Chancellor Irwin with two student workers on Demin Day, April 29, 2026, bringing awareness to sexual assault and a commitment to consent. (Courtesy photo)
Chancellor Bonnie Irwin participated in Denim Day today.
To mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s Office of Equal Opportunity/Title IX encouraged all in the university community to wear denim today as a symbol against sexual assault and a commitment to consent.
“The work that our OEO/Title IX Office is so important in raising awareness and helping to prevent sexual violence,” says Chancellor Irwin. “I admire the student workers’ dedication to highlighting this important issue and showing up to support survivors.”
Now globally recognized, Denim Day was created in in response to a 1999 ruling from the Italian Supreme Court overturning a rape conviction based on the fact that the victim was wearing tight jeans. The Court ruled that the victim must have helped the perpetrator in removing the jeans, thereby giving consent. As a sign of protest to the ruling, members of the Italian Parliament wore jeans to work.
The UH Hilo community was encouraged to wear denim today as a symbol against sexual assault and a commitment to consent.
The Chancellor’s Scholars cohort with Chancellor Bonnie Irwin for Taco Tuesday, April 28, 2026. (Photo: Randy Hirokawa/UH Hilo)
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin hosted the Chancellor’s Scholars’ cohort for Taco Tuesday yesterday.
“I was delighted to join members of all four cohorts of chancellorʻs scholars for Taco Tuesday!” says Chancellor Irwin. “It was great to hear about the future plans of the graduating seniors and to talk-story with the other students who are thriving in their UH Hilo experiences.”
The UH Hilo Chancellor’s Scholarship is a prestigious award created for graduates from Hawaiʻi high schools throughout the state that covers four years of tuition. Each scholar must maintain a 3.25 cumulative grade point average, enroll as a full-time student, and earn 30 credits per year.
The award, valued in excess of $30,000, covers four years of tuition for students graduating from a Hawaiʻi high school who earned either a grade point average of at least 3.5, a combined 1800 SAT (reading, writing, math) or a composite score of 27 on the ACT while demonstrating leadership and/or community service.
Administrators also attending the event with Chancellor Irwin were Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Michael Bitter, Dean of the College of Natural and Health Sciences Simon Kattenhorn, Director of the College of Business and Economics Todd Inouye, and Professor of Communication who serves as Coordinator for the Chancellor’s Scholarship Randy Hirokawa.
Scholars attending the Taco Tuesday event were (seniors graduating next month in red):
The wins mark the third time in conference history a school wins both men’s and women’s golf titles at the PacWest Championships; men bring home fourth in a row.
Chancellor Irwin (center left in white) joins Athletics staff, families, and Vulcan Boosters at the Hilo airport on April 23, 2026, ready to welcome home the teams. (Courtesy photo)
Chancellor Bonnie Irwin joined friends and family at the airport yesterday to welcome home the Vulcan Women’s Golf and Men’s Golf teams and celebrate both teams winning their respective 2026 PacWest Championships.
Women’s Golf won the PacWest Championship claiming the UH Hilo program’s second conference title (2014, 2026), and Men’s Golf won the PacWest Championship marking the fourth in a row awarded to Hilo. The conference championships were held April 22 at Aliante Golf Club, North Las Vegas, Nevada.
In addition, men’s golfer Dylan Bercan claimed his second individual PacWest title.
“It was so much fun to join the group welcoming home our championship-winning athletes!” says Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin who joined athletics staff, families, and Vulcan Boosters at the Hilo airport yesterday to welcome home the teams. “One of the things that brings student athletes to the UH Hilo campus is the community support they get, and that support extends beyond just cheering them on at home games.”
The wins were nothing short of spectacular, marking the third time in conference history a school won both men’s and women’s golf titles at the PacWest Championships.
“The last time a campus had won both titles the same year was when Hilo won them both in 2014!” notes Chancellor Irwin.
