University of Hawai'i celebrating its centennial all this year
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By Loren Moreno
Advertiser Staff Writer
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A yearlong celebration of the University of Hawai'i's 100-year history will begin this weekend with a kickoff event on the UH-Manoa campus.
Since its founding in 1907 as the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, more than a million students have trickled through the doors of UH-Manoa. What began as a school of fewer than 10 students and 13 faculty members in Thomas Square in Honolulu has grown to the state's largest university, based in lush Manoa Valley with more than 20,000 students enrolled.
Its distinguished alumni include U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink, former U.S. Rep. Patricia Saiki and Army Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee.
The university's flagship campus will mark a century of higher education with a campuswide open house on Saturday. Over the next year, events will focus on the centennial theme "Honoring Our Past, Celebrating Our Present, Creating our Future."
The celebration will include a Centennial Distinguished Lecture Series, bringing internationally recognized scholars to UH-Manoa.
"The University of Hawai'i touches virtually every family in Hawai'i in some way, and it's important for people to remember and recognize that," said Manoa chancellor Denise Konan.
"More than half of the university's hundred years unfolded first at Manoa, and so our campus serves as the foundation for what we know as the great university system of today. The centennial commemoration is a great opportunity for people to connect — and reconnect — with the campus," she said.
This year also marks the centennial for the entire university system, which began with its flagship campus, UH-Manoa, and later grew to include UH-Hilo, UH-West O'ahu and seven community colleges. The state's higher-education system now serves more than 80,000 students.
To coincide with the milestone year, the University of Hawai'i Foundation is embarking on its most ambitious fundraising effort. The foundation has a centennial goal of $250 million and had raised more than $155 million as of December 2006.
Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.
