The Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office at UH Mānoa focuses on implementing recommendations from Native Hawaiian reports authored over the last 30 years that guide UH Mānoa in becoming a Native Hawaiian place of learning; a place that is responsive to kanaka (Native Hawaiian) communities and reflective of Native Hawai‘i for ALL people to learn, connect, grow, and heal from:

  • Native Hawaiian Student Success
  • Native Hawaiian Staff and Faculty Development
  • Native Hawaiian Environment 
  • Native Hawaiian Community Engagement

We cannot do this work alone. It is our mission to foster the potential within each of you to positively contribute to our collective kuleana to make UH Mānoa a Native Hawaiian place of learning. These monthly newsletters are meant to keep you connected, highlight your work and continue to inspire you.
GOALS:
  • Native Hawaiian students are holistically supported from recruitment through post-graduation.
  • Best practices are gleaned from efforts to support Native Hawaiian students and are applied to student success strategies for all students across the campus.
Native Hawaiian Student Data
By Kawehionālani Goto
Website Update: Native Hawaiian Student Data
We have updated our data webpage with information about our current Native Hawaiian students. As we look at our Native Hawaiians student, we have learned that enrollment continues to see a headcount increase, and that the 1-year persistence rate for Native Hawaiian students was 82.3%. Simultaneously, we compiled the data we have on Native Hawaiian students from 2020 to create a 2020 student data report. Visit our website to learn more about Native Hawaiian students and if you have any questions or comments contact us using the NHPoL Feedback Form.
GOALS:
  • Native Hawaiian staff & faculty are holistically supported from recruitment through promotion and leadership development in every unit across the campus.
  • All staff & faculty at UH Mānoa are more knowledgeable and culturally rooted in Mānoa and Hawai‘i.
Pictured left to right: Tavonne "Luffy" Johnson, LaJoya Shelly, and Dr. Ethan Caldwell at the Alice Ball Celebration, courtesy of Marilou Matsuura
As we aim to become a NH place of learning, we look to various grounding principles including but not limited to mo‘okū‘auhau. At the heart of this concept is relationship and connectivity while being aware of the agents (be it people, events, animals, environments, etc.) who produced those relationships and connections. Also, as a TRHT-designated campus, we have a kuleana to share whole truths that help us to understand the more complete and complex narratives of who we are as a campus and community. With that said, we want to highlight a series of events that have just occurred. 

With the celebration of Alice Ball on February 28, 2022, one of our UHM faculty members, Dr. Monica Stitt-Bergh, noticed that a UH Mānoa library page about Dean Hall incorrectly connected former UH President Arthur Dean with Alice Ball’s work. In particular, Dr. Stitt-Bergh said, the webpage “(by omission of important facts) perpetuated Dean's claim he came up with the Hansen's disease treatment.” Upon notice of this error, Dr. Stitt-Bergh reached out to the library with this message:

I'd like to request that this webpage be updated: https://libweb.hawaii.edu/names/dean.html
which states, "Dean received international attention for his work in refining oil from the chaulmoogra tree into a palliative for the treatment of Hansen's disease. For an authoritative discussion on the efficacy of chaulmoogra treatment and Dean's work, see Parascandola (2003)."

The reason for my request is that "following [Alice Ball's] death, the president of the College of Hawaii, Dr. Arthur Dean, continued Ball’s research without giving her credit for the discovery. Dean even claimed her discovery for himself, calling it the “Dean Method.” Unfortunately, it was commonplace for men to take the credit of women’s discoveries and Ball fell victim to this practice." Source: https://www.biography.com/scientist/alice-ball (emphasis added).

The library quickly responded and removed those inaccurate lines from the Dean Hall building description.

We highlight and celebrate this story because Dr. Stitt-Bergh and the library together are helping to correct important mo‘okū‘auhau related to our university and to bring about more complete and complex truths of our campus. These steps are critical for our healing and transformation into a NH place of learning.
GOAL:
UH Mānoa campus is a physical, cultural, spiritual, and interactive environment that exemplifies the values of ‘ohana and community, mālama ‘āina, and kuleana; thereby, perpetuating Native Hawaiian values, culture, language, traditions, and customs.
As a TRHT Campus, we have a kuleana to share and tell not only the convenient truths, but also the more complete and complex truths of our campus and community. That can sometimes be difficult when parts of those truths are uncomfortable to some or perhaps uncover deeper issues that need to be addressed. But when we have the courage to share and the openness to receive, there is so much more learning, healing, connecting, and transforming that can occur. It is for these reasons that we want to highlight Ms. LaJoya Shelly's statement that she shared during this year's Alice Ball Day on February 28, 2022 in which she illuminates so many important truths for us to learn from and incorporate into our current and future plans for taking care of one another.
For more information on this event, click here.
LaJoya Shelly giving remarks for the Alice Ball celebration. Picture of Alice Ball in the background adorned with maile lei. 
Gov. David Ige signed a proclamation that declared February 28 “Alice Augusta Ball Day” in Hawaiʻi at a special recognition ceremony on February 28, 2022. EDEA’s very own LaJoya Shelly gave a speech sharing the impact of Alice Ball’s legacy.  

