Whitworth is 'home away from home' for many Hawaiians; generations of Pacific Islanders have earned degrees from Spokane school, return for annual luau

Yahoo

16-05-2025

May 15—The Hawaiian tradition is long and strong at Whitworth University.
Curt Kekuna founded the Na Pu'uwai O Hawaii (The Heart of Hawaii) at Whitworth in 1970, and the small club hosted its first luau that year.
Fifty-five years later, the Aloha spirit remains, as a cohort of students trade the tropical Pacific islands for an Inland Northwest college education while celebrating their culture each spring at the annual luau. The club, now called the Whitworth Polynesian Club, has grown to more than 100 members, according to club president Nalia Newman.
"We regularly get nice-sized classes of students that come from Hawaii," said Jason Tobeck, director of admissions.
Hundreds of Pacific Islander students, alumni and other students, staff and community members turned out earlier this month for the 53rd annual luau. The May 3 celebration started with a Pacific islands-infused dinner at the campus' Hixson Union Building.
The club's largest event, the luau this year featured Hawaiian Kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, Sapasui (Samoan version of chop suey), panipopo (Samoan sweet coconut rolls), Hawaiian butter mochi cake and otai (a Tongan drink with coconut milk and tropical fruit).
The night culminated with 12 Hawaiian, Tongan, New Zealand and Samoan dancing performances at the Fieldhouse, where the school's basketball and volleyball teams play.
This year's luau theme was "Voices of Our Ancestors," and hosts of the dance performances also sprinkled in stories of Hawaii's history between performances.
Whitworth has had a "strong connection" to Hawaiian students over the decades, according to Tobeck. He pointed to the 53-year tradition of luaus, which was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic for a couple years, as proof of that connection.
Of the almost 2,200 students enrolled this spring at Whitworth, 27 were Pacific Islanders, according to Trisha Coder, university spokeswoman. Across town at Gonzaga University, 24 of the 7,470 students last fall were Pacific Islander students, said Dan Nailen, spokesman at Gonzaga.
Tobeck said the caring, inclusive and family-oriented nature of the Hawaiian people parallels Whitworth's mission.
"I think there's a natural common draw for students from the island to consider Whitworth," he said.
Tobeck said there's obvious differences, including the weather, between Spokane and Hawaii, but those differences are valuable because they allow students to gain a new life experience while still leaning on fellow Hawaiian students for support during their college journey.
Tobeck, a Whitworth graduate, said he visits students at high schools in Hawaii and other western states who are interested in attending college at the private Spokane Christian school.
It's common for Hawaiian students to look to the West Coast for their higher education because it's closer to home, he said. Many of the students are familiar with Whitworth because family members or friends attended the school.
"We love our students from the islands," Tobeck said. "They're fantastic people. They just bring so much good flavor, and I don't know if it's the Aloha spirit, but (they) just care for not just each other but for the other students."
Dale Hammond, director of External Relations and the Whitworth Foundation, went to Whitworth with several of the Hawaiian alumni who attended the luau earlier this month. He also makes trips to Hawaii where he connects with alumni and students' parents as part of his role at the university.
He said many Whitworth alumni work at Hawaiian schools and connect with students who are curious about attending the Spokane school.
"I think it's just great to have the connection where we can keep bringing them up, and it's also very enriching for the students who come to Whitworth from all other parts of the United States."
Newman, a graduating senior from Oahu with a bachelor's degree in political science, said she was looking to attend a school in the West and hadn't heard of Whitworth until her senior year of high school. A Whitworth representative spoke to her and her classmates, and she thought the university sounded cool.
She then learned about a full-ride scholarship called the Wai'anae-to-Whitworth 'Auwai, a partnership among Kamehameha Schools in Honolulu, the Hawai'i State Department of Education and Whitworth University that funds academic scholarships for Hawaiian students to attend Whitworth.
Newman applied for and received the scholarship, just like her cousin, who enrolled at Whitworth the year before Newman and encouraged her to come to the school.
"It was such a surreal feeling, but when I actually came here, it was such a culture shock," Newman said. "It's so different from Hawaii. Just everything, the environment, the people, but it was a good change, if that makes sense."
Newman said she wants to return to Hawaii to get her master's degree in public policy or international law and then represent Hawaii in Congress.
Cousins Melissa Wennihan and Laulea Smythe graduated from Whitworth in 1997 and returned to their alma mater from Hawaii for the luau.
Smythe served as the Polynesian Club treasurer when she was a student at Whitworth, and now her daughter, Reign Palama, serves the same role for the club.
Wennihan and Smythe said Whitworth alums in Hawaii and financial aid opportunities catapulted them to the Spokane school in the late 1990s. The cousins, who graduated the same year from Kamehameha High School, said nine students from their senior class attended Whitworth.
Wennihan said it helped to have a Hawaiian student contingent at the school, and it was also great to meet students who grew up on the mainland.
"We did not do a visit prior to attending here," Wennihan said. "Our parents just came and dropped us off, and four years later they came back to pick us up."
Wennihan said she earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education and returned to Hawaii, where she works for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and helps native Hawaiians. She also coaches cheerleading at Kamehameha High School.
Smythe got her bachelor's degree in business management and stayed at Whitworth to get her master's degree in teaching the following year, she said. Smythe then went back to Hawaii, where she's a student services coordinator in Kauai.
Both have been back to Whitworth a handful of times in the nearly 30 years since graduating.
Wennihan cited the Wai'anae-to-Whitworth 'Auwai scholarship and other financial aid opportunities for the Hawaiian student contingent at Whitworth. Visits to Hawaii from Whitworth admissions employees, like Tobeck, and the opportunity for students to leave Hawaii and expand their world view also lures students to the university, according to Wennihan.
"I think a lot of Hawaii children would like to experience college opportunities on the continent, and the smaller schools feel a little bit more like home to them rather than the big universities," Wennihan said.
Chad Hamasaki, mental health counselor at Whitworth, played defensive end on Whitworth's football team and graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1992. He then got his master's degree in counseling at Whitworth.
Hamasaki, who was born and raised in Hawaii, said Whitworth's proximity draws students to Spokane.
"The way I look at it and the way a lot of Hawaii folks look at it, it's away from home, but it's not too far away," he said.
Still, some Hawaiians don't realize Spokane is on the east side of the state. Hamasaki said he had friends who were dropped off in Seattle by their parents, who then told them to take a taxi to Spokane thinking it was close by.
He said a couple of his friends came to Whitworth with him.
"That also gave us that safety net of familiarity because it is very, very different culturally in Hawaii than it is almost anywhere in the States," Hamasaki said.
The Pacific Islander contingent at Whitworth and the longstanding history of the Polynesian Club shows the university's connection to Hawaii.
"I mean, that says how long there's been a Polynesian connection to Whitworth," Hamasaki said. "That's a pretty strong statement."
Tiliti Adams, outside linebackers coach for Whitworth's football team, played football at Whitworth and graduated last year with a kinesiology degree.
Whitworth recruited the 23-year-old Maui native to the school he had never heard of. Like Hamasaki, Adams said Hawaiian students provided that "home away from home."
"It's also unique because at home we separate ourselves sometimes by islands and whatever, but up here, even though we're from different islands, we know we have to stay together," Adams said.