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Chancellor’s Monthly Column, Oct. 2024: Kuleana and Community, a series of talk story events

Chancellor and Gerald in lei.
Bonnie Irwin and Gerald DeMello at the Oct. 6 Talk Story event. (Courtesy photo)

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo is holding a series of a dozen weekly gatherings on campus this semester where students, faculty, staff, alumni, university retirees, and members of the local community are invited to come share their manaʻo, their thoughts, around a common topic.

Named “Kuleana and Community: Building Community Through Conversation,” the goal is to strengthen our connection with the local community through talking with one another. It’s about building relationships and expanding our understanding of community and the world around us.

The talk story events are sponsored by the UH Hilo Office of the Chancellor, Kīpuka Native Hawaiian Student Center, Kilohana Academic Success Center, Center for Global Education and Exchange, with support from Assistant Professor of Communication Colby Miyose and Associate Professor of Sociology Alton Okinaka.

Topics cover Maunakea stewardship, mental health, preservation of Hawaiʻi history, business and entrepreneurship, the role of higher education in our community, and more. Following a short talk by the featured guest, attendees break out into discussion groups and then share their manaʻo with everyone.

The weekly program launched Aug. 30 with Assistant Professor Miyose as the featured guest, who shared his thoughts on communicating with empathy, focusing on conflict resolution.

Next was Gerald DeMello, former director of UH Hilo’s university relations and external affairs now retired, who shared his current work and advocacy showcasing Hawaiʻi history via plaques, wall murals, and walking tours in Hilo and the former plantation town of Honokaʻa. A number of the attendees in the audience had their own connection with Honokaʻa, leading to a rich discussion on the importance of our history.

Next in the lineup was Professor of Psychology Charmaine Higa who shared her thoughts on understanding childhood anxiety following the pandemic. Randy Kurohara from the non-profit Community First Hawaiʻi came to talk about the need to shift healthcare from treating disease to keeping people healthy and why our community needs to play a more active role in accepting kuleana for our own health and the wellbeing of others. Educator, writer, and school leader Clifton Sankofa, who loves vegan cooking, shared his thoughts on reclaiming health through food.

UH Hilo alumnus Kaleo Pilago, education and outreach coordinator for the Center for Maunakea Stewardship, shared information about projects and activities that support the management and protection of Maunakea’s natural and cultural resources. Another UH Hilo alum, Beverly Tese, community activist and co-founder of Hawaiʻi Island’s Prizma Hawaiʻi LGBTQ Center, led a conversation on the importance of diverse representation in society and media.

These are topics that everyone can relate to: health, history, owning our kuleana to care for the ʻāina, for people, for our communities and ourselves.

Attendance has been healthy at each session, in the neighborhood of 30 people, a mix of campus and community. This is a great size to get a diversity of voices in the room, but still small enough that attendees can connect around the topic.

And there is more to come.

On Oct. 18 is Carla Kuo, executive officer from the Hawaiʻi Island Chamber of Commerce, who will talk about the importance of local businesses to our community’s vitality; the Chamber plays an important role in this effort (I am a member of the HICC board). I invite the public to come to this event and learn more about the Chamber and its support of our business community, which in turn strengthens economic growth on our island and helps raise the quality of life for everyone. Chamber members are invited, too! Come share your manaʻo!

Coming soon is Brandee Menino from Hope Services who will lead a discussion on houselessness in Hawaiʻi and communities’ kuleana to address the problem, Oct. 25; Mike Miyahira, UH Regent and expert on family-owned businesses, Nov. 1; and Julie Mitchell from Kuʻikahi Mediation Center will discuss conflict and constructive engagement on Nov. 8.

The series concludes with Hawaiʻi County Councilmember Sue Lee Loy (soon to be a state representative) who will focus the discussion on UH Hilo’s role in our community.

I invite members of our university ʻohana and the local community to come join us! Each event is held from 12:00 to 1:00 at the Kilohana Academic Success Center located on the first floor of Mookini Library.

With aloha,

Bonnie D. Irwin

 

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