.

Chaminade Hosts Pacific Region Data Science Challenge

Rewarding. Difficult. Inspiring. Those were some of the words student participants used to describe their experiences in the inaugural Advanced Computing for Social Change Challenge in the Pacific, hosted earlier this spring by Chaminade University’s Data Science, Analytics and Visualization program.

Dr. Rylan Chong, director of the program, said about 20 students from across the Pacific—including Saipan and Guam—participated in the remote, week-long event along with six undergraduate mentors.

The challenge in March was held in coordination with similar events scattered across the country, Chong said, and with support from Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and Texas Advanced Computing Center, whose supercomputer was used by student participants.

Chong said the challenges are meant to test participants’ data analysis and interpretation skills, creativity, innovation, and ability to work under pressure. Participants also get invaluable training and mentorship—all as part of a broader effort to help them connect real-world data to actionable solutions.

Over the course of the week, students identified a research question, pored over the relevant data, arrived at results, created data visualizations, and then presented their work. Along the way, they also attended workshops on everything from statistics to text mining in order to hone their skills.

He said the projects students worked on included a study of COVID-19 in Hawaii and an exploration of native birds of Haleakala. “Each project provided data sets for participants to derive their project from,” he said. “The data sets included thousands of records and results were used to inform researchers.”

Sarah Caroll '24 poster for ASCS data science challenge

He added that the underlying theme of the challenge was about building capacity and learning communities in the Pacific to “harness the power of technology and data to address” challenges.

Chaminade Data Science student Sarah Carroll ’24 jumped at the chance to participate in the competition to build on her skills and apply them. She focused on COVID-19 in Hawaii, text-mining Twitter data to analyze community sentiment on the virus and the government response.

“It was very rewarding to see that I am capable of implementing what I learned,” Carroll said, adding that she was thrilled to be able to put together a project and get immediate feedback on her presentation. “This experience really boosted my confidence in working with data.”

Punohu Keahi '25 poster for ASCS data science challenge

Punohu Keahi is a first-year student at Chaminade, majoring in Environmental Studies, and participated in hopes of learning more about how to turn big data sets into results that communities can actually use to make decisions. “My biggest reason for joining this program was to step out of my comfort zone,” Keahi said. “Getting this experience is something I will never forget.”

Keahi opted to dive into data from the Haleakala National Bird survey.

“I love native birds and I’m interested in knowing more about the different factors that could have caused the fluctuations in the bird population,” she said. “My biggest challenge during this program was figuring out how to code and then create different scatter plot and bar graphs.”

One of the greatest thrills? Using a supercomputer for the first time.

Armando Luna's poster for ASCS data science challenge

Armando Luna, a Data Science student at Chaminade, said the competition was tough—but a worthwhile experience. “The biggest challenge was ensuring I would have a presentable and complete project in time,” Luna said. “However, we had fantastic mentors who helped us through the week.”

Mentors like Dairian Balai ’22, who said she wanted to volunteer because of her own positive experiences at Advanced Computing for Social Change Challenges on the mainland. She was in the 2019 ACSC cohort and said the mentors were key to ensuring the event was filled with both learning and fun.

She said many of the students participating in this year’s challenge didn’t have any experience with coding, programming or working with big data sets. That meant they needed some extra help to ensure they didn’t get overwhelmed. “The students persevered and created incredible posters,” she said.

She added that what she enjoyed most about being a mentor was watching students grow in the challenge. “You can tell how much confidence they gained,” Balai said. “I also like seeing those great ‘aha!’ moments when they’re running into issues and then they finally make a breakthrough.”

Nonprofit Organizations Seminar

Everything from federal tax law changes for nonprofits to cybersecurity trends to the value of crowdfunding to raise supplemental operational funds were among the high-interest topics discussed at this year’s Nonprofit Organizations Seminar at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

The event, in its 18th year at Chaminade, attracted representatives from some 80 Hawaii nonprofits.

They came together Aug. 16 for a day of professional development and collaboration.

Shari Chang, CEO of Girl Scouts of Hawaii, delivered the lunchtime keynote speech. She’s a 35-year veteran of the hospitality marketing industry and is now using her strong business background to help oversee the expansion of her organization’s leadership development programs for girls.

Other speakers at the event included Spencer Lau, a two-time Chaminade University graduate and interim director of finance at the Honolulu Community Action Program, who talked about how more and more nonprofits are using crowdfunding to help cover institutional expenses or existing programs; and Trever Asam, a partner at the Cades Schutte law firm and an expert on tax law, whose presentation focused on important legislation and court rulings that effect tax-exempt organizations.

The nonprofit seminar is put on annually by Chaminade’s School of Business and Communication.

And the impressive slate of experts who made presentations at the event included several from the University’s own faculty and staff roster. Rylan Chong, co-director of Chaminade’s data science program, spoke about the risks of organizational identity theft and how nonprofits can protect themselves while three Chaminade accounting professors offered presentations on tax fraud prevention and auditing.

