Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 1, 1 January 1989 — Student Group Aims To Help College-Bound Hawaiians [ARTICLE]

Student Group Aims To Help College-Bound Hawaiians

Over 100 students from 46 colleges in Hawai'i and on the mainland have expressed their support for Ho'oikaika, a new national, student-run organization dedicated to helping more Native Hawaiians attend colleges and universities across the mainland and in Hawai'i. Many are now starting chapters of the group at their own schools. In November last year they began publishing a newsletter. In summer 1988 Ka Wai Ola O OHA published an article by Maile Loo, a Hawai'i student who recently graduated from Stanford University in California. Loo wrote that in February 1988, a handful of Stanford undergraduates, both Hawaiian and from Hawai'i, "began reflecting on a pride they shared in their heritage and a desire to help improve the condition of Hawaiian people at home." They noticed how few Hawaiians were at Stanford and acknowledged the rare opportunity they had, as Native Hawaiians, to attend college at all. They decided to make sure other capable young Hawaiians also got that ehanee. Through their efforts, the Stanford Admissions Office took the first step toward active recruiting and admittance for Native Hawaiians— application forms starting with the 1988-1989 school year now include a separate "Ethnic Hawaiian" category. A special admissions committee this month will hear the students' proposal, "Hawaiians: The Forgotten Native Americans." The Ho'oikaika members hope to gain official minority recognition for Native Hawaiians, and with it opportunities for increased recruiting effort by Stanford, and financial aid. Since its beginnings last year, several members have graduated, and Ho'oikaika at Stanford now includes Andrew Aoki, Kalei Ching, Lani Kanehe, Julie Kaomea, Maile Loo, and Wren Wescoatt,

graduates of Kamehameha, Punahou and 'Iolani high schools. They note, "Some of us are half-Ha-waiian, some are part, some are none at all; but we are all committed to helping the Hawaiian people to eam better educations."