Founder & President, Duke Hui ʻO Hawaiʻi

Founding Hui ʻO Hawaiʻi at Duke grew out of a real absence I felt as a student from Oʻahu. When I first arrived in Durham, there wasn't a cohesive community for students with connections to Hawaiʻi—no place where ʻohana, plate lunch, and the cadence of our language were simply understood. I missed the aloha spirit I grew up with and wanted to bring a piece of that to my new home.

I started Hui ʻO Hawaiʻi with a simple mission: share the warmth and values of Hawaiʻi with the broader Duke community while creating a support system for students from the islands. With an incredible leadership team, we built programming that ranges from cultural nights to small gatherings where students can just exhale and be themselves.

Two initiatives that mean a lot to me are our Musubi for Maui fundraiser—where we made and sold spam musubi to raise over $1,700 for Lahaina wildfire relief—and a mentorship program that matches every incoming student from Hawaiʻi with an upperclass mentor based on hometown, major, and interests. Both are small ways of making sure students feel seen, supported, and connected to home even when they're 5,000 miles away.

The most fulfilling part has been watching new students walk into our events and instantly relax. Knowing that Hui ʻO Hawaiʻi will outlive my time at Duke—and keep that sense of ʻohana alive for future classes—is one of the things I'm proudest of.