The day also included an engaging panel discussion, titled “To accept or not to accept, that is the question,” on the importance of gift acceptance policies that reflect the values and overall work of a successful fundraising charity or nonprofit. On the panel: Michael Coppes, senior executive director of estate and gift planning at the UH Foundation, and Hugh Jones, the foundation’s chief legal officer.

Bridges to the Future Celebration

Chaminade donors, faculty, staff and board members gathered on Tuesday, April 23 to celebrate the capping of the Bridges to the Future campaign.

Several students spoke at the event about the impacts the campaign has had on their time at Chaminade, including second-year ‘Aulani Oka who received a scholarship because of the campaign.

“I may have only been here for two years, but as a beneficiary of this campaign I can honestly say it’s changed my life,” she said. “I would not be standing here right now without your help. You have made a difference in my life, and the lives of many other students. I will do my best to prove myself worthy of this honor, and hopefully pay it forward to others in the future.”

The campaign was the university’s most ambitious fundraising campaign, raising $118 million. Funds raised supported student access and success, academic excellence, athletics programming, a vibrant campus environment and impacts in the community. Some notable impacts from the campaign include:

  • The creation of 46 new privately funded scholarships
  • A brand new School of Nursing, now tied for No. 1 due to it’s 100% pass rate of the national licensure exam
  • A new Silversword Athletics Training Center and Locker Rooms and renovated athletics facilities
  • Renovations to 100% of the major buildings on campus
  • 34,650 meals served to homeless individuals and families at the Next Step Shelter

Mahalo to all who helped make this campaign a success! In the words of fourth-year student Antonio Bonnetty, “Your contributions have an impact on students here because they allow students to achieve their dreams; they allow for change, and they allow students like me to breathe again.”

Future Silverswords Explore Chaminade at Admitted Student Day

On sunny April 14, Chaminade’s campus was bustling with excitement as current students, faculty and volunteers from the university community welcomed prospective students and their families to Admitted Student Day.

Student opportunities table at Admitted Student Day

Blue and white balloon arches greeted every attendee at check-in and live music was performed as soon-to-be Silverswords were welcomed by faculty and staff. Organized specifically for students who have been accepted into Chaminade, Admitted Student Day provided prospective students an inside look into what life on campus and life in Hawaii would be like if they chose to attend Chaminade.

The agenda for Admitted Student Day included fun activities like campus tours, trolley tours of the surrounding Kaimuki neighborhood, a lively resource fair with hands-on activities and department open houses. Interested students also had an opportunity to meet with financial aid officers.

A row of tented booths lined Second Road for the resource fair, each with a different club, support service or exciting opportunity open to Chaminade students. Representatives from every organization, including Hawaiian Club, Campus Ministry and the Chaminade Student Nurses Association were there with snacks, photo booths, giveaways and games. Those interested in the Study Away program played a game involving paper airplanes, the Office of Health Professions Advising & Undergraduate Research booth challenged passersby to a game of Operation and the Filipino Club gave away traditional Filipino treats.

Beyond the clubs and extracurricular opportunities offered at Chaminade, admitted students got to learn more about their majors and the departments which they’ll belong to. Deans from each division began their open houses with a personal welcome, followed by informational sessions.

But possibly the liveliest station at Admitted Student Day was the Celebration Room where students who wanted to say “yes” to Chaminade could submit their deposit.

Chaminade Hosts Honolulu District History Day

2019 History Day student displaysOn Saturday, March 2, more than 200 junior high and high school students from 11 public and private schools participated in Honolulu District History Day at Chaminade University.

The Honolulu district is one of nine districts to participate in the statewide Hawaii History Day, which is supported by the Hawaii Council for the Humanities. History Day is the result of a year-long program that encourages elementary to high-school students to study history through a research-based approach. Throughout the program, students create a presentation based on their research and submit it for evaluation by a panel of judges. Projects can take the form of an exhibit, documentary, performance, paper or website.

2019 History Day student displays“History Day turns students in grades 6–12 into real historians,” says Michio Yamasaki, Chaminade professor and chair of the Hawaii Council for the Humanities Board of Directors. “They do original research on a topic, studying primary sources, such as letters, diaries and photographs.”

According to this year’s History Day theme, Triumph & Tragedy in History, students from the Honolulu district submitted more than 100 projects on a range of topics like the Stonewall Riots, the Hanapepe Massacre, the Spanish Flu and more.

Based on evaluations conducted by 43 judges at Honolulu District History Day, three Junior Division (grades 6–8) projects and three Senior Division (grades 9–12) projects from each category advanced to compete at the statewide competition.

Those who passed the Honolulu district competition will join students from across the state to participate in Hawaii History Day on April 13 at Windward Community College. Projects to advance from Hawaii History Day will be presented in June at National History Day, held at the University of Maryland, College Park.