HO’OULU SCHOLARSHIP

Vision

Ho’oulu was initiated in 2016 under the leadership of Chaminade Professor Dr. Helen Turner and Dr. Raedeen Keahiolalo, then Director of the Chaminade Office of Native Hawaiian Partnerships. This team posed an innovative, potentially transformative question to Kamehameha Schools – “what if we could graduate all Native Hawaiian students in STEM, on time, while maintaining cultural identity and then launch them to successful and purposeful careers that strengthen the Lahui?”.

The Ho’oulu Strategy

Mitigate financial barriers to participation in STEM by providing 100% tuition and living allowances, decreasing the need to work and commute

Build culture and community-based education into STEM as part of the ‘cake not the frosting’

Adapt and adopt best practices in inclusive pedagogy, enculturation of curriculum and contextualize the Hawaiian academic journey through a ‘mauka-to-makai’ meta-curriculum

Provide unprecedented levels of wrapround student support through a new ‘Academic Navigator’ program, where specially-trained Native Hawaiian faculty provide life coaching, academic advocacy, access to professional tutors, and cultural progra

Identify, develop and implement new academic STEM programs in areas of high need for the Lahui: data analytics, environmental science and public health

Outcomes & Metrics 2016 - 2021

Location

Funding

Expected family contributions:

22% = $0

77% = < $5,000

Ho’oulu Majors

Biology

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Biochemistry

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Chemistry

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Data Science

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Forensics

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Environmental

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Nursing

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Pre-Med

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Public Health

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Biology 〰️ Biochemistry 〰️ Chemistry 〰️ Data Science 〰️ Forensics 〰️ Environmental 〰️ Nursing 〰️ Pre-Med 〰️ Public Health 〰️

161 Ho’oulu Scolars graduated or currently enrolled in 5 cohorts

  • Overall program retention rate: 96%

  • Mean program GPA: 3.43

  • Overall program graduation rate: 100%

  • 4 years or fewer graduation rate: 84%

Meet The Team

Academic Navigators

  • Dr. Jolene Noelani Cogbill

    Coordinator, Academic Enrichment and Outreach

    Associate Professor, Biology

  • Dr. Chrystie Kaipolani Naeole

    Special Projects Coordinator

    Assistant Professor, Biology

    School of Natural Science and Mathematics

  • Kumu Kahoali’i Keahi

    Lecturer in Environmental Studies,

    Director, Environmental Studies Program

    STEM Cultural Engagement Specialist (HHMI Inclusive Excellence Program)

Program Administration

  • Dr. Helen Turner

    Principal Investigator

Collaborating Faculty

  • Jonathan D. Baker, Ph.D.

    Assistant Professor, Biology

    School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

  • Rylan Chong, Ph.D.

    Director, Data Science

    Assistant Professor, Data Science

    School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

  • Gail Grabowsky, Ph.D.

    Dean, School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

    Executive Director, UNITAR CIFAL Honolulu Center

    Professor, Environmental Science and Studies

    School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

In Their Own Words

  • “Ho'oulu has also taken a huge financial burden from my family's shoulders. When I first got the call, I remember going home and just hugging my mom while both of us cried. I'm a first-generation college student and I get to follow my dreams, make my family proud, and make a better life for my family because of this scholarship.“

  • “Without this scholarship, I honestly wouldn't be going to college. I wouldn't have been able to make my family proud by being the first person in our family to have gone to college.”

  • “Ho'oulu not only gave support but made it easy for a low-income, Hawaiian high school student find a way to make something of herself.”

  • ”The Ho’oulu Scholarship has really been a door to opportunity for me. When I graduated high school, I wasn't sure if I was going to go to college right away because I had to pay for everything myself.”

  • “I am number 4 out of 6 children, and only one of my older siblings finished college with a bachelor's. However, my brother didn't apply for any scholarships and so he's working a minimum wage job to pay off his student loans. I was going to follow in his shoes until I got the call from Dr. Naeole, telling me that I got the scholarship.”