"Aloha President Lassner, Provost Bruno, Governor and Mrs. Ige, and distinguished guests

My name is LaJoya Reed Shelly. I am a fourth-year doctoral student in the Department of Educational Administration in the College of Education. It is an honor to speak about the importance of Alice Ball’s legacy for Black students and all students attending UH Mānoa. 
From the moment I learned of Alice Ball, I felt inextricably linked to her legacy. Like Alice, I understand what it means to be the first or only Black woman in the room. As the lone Black woman in my academic department and one of 64 total Black graduate students attending UHM, I can’t help but wonder if she felt the gravity of being the first African American woman to graduate with a Masterʻs degree from the University of Hawaiʻi. I wonder if she could have imagined that her legacy would become the foundation upon which I, and other Black students, stand. 
 
While I cannot ask Alice these questions, I can recognize and honor her achievements and speak to how I, and many others, have carried on that legacy. I have worked to embody this legacy through my active service in the Black Student Association beginning in 2016, until now, all while being a graduate assistant, wife, and mother. One of my proudest contributions is coordinating the annual Alice Ball Memorial Black Graduation. This cultural graduation ceremony celebrates the academic success of African American graduates at UHM, furthers the legacy of Alice Ball, and connects students to our most distinguished Black alumnae. Since 2016, 49 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students have participated in this ceremony. 

I implore you to join me in honoring Alice, not just today or during Black History Month, but in your actions. We honor Alice when we think about her story as one of many stories. Aliceʻs story is not unlike countless unnamed Black women whose contributions remain hidden within the academic canon, are disregarded, misinterpreted, or worse, attributed to someone else. As a university community, we have a responsibility to elevate the work of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color in our classrooms, to think critically about our citational practices, the composition of our syllabi, our employment practices, and the enrollment, retention, and matriculation of underrepresented students. 

When we elevate the scholarly works of Black women (a group deeply relegated to the margins), we further Aliceʻs legacy, inherently bring others along the margins to the center, and fulfill our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. 
Aliceʻs legacy is more than her accomplishment as the first African American woman to graduate from the University of Hawaiʻi. Her legacy exemplifies resilience under pressure, the importance of public scholarship, and our responsibility as scholars to serve the greater good. 
Alice might have come as one, but she now stands as 10,000!

On behalf of all past, current, and future Black students and alumni, thank you, President Lassner, Governor and Mrs. Ige, and distinguished guests for helping to keep the legacy of Alice Ball alive."
Campus Climate Event
Campus Climate Committee Logo
Campus Climate Committee Logo
As UH Mānoa reopened to more in-person learning this semester, the Campus Climate Committee (CCC) thought deeply about how various members of our community were adapting and adjusting to this change. Wanting to support folks and find ways for us to mālama kekahi i kekahi (take care of one another), the CCC held an online event that welcomed students, staff, faculty, and executives to share with and listen to each other. The goals of the event included:

  • Building community by getting to know and hearing from one another
  • Sharing lessons-learned thus far about how to be on campus again
  • Things that are going we
  • Things that we are still figuring out and would like help with
  • Identifying strategies to:
  • Reduce anxiety
  • Build connections across campus
  • Increase mutual respect

It was great to see and hear folks connecting from across the campus and having space to share and be heard. The CCC learned a great deal and are compiling their notes to share back with the campus and also with executive leadership. 
GOAL:
UH Mānoa and Native Hawaiian communities are consistently connected and engaged in order that there can be reciprocal teaching and learning for positive impact throughout Hawai‘i.
Community Highlight:
Each month we will highlight a community or community-based organization that inspires and teaches us about some aspect of our goal to become a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning.
We invite you to connect and learn more about them, too! 
Kinai ʻEha Logo
By Kaiwipuni Lipe

I first came to know of Kinai ‘Eha back in 2018 when I attended the Hawai‘i Venture Capital Association’s annual awards event. It was there that I saw their executive director, Josiah Akau, along with his entire team win the Social Impact Entrepreneur of the Year award. I was brought to tears as I listened to the stories of their work: their love for and commitment to some of our most vulnerable youth in Hawai‘i. In particular, as they explain on their website:

Kinai ʻEha translated from Hawaiian means “To Extinguish Pain.” Kinai ‘Eha aims to provide an alternative education option to ‘ōpio (youth) that are in need of and seeking purpose, personal empowerment, education, Hawaiian cultural identity and connection, workforce training in construction and the trades, community service and leadership.

Their story stuck with me but I did not cross paths with them again. 

Then in November 2021 I was invited to a day-long retreat to learn more about the Kawailoa Youth and Family Wellness Center in Olomana. Little did I know that we would be meeting in the Kinai ‘Eha building and that they were co-hosting the gathering. I was again drawn in by their story and their hana (work). Moreover, I happened to sit next to one of the young men in their program and his story and potential invited me to think more deeply about our kuleana at UH Mānoa to our children and communities. 

