New UH President Visits Molokai

Photo by Jack Kiyonaga

By Jack Kiyonaga, Editor

A statewide tour of the University of Hawaii’s 10 campuses concluded with a stop on Molokai for newly appointed UH President Wendy Hensel. Hensel, who was officially named to the job on Jan. 1, spent the day touring Molokai educational spaces and talking with students and community members.

Having Hensel come to Molokai was “a huge deal,” said Molokai Education Center College Coordinator Kelly Dudoit. “I don’t know if folks realize what an opportunity it is… It’s a huge opportunity for our community to share what their experience has been like with UH.”

Hensel spent her inaugural visit to Molokai checking out academy models at the high school, meeting with students and faculty at the Molokai Education Center, as well as speaking with community members. Her purpose in the statewide tour was building pilina among the various arms of the UH education system.

“This is really special for me,” said Hensel to Molokai residents gathered at the Molokai Education Center on April 8. “My goal was to come out and listen.”

Molokai community members at the meeting with Hensel had a range of questions regarding curriculum, transfer credits, work force pathways and more.

“It was a day of inspiring stories that really moved me about the power of education and the importance of having access on every island so that we meet the needs and goals of our entire community,” said Hensel in a UH press release. “It’s very rural here, more isolated than our other campuses, so ensuring that we have opportunities on Molokai is critical.”

Hensel also detailed some of the challenges of choosing to go to college right now. UH has not been immune to the recent sweeping federal funding cuts to higher education.

“The federal government is cancelling grants,” she said. “A large number of our student facing services are funded through Title III [federal] grants…We just thought that that train was going to continue, now it’s clear that’s not going to happen.”

“It’s a particularly challenging time for higher education,” she explained. However, according to Hensel, a college degree is still a critical investment.

“The evidence is absolutely irrefutable,” she said. “Your future will be enhanced.”

Hensel spoke to some of the ways that a college education can positively impact unique communities in Hawaii like Molokai, including specific work force training programs and lining up curriculums with in-demand jobs.

“We need to be responsive to the unique demands of the community,” she explained. “We’re not a one size fits all university.”

The progress made in higher education on Molokai in the last several decades has been tremendous. Post high school education on island goes back to the 1980s, when the Molokai Agriculture Farm was acquired, hosting the first full-time college degree program on Molokai. Since then, with the acquisition of a permanent education facility in 1999, higher education on Molokai has expanded to include various credit and non-credit classes along with pathways to degrees. Last May, the Molokai Education Center presented more than 40 students with a range of certificates and associate’s and bachelor’s degrees along with their first ever doctoral degree.

Today, the Molokai Education Center is home to over 150 students in credit-based programs along with over 100 students in non-credit classes.

“From the humble beginnings we came from to what we have here to today,” said Dudoit, “Molokai people can take whatever they have and make something great out of it.”