{"id":211161,"date":"2025-02-21T15:04:51","date_gmt":"2025-02-22T01:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=211161"},"modified":"2025-02-21T15:40:47","modified_gmt":"2025-02-22T01:40:47","slug":"hilo-community-embraces-uh-president-hensel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/02\/21\/hilo-community-embraces-uh-president-hensel\/","title":{"rendered":"Hilo community embraces <abbr>UH<\/abbr> President Hensel"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> &lt; 1<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minute<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap-post\"><figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><div class=\"epyt-video-wrapper\"><iframe  id=\"_ytid_40421\"  width=\"620\" height=\"349\"  data-origwidth=\"620\" data-origheight=\"349\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CMfGrz6Rjak?enablejsapi=1&origin=https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu&rel=0&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&disablekb=0&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"Â鶹´«Ã½President Wendy Hensel&#039;s Hilo Welcome Reception\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/figure><\/div>\n<p>The Hilo community came together to welcome University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> President Wendy Hensel at a special reception on February 19, at the Hilo Yacht Club. More than 150 alumni, donors, <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> faculty, family and friends gathered to connect with the new president and strengthen their <abbr>UH<\/abbr> ties.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"Three smiling people\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-211165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-130x73.jpg 130w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception.jpg 676w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Hosted by the <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Foundation, the event was a celebration of <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo\u2019s deep-rooted community connections and an opportunity for Hensel to engage directly with those who support and believe in the university\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Tonight I invite you to work with me and play offense not defense, and to tell the powerful story of academic excellence that\u2019s here,&rdquo; Hensel said. &ldquo;We are the most powerful engine for opportunity, for discovery, and for innovation in this state, and I\u2019m incredibly proud to have our partners here today.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The evening featured remarks from <abbr>UH<\/abbr> Hilo Chancellor Bonnie D. Irwin, <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Community College Chancellor Susan Kazama, Board of Regents Chair Gabe Lee and <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> County Regent Mike Miyahira. The event underscored the strong sense of partnership between <abbr>UH<\/abbr> leadership and the Hilo community.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Our university is so lucky and fortunate to have Wendy as our president,&rdquo; said Miyahira. &ldquo;Our university and our communities are now faced with new challenges, and I am confident that Wendy will help us navigate these turbulent waters and help us take <abbr>UH<\/abbr> to the next level.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>As a sweet touch, attendees left with locally made treats from Big Island Delights, a family-owned business run by <abbr>UH<\/abbr> alumni.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-2.jpg\" alt=\"Five smiling people\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-211170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-2.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/hawaii-island-reception-2-130x73.jpg 130w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flic.kr\/s\/aHBqjC35oD\">See more photos from the Hilo welcome reception<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 150 alumni, donors and others gathered in Hilo to meet President Wendy Hensel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[90,61,319,14,947,56,1664],"class_list":["post-211161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people","tag-alumni","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-uh-foundation","tag-uh-hilo","tag-uh-system","tag-video-2","tag-hensel","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=211161"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211171,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211161\/revisions\/211171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}