Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 4, 1 April 1989 — Operation Kua'ana Takes Message Statewide [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Operation Kua'ana Takes Message Statewide

by Kalama Akamine, Operation Kua'ana

Over a hundred students of Hawaiian ancestry sat attentively in the Waiakea High School cafeteria. Outside a light morning drizzle blew across the campus. Inside the large room, the students nodded in agreement as they listened to their guest speaker from Operation Kua'ana. "We qrow ud hearinq

other people saying that Hawaiians are lazy, Hawaiians are stupid, and Hawaiians are dumb." The woman's deep voice drowned out the sound of the rain. She had the undivided attention of every student in the room. She raised her hand to emphasize her next point, "Don't you, not even for a second, believe those lies. Hawaiians are intelligent. Hawaiians are brilliant. Hawaiians are hard working people. Don't you ever forget that." In thirty seconds 'Ekela Kani'aupi'o set the tone of her presentation on Hawaiians and higher education. Kani'aupi'o is director of Operation Kua'ana, a new student service at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. The program is designed to increase the number of Hawaiian students at the Manoa campus by recruiting new students from high schools and community colleges around the state. Operation Kua'ana also assists in the retention of ■ students that are currently enrolled at the University in order to keep Hawaiians from dropping out of school. The program also helps to plaee Hawaiian graduates in jobs that are related to their fields of study.

The presentation at Waiakea High School occurred at the same time that another Kua'ana representative was speaking to 100 Hawaiian students at Hilo High School. These presentations were part of a statewide recruiting drive that has touched thousands of Hawaiian students from Kaua'i to Hawai'i. The recruiting drive was coordinated with the help of Alu Like, the Native Hawaiian Vocationa! Educational program, the University of Hawai'i system, and high school guidanee counselors through the state. Operation Kua'ana eame into existence last October, and organization of the recruiting drive began in January. "We are still trying to work out the bugs in the recruiting process, but we found that everyone from school administrators to the students have had nothing but positive comments about our program, and we urge school administrators to contact us if they are interested in having us speak at their school," commented Kani'aupi'o. "Last week a college recruiting expert from Florida was amazed when we told her about our recruiting trips to the schools all over O'ahu and the neighbor islands." Kani'aupi'o said. She told us that we should concentrate our recruiting efforts at just a eouple of schools. I ean see the wisdom in that advice, but, on the other hand, as Hawaiians we have a responsibiIity to every Hawaiian student. We have to continue to get the word out to as many Hawaiians as we possibly ean. We can't concentrate on a few and ignore the rest, just because it may be more convenient for us. As Ha-

waiians we ean never forget that we have a commitment to helping eaeh other." It's possible for you to get involved in Operation Kua'ana's recruitment. If you are a high school teacher or counselor and you would like Operation Kua'ana to eome and speak to groups of 20 or more Hawaiian students, or if you belong to a Hawaiian organization and would like a presentation on why Hawaiians should be a part of higher education eall our office at 948-6444 or stop by our office on the University of Hawai'i campus at Moore Hall 428.

Kalama Akamine