Our office focuses on implementing report recommendations from the last 30+ years that guide UH Mānoa in becoming reflective of Hawaiʻi's language, culture, values, and knowledge systems from which all people learn, connect, grow, and heal:

• Hawaiʻi-Guided Student Success
• Hawaiʻi-Grounded Staff and Faculty Development
• Cultivating Hawaiʻi Environments 
• Hawaiʻi-Reflective 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 reflective of Hawaiʻi. These monthly newsletters, with written reflections that cover the preceding month's happenings, are meant to keep you connected, highlight your work and continue to inspire you.

Hoʻomaikaʻi to the Graduates!

by Hope Matsumoto

Two recent UH Mānoa graduates Niya and Kamakani (left to right) making memories as they celebrate at a graduation party.

Na wai e ʻole ke akamai i ke ala i maʻa i ka hele ʻia e oʻu mau kūpuna.

Who can be without knowledge on the path so long walked upon by my ancestors.

I begin this reflection, which I write as a recent graduate with an MA in our English department, with a ʻōlelo noʻeau featured in the 1986 Kaʻū University of Hawaiʻi Hawaiian Studies Task Force Report. This graduation season has been filled with congratulations, and I am realizing through these celebrations that we as graduates not only carry knowledge—we also carry our ancestors and our sources of ancestral wisdom. My journey to this point in school and work was made possible not only by my kūpuna but also with my hoaaloha. Graduating with my coworker Kamakani, who received an MA in Indigenous Politics, has been a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the paths of our ancestors that we have walked down together. Hoʻomaikaʻi to all of the graduates in our lives!

2025 Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching

by HPoKA NHPoL Advancement Office

Screengrab from the opening of the 2025 Mānoa Awards Ceremony on April 28, 2025 at Kennedy Theatre.

Hoʻomaikaʻi to the faculty members who were awarded the Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching by the Board of Regents at the 2025 awards ceremony! Join us in congratulating some of our very own UH Mānoa faculty: Mapuana Antonio, Matthew Cain, Mehana Kaʻiama Makaʻinaʻi, Hannah Manshel, Masaru Mito, and Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio. 

See the full list of awardees across the UH system.

Remapping UH Mānoa: A Campus Huakaʻi

by HPoKA NHPoL Advancement Office

A low rainbow over Ka Papa Loʻi ʻo Kānewai and Hālau o Haumea at Kamakakūokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, where the campus tour begins.

Check out this recent UH News article to learn about Remapping UH Mānoa: A Campus Huakaʻi. This campus tour, according to co-creator Christina Higgins, was made with the intentions of recognizing our unique location and welcoming everyone to learn more about the histories and opportunities together. The tour features typically “untold” histories of Mānoa that acknowledge Hawaiian geography, history, people, and language, including the ʻili ʻāina land divisions across campus. With a deeper understanding of this ʻāina’s historical importance, we may also cultivate a deeper appreciation for the legacies and genealogies that continue to shape our campus today. 

Learn more about Remapping UH Mānoa: A Campus Huakaʻi.

We Are Pasifika at PacGrad 2025

by Malia Tonga, President of We Are Pasifika

A collage of three photos of We Are Pasifika performing at the recent graduation festivities with Waʻahila ridge in the background.

We Are Pasifika is a multicultural dance group established in Spring 2023 in the grounds of Mānoa. Started with only about 15 students, the group has now expanded not only in numbers but also in culture and support enabling us to perform in various festivities including PacGrad, Pasifika fest, and EastWest fest.

This year We Are Pasifika had the honor of performing for the PacGrad 2025 ceremony, where we performed a 30-minute medley with dances from the cultures of Rotuma, Palau, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, Fiji, and Samoa. Each song and dance narrates how the culture is preserved and flourishes across various communities, aiming to bring joy and a sense of home.

While performing at the PacGrad 2025, I witnessed how our dance brought joy to the crowd. Some joined our dances, feeling the warmth of Pasifika culture through the songs. Witnessing their joy reminds us why we formed the group. It was about feeling at home and sharing our cultures with others, regardless of their background. We Are Pasifika aims to continually expand and sustain the group while fostering inclusivity for incoming Pasifika students.