Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 8, 1 August 1988 — Stanford's Ohana Group Pursues Support for Hawaiian Students [ARTICLE]

Stanford's Ohana Group Pursues Support for Hawaiian Students

By Maile Loo President, Organization of Hawaiian Natives Stanford University, B.S. 1988 Kamehameha Schools, 1984 Statistics on the numbers of Hawaiians who complete higher education are shocking. Only 4.6 percent of Hawaiian adults have attended (a fouryear) college, while the state average is nearly three times that, or 12.3 percent. Here at Stanford University where I am a student, there are nine Hawaiian students out of approximately 90 "from Hawaii." Ethnic groups such as Japanese, Chinese and Caucasian dominate Hawai'i admission numbers. At most other universities around the eountry, figures are comparable. Not enough Hawaiians are applying and being accepted to colleges in order to pursue higher degrees. As a result, they are at a disadvantage in today's job market. The handful of Hawaiian students at Stanford have formed a group called the Organization of Hawaiian Natives (OHANA), to do something about this problem. Our most important work among several projects concerns Native Hawaiians and the university's admissions process. We submitted a proposal to the Undergraduate Office of Admissions and the Dean of Graduate Studies to recognize Hawaiians as a minority that needs to be recruited. Only three groups had this status — Blacks, Ameriean Indians and Chicanos — and were specifically sought out in the admissions recruiting process. We are happy to report that the university's admissions officials at both the undergraduate and graduate levels are fully supporting our efforts. They have agreed to help us in any way they ean. On the application form Hawaiians now have their own box to eheek off, and we are no longer thrown into the "Asian/Facific Islander" category. This was a big step in the right direction. We ean now track the number of Hawaiian applicants, the percentage admitted, and even the applicant pool in general. Onee the university officially recognizes Native

Hawaiians as a targeted minority, they are obligated to: recruit Hawaiian students; provide funding for financial aid, recruitment, and support services; and set up a retention program to make sure admitted students are able to succeed in college. The admissions office is working with us to rewrite portions of the proposal before it is submitted for final approval next year. We feel our chances for approval are very good, as we have support for our project at all levels within the university. During the summer, the OHANA are working with the assistant dean of admissions and the Hawaii recruiter, Marie Mo'okini, in setting up a high school outreach program. The program is geared to schools with a high percentage of Hawaiian students. We will be talking to students about college in general, and why they should think about going. We hope to have a positive impact on the students and encourage them to pursue a college degree. The OHANA would like to hear from other eollege students interested in the Hawaiian admissions project at Stanford, or who would like to start similar projects at their own schools. If your university or college has already implemented a Hawaiian admissions program, we would like to hear about how it works and your comments. We'd also like to hear from you if you are attending a college or university in Hawai'i or on the mainland and are interested in being a part of our high school outreach program. For more information contact Maile Loo at (808) 261-3285 or (808) 4381847. Imua!