The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa aspired to become a “Native Hawaiian Place of Learning” nearly two decades ago. It was reinforced as an aspiration and priority in the UH Mānoa 2011–15 Strategic Plan. It is one of four main goals outlined in the UH Mānoa 2015–25 Strategic Plan (PDF), updated in December 2020.
To support the vision, the UH Mānoa Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office 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 a new website 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 Mānoa a Native Hawaiian Place of Learning,” said Kaiwipuni Lipe, UH Mānoa 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 Mānoa Valley and ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi, or the Hawaiian language.
Alu refers to connecting to work together. This portion of the website highlights ways the UH Mānoa 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 ʻĀina Fridays, Institute for Hawaiian Language Research and Translation and Kūaliʻi Council.
The website also includes the genealogy of how UH Mānoa 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 Native Hawaiian Place of Learning Advancement Office website.
