Presidents’ Day week was a busy one at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, as we had a number of important visitors to our campus and community, first and foremost, new UH President Wendy Hensel on her first official visit to Hilo and the UH Hilo campus since becoming president in January.
On the Monday holiday we spent several hours on Maunakea in order to brief the president on the operations of the Center for Maunakea Stewardship (CMS) and the Maunakea Observatories (MKOs). We discussed the conservation efforts underway at CMS as well as the education and outreach programming. Our rangers and staff discussed some of the challenges we face on Maunakea, and the president was able to see those in effect firsthand when we observed some folks trying to snowboard in an area where it was not safe, and our ranger was there to greet the foolhardy visitors as they trudged back up the slope. Institute for Astronomy Director Doug Simons briefed the president on the amazing science that takes place at the MKOs, and how the observatories work collaboratively.
Tuesday brought us back to Hilo where the joint UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi Community College Hawaiian protocol committee, accompanied by many members of both campus’s ʻohana hosted a beautiful welcome for President Hensel. The visit was part of the president’s statewide tour of UH’s 10 campuses, meeting with students, faculty and staff across the state in her first 90 days. She met with important campus governance groups, including the Hanakahi Council (a caucus of Native Hawaiian faculty and staff), the Staff Council, Faculty Congress, and the campus executive leadership team. Among topics discussed were staff development, transparency, student fees, how the campus will integrate new technologies, and expanding interdisciplinary collaboration.
Many of the UH regents arrived on Wednesday and participated along with President Hensel in a huakaʻi, which featured our Hawaiian immersion pathways and educational partnerships with Punana Leo and UH Hilo’s partner charter school Ke Kula ʻO Nāwahīokalaniʻōpuʻu in Keaʻau, finishing the UH Hilo portion of the day at Haleʻōlelo, home base for Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.
While at the college, regents heard from faculty and students about Hawaiian immersion education, the ways in which Ka Haka ʻUla supports it through Hale Kuamoʻo Hawaiian Language Center, and the partnership between Ka Haka ʻUla and ʻImiloa Astronomy Center, all of which are joined together under the umbrella of Hawaiʻi ʻImiloa Institute, a statewide consortium of schools and nonprofit organizations that supports a P-25 Hawaiian Indigenous Language Cycle that spans from preschool to doctorate.
That evening, the UH Foundation hosted more than 150 friends, donors, faculty and alumni from the community to join us for a reception welcoming President Hensel at the Hilo Yacht Club. It was a wonderful gathering and a joy to see the level of support and aloha for UH Hilo and Hawaiʻi CC; everyone was eager to meet the new president and show her their strength of commitment to our campus. Along with myself, guest speakers were Hawaiʻi Community College Chancellor Susan Kazama, Board of Regents Chair Gabe Lee, and Hawaiʻi County Regent Mike Miyahira, each of whom represents the strong sense of partnership between our campus and the Hilo community.
Overall, it was a busy but rewarding week, as we were able to demonstrate to both President Hensel and the Board of Regents how we live the vision in our new Strategic Plan, “to be a model university and community, seamlessly woven together (hilo), where higher education is inspired by our beloved Hawaiʻi Island environment — rich in Hawaiian values, language, and culture — and empowers learners from any place to discover purpose, foster well-being, and leave the world a better place.”
With aloha,