More than 160 Kauai Community College students braved the Friday afternoon showers to participate in the 60th Annual Kauai Community College Commencement held on the Puhi campus.
The students represented accomplishments from the Spring Semester, the 2024 Summer Session, and the 2024 Fall Semester programming. The students also participated in earning higher degrees from other campuses of the University of Hawaii system through The University Center located in the One Stop Center. High school students from four campuses earned associate degrees and certificates through the Early College program.
Council Chair Mel Rapozo was impressed with the number of high school students earning three Associate’s degrees, and more than 80 certificates in various fields. The number of high school students walking before their respective graduations amounted to more than half walking.
“This is amazing,” Rapozo said to Vice Chair Kipukai Kualii as they sought respite from the unrelenting soft