From left, ʻIole CEO Todd Apo hosts UH President Wendy Hensel and UH Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin at ʻIole, North Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island, on April 20, 2026. (Photo courtesy UH System)
University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin, along with UH System President Wendy Hensel, on Monday visited the vast landscape of ʻIole Hawaiʻi in North Kohala, Hawaiʻi Island.
ʻIole Hawaiʻi is a modern-day ahupuaʻa (traditional division of land), just over 2,400 acres running from mauka (mountain) to makai (ocean), chock-full of ecological resources and cultural history.
Managed through a non-profit with the support of the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, the vision of ʻIole is to create a 21st-century ahupuaʻa, a place where an Indigenous worldview meets conservation and resource management. Partners in the vision are the UH System and Arizona State University.
“It’s exciting to be part of the planning for a modern-day ahupuaʻa to open up opportunities for our students to get more hands-on experience with sustainability and regeneration activities,” says Chancellor Irwin. “If our natural science, geography, Hawaiian studies and anthropology students can become practitioners of aloha and ʻāina, we can prepare them for local and Pacific Island jobs as well as have them give back to the community.”
President Hensel recently joined the ʻIole board, and Chancellor Irwin, who has been a member of the board for several years, accompanied her for the tour on April 20. “We rode an ATV from mauka to makai to see first hand the potential of the space for education and as a demonstration site for sustainability projects,” says Irwin.
“Projects that faculty and students undertake at ʻIole will range from mapping the site to understanding the distribution of native and invasive species to understanding the historical ecology of ʻIole,” Irwin explains. “This work, done in partnership with ʻIole, colleagues from UH and Arizona State University, and the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, has the potential to demonstrate how we will live and work on islands far into the future and begin to slow the damage wrought by ignoring our environment.”
In addition to creating and updating degree programs, the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo continually improves how we support students on their academic and personal journeys.
One of the pillars of that support is our Kilohana Academic Success Center that provides peer tutoring in biology, chemistry, math, physics, astronomy, computer science, and writing. The center is centrally located on the first floor of Mookini Library and offers study space to students even if they are not working with a tutor. While the benefits for those seeking tutoring are clear, tutoring is also of great benefit to the peer tutors themselves; not only do they get paid for their work, but their comprehension and academic development improve as they teach skills to others.
In addition to academic support, we have two major ways of checking in with students regularly.
One way is our new student-success chatbot, part of a program launched last year throughout the entire 10-campus UH System with each campus having their own chatbot.
Our AI chatbot named Lehua is designed to check in with students, connect them to resources and provide valuable insights into student needs. It’s been a huge success with over 90% of students across the UH System accessing this support. Last fall, the chatbots identified 1,905 students feeling nervous or overwhelmed, flagged 251 learners struggling with a sense of belonging, and assisted 389 students who reported they were not enjoying their classes; all these students were connected to the support they needed. The initiative is part of UH’s broader student success strategy to create a “common standard of care” for all students, regardless of campus.
Another way we stay in close contact with students is through peer mentoring programs.
One program for new students called Ka Pouhana Mentoring Program is community-based with both faculty and peer mentoring for students from Hawaiʻi. Students appreciate the option to connect with someone closer to their own age and experience, which often creates a strong sense of belonging, notably through forming meaningful relationships. And the mentors themselves tend to stay at UH Hilo in greater numbers than their peers, perhaps because of this additional kuleana they have taken on.
Life can also present personal challenges for our students, and many have real economic needs that we help address through Hale Lako, a space on campus where students can find non-perishable food, school supplies, clothes, and personal hygiene items at no cost. Hale Lako is a community-based supply line, with donations coming from UH Hilo faculty, staff, students, and the surrounding community, all with the goal to help students focus on succeeding in school and life.
In addition, there are easily accessible pop-up food pantries located centrally in our advising offices and at Kilohana Academic Success Center.
For unexpected emergencies, we have a student crisis fund which is used to help students who face a personal financial emergency. The annual UH Giving Day will be held this year on Wednesday, April 8, and a gift of any size to this fund or others will make a big difference in the lives of those in need. Click here for more information on how to donate.
