As an undergraduate at Chaminade University, Tasha Castro often walked the campus searching for something deeper than a degree. Like many students, she wrestled with questions about her purpose, her future and her faith.
Today, those same walkways on Kalaepohaku have taken on new meaning.
Castro has returned to her alma mater as Chaminade University’s new Director of Campus Ministry, bringing with her a passion for accompaniment, community and helping students discover that they don’t have to navigate life’s questions alone.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Castro said. “I remember being the student who was trying to figure things out. Now I have the opportunity to walk alongside students as they discover who they’re called to be.”
A first-generation college student and graduate of Sacred Hearts Academy, Castro received a Presidential Scholarship at Chaminade while earning bachelor’s degrees in elementary education and political science in 2009, followed by a master of education in Instructional Leadership from Chaminade in 2021. She served as president of the Native Hawaiian Club and credits the university’s faculty and Marianist community with broadening her understanding of faith, culture and service.
Those experiences shaped a career devoted to education.
After graduation, Castro became a cultural educator at Bishop Museum before joining Saint Louis School as its first kindergarten teacher when the school expanded to include elementary grades. Later, principal Christopher Casupang recognized her gifts for ministry and asked her to become the school’s religion teacher.
At first, she questioned whether she was ready, and then proved to everyone she indeed was.
When the opportunity arose to return to Chaminade as Director of Campus Ministry, those same self-doubts resurfaced. Yet, Casupang reminded her that she had been gaining the skills and honing her talents for this calling all along.
“He told me, ‘What are you talking about? We’ve been preparing you for this this whole time,'” Castro recalled. “‘For six-plus years, we’ve been helping you get to this point.'”
His encouragement echoed the advice he had offered years earlier when she stepped into religious education: “Take a leap of faith.”
That message has continued to guide her.
For the past five years, Castro served as a moderator for the Marianist LIFE program at Saint Louis School, an experience that provided her with the opportunity to walk alongside current and future leaders as they deepen their faith, discern their gifts, and accompany others on their own faith journeys. She believes this ministry has helped to bridge her journey from Saint Louis School to Campus Ministry at Chaminade.
One of Castro’s first priorities is simply building relationships. Rather than waiting for students to find Campus Ministry, she hopes to meet them where they are — whether through retreats, small gatherings or something as simple as taking a walk together.
“Maybe students are struggling at school, but they need someone to talk to, and they don’t know who to reach out to,” Castro said. “Just having someone who can walk around campus with them could be a source of support.”
The idea was inspired by Chaminade’s beautiful campus and by the example of the Marianists.
“I think about Jesus and how he walked to find his disciples,” she said. “There’s something meaningful about that idea of walking with people and inviting them into the community.”
Outside of Chaminade, Castro is also a respected cultural practitioner, serving as kumu hula for Ka Ulu Lehua i ka Wai Māpuna, a hālau whose members range from young keiki to kūpuna. She sees no separation between her cultural leadership and her ministry. Both are rooted in cultivating relationships, honoring tradition and helping others grow.
As she begins this new chapter, Castro carries deep gratitude for the professors and mentors who shaped her journey, including Dr. Henry Halenani Gomes, Dr. Regina Pfeiffer, Dr. Frank Bailey and Kumu John Keola Lake. Their guidance, she says, helped her see faith not as something confined to a classroom or chapel, but as something lived every day through service, compassion and community.
She is equally excited to embrace the Marianist charism, extending its spirit of hospitality beyond the Campus Ministry office and into every corner of campus. She is also thankful to be working with newly appointed campus minister Andrew Peter Ancheta II, who graduated from Chaminade in 2021, recently served as Chaminade’s director of student engagement and is also a beloved member of the Chaminade ‘ohana..
For the student who once walked through campus searching for direction, coming home is less than returning to the past and more stepping into a vocation she was preparing for all along.
“I have to say that it has to be part of the plan,” she said. “I’ve literally moved within this circle my whole life — Sacred Hearts, Chaminade, Saint Louis, and now back to Chaminade.”