With the many sister cities that Hilo has, this is truly not only a diverse community, but also an international one. The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo plays a big part in that, through our academic programs, the opportunities our students have to study abroad, and through the international guests, students, and scholars we welcome here on campus.
UH Hilo has 40 international exchange partners, and international universities and communities are often coming to us to foster additional partnerships. We are all enriched through these international relationships, which are a key element in UH Hilo being the diverse campus it is.
Our campus celebrates our international community through events and exchange programs year round.
Each October we celebrate United Nations Day with a Parade of Nations featuring delegations of students wearing their traditional attire and holding high the flags of their countries. The students also share song, dance, arts, crafts, and information from their homelands. UH Hilo has about 250 international students this year from nearly 40 different countries around the world, and this year’s event highlighted their presence on campus and brought everyone together — participants and the larger campus population — as one university community living in peace and dignity.
Another annual event is International Education Week, held in November. This year, international books and food were celebrated and shared; students held a photo contest with images brought back from their international exchange experiences; a workshop taught Chinese calligraphy; a block party shared music, games and crafts; a panel of National Student Exchange and Study Abroad alumni shared their experiences on exchange; and an International Night Market celebrated an array of cultures through food sampling, crafts, fashion and performances (including UH Hilo’s Jazz Orchestra!).
Our Host Family Program matches our international students with families in the local community who help the newcomers acclimate to our island and culture. Hosts provide home-cooked meals and supportive conversations, sightseeing and shopping trips, meet-ups and talk-throughs, all cultivating a feeling of ʻohana (family) for both hosts and students. Nearly 100 new international students from 19 countries have enrolled at UH Hilo this year, and each one is met with aloha, welcomed and supported throughout their time with us.
International students also contribute to our island and communities through their research and internships. Recently, marine science major Manuela Cortes, who hails from Columbia, interned and conducted research with the National Park Service here on Hawaiʻi Island. Two student-athletes in men’s tennis, Agustin Gentile from Argentina and Filippo DiPerna from Italy, interned with the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on Hawaiʻi Island. Three international students at the College of Business and Economics — Jing Feng from China, Ginate Mahuru from Papua New Guinea, and Basil Tavake from Solomon Islands — completed a program funded by the National Science Foundation that focused on developing highly successful artificial intelligence chatbots for UH Hilo business students seeking academic advising or career advice.
Our campus also welcomes international visiting scholars: for example, political scientist Maria Armoudian from the University of Aukland, New Zealand, was on campus for the month of October sharing with students and the public her expertise on human rights and environmental policy. Innovative artist Hung Keung, based in Hong Kong, has worked with students and welcomed the public to his exhibition on 3D videos and lectures.
This international community at UH Hilo adds to the rich diversity on campus and primes all our students to thrive here in Hawaiʻi while preparing them to be global citizens.
Further, several of our Hawaiʻi and other U.S. resident students are currently scholarship recipients traveling abroad to expand their own education. Kyson Kaneko (Business), Brooklyn Geiger (Japanese Studies), and Dominic Hilman (Linguistics) are studying respectively at Tokyo Gakugei University, Nanzen University, and Hokkaido University in Japan; Leiya Margareth Torrano (Business) is at the University of Birmingham in England; and Whitney Taylor (English) is studying at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korea.
We take pride in the diversity at UH Hilo and in preparing our students for a productive life in a global society.
With aloha,