The University of Â鶹´«Ã½ at ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ aspired to become a “Native Hawaiian Place of Learning” nearly two decades ago. It was reinforced as an aspiration and priority in the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ 2011–15 Â鶹´«Ã½. It is one of four main goals outlined in the (PDF), updated in December 2020.
To support the vision, the was established in 2017 to help actualize recommendations from four Native Hawaiian reports written over the past 35 years that give direction to becoming a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning. The office recently launched to connect the campus with Native Hawaiian resources, knowledge, values and data.
“We saw the building of the website as a hub for us to connect, to learn together and to do the work together to make UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning,” said Kaiwipuni Lipe, UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ Native Hawaiian affairs program officer. “We hope to provide more opportunities for members of our campus community to better understand the essence of what it can mean to become a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning.”
About the website
The website highlights three pathways that the Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office wants to engage the community on.
Aʻo is to learn from each other. This section features resources on the four Native Hawaiian reports, general Hawaiian history and culture, the history of ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ Valley and ʻ¨±ô±ð±ô´Ç Â鶹´«Ã½, or the Hawaiian language.
Alu refers to connecting to work together. This portion of the website highlights ways the UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ community can engage with Native Hawaiian faculty, staff and initiatives, UH Native Hawaiian councils and local community organizations.
ʻAuamo refers to collectively taking on the work together and contains information on how to engage in a land acknowledgement, truth, racial healing and transformation, Aloha ʻ?ina Fridays, Institute for Hawaiian Language Research and Translation and °¨±²¹±ô¾±ʻ¾± Council.
The website also includes the genealogy of how UH ²Ñ¨¡²Ô´Ç²¹ became a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning. Lipe said the website is still evolving and welcomes feedback from the community.
For more information, visit the .