Since then I have been building pilina with the Kinai ‘Eha team and learning and thinking about so much. On the one hand, I get to see a Native Hawaiian place of learning in action: A place that is grounded in aloha, pilina, and kuleana in all that they do. And they have fun and experience joy while doing it! On the other hand, I see them and the population they serve as such an important indicator of how well we are doing to fulfill our kuleana as a university. 
ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi of the Week Logo
In honor of ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i Month (February) and collaboration with the other nine campuses and the UH Communications Office, we launched the ‘Ōlelo of the Week program. Each week a different campus chooses a word that is important to them and their kuleana. Read the full story by clicking here. 
NĀ LAMAKŪ O KE ALOHA ʻĀINA
Kanaka Highlight Series
Picture of Brigitte Ululani Kekahiliokalani Russo the Highlighted Student

Brigitte Ululani Kekahiliokalani Russo
Birthplace:
Honolulu, Oʻahu

Hometown:
Kapahulu, Oʻahu

High School:
Punahou School

UHM Degrees:
PhD, Curriculum Studies & Instruction, currently pursuing

Current Occupation(s):
Teacher at Waiʻanae Intermediate,
and
Graduate Assistant for the Hilinehu Educational Leadership Advancement Program

What inspired/inspires the path for your academic major?
My academic major was inspired by my mother, Natalie Kekahiliokalani Oana who was a science teacher at Hālau Kū Mana. Growing up, I was often in awe of her ʻike kūpuna centered lessons. I remember spending endless hours in Makiki listening to her lesson planning and wishing I was her student. By the time I was a sophomore in high school I knew I wanted to be a teacher. Inspired by her tenacity I embarked on my teaching journey and found myself striving to have ʻike kūpuna centered lessons. Hungry to learn I began to take professional developments, and eventually an education in Curriculum Studies & Instruction. After years of building up confidence, myself and some coworkers rewrote the whole science curriculum centered in ʻike kūpuna. Students were ecstatic and their reactions to ʻike kūpuna centered lessons often brought tears to my eyes. Students often begged for more lessons, and wished other classes were like this. Their voices guide me through days of uncertainty and I find myself listening to their voices along with my mother’s for inspiration. 

What are your future goals in your work?
Many ʻŌiwi leaders have tirelessly worked towards creating spaces to uplift Native Hawaiian voices. I only wish to contribute to this by centering my goals around advocating for my students. Recentering our education system to value our ancestral knowledge systems and give our keiki the opportunity to reconnect to ʻike kūpuna is something I’m very passionate about. I hope our education system can one day cater to all Native Hawaiian keiki.

We believe that at the heart of a Hawaiian place of learning is aloha ʻāina: the constant care for and reciprocation with Hawaiʻi’s people, places and practices.” How do you see your time at UH shaping the way you aloha ʻāina?  
As a kumu I am an aloha ʻāina advocate. Aloha ʻāina encompasses many faceted layers, from mālama ʻāina, to protecting our ʻāina from exploitation. Although many definitions of aloha ʻāina have been floated, it stands reassured that to aloha ʻāina we must protect ʻāina from exploitation. This idea of exploitation is often seen as radical and political. The truth of the matter is that one cannot simply split aloha ʻāina into parts, but it must be grounded in the idea or political autonomy. One simply cannot aloha ʻāina without seeing the need to demilitarize our ʻāina. Through this concept I believe UH has shown me different ways aloha ʻāina has been defined. Before embarking in this education journey at UH I was not aware of all the different definitions of aloha ʻāina. I've had the pleasure of meeting many professors who are fighting to make sure aloha ʻāina’s definition is different from mālama ʻāina. Aloha ʻāina must be grounded in political autonomy and sovereignty for our lāhui. Therefore, I mahalo my professors who are aloha ʻāina advocates and do not shy away from the controversy, but rather fight to make sure it is used correctly.
 
What does UHM as a Hawaiian place of learning mean to you? 

UHM as a Hawaiian place of learning, to me, means a place where Hawaiians do not feel like a minority, a place where they are nurtured through their ancestral ways of knowing. Although I have had the huge privilege to take the majority of my Ph.D. classes from Native Hawaiian folks, I know that is not the reality at UHM. I am also extremely privileged to be part of groups such as the Hilinehu: Educational Leadership Advancement program, that caters to support Native Hawaiian graduate students by providing professional developments and mentors to guide us. I am extremely grateful to my professors who saw the need to design programs like these to foster Hawaiian places of learning. I know that this is not the reality for most Native Hawaiian students, but I hope that it one day will be. I hope Native Hawaiian professors continue to fight for spaces like this where students can feel successful and supported in such a Western centered system. I hope UHM can one day truly be a Hawaiian place of learning, but before it can be, Hawaiian learning from Hawaiian professors needs to be the center of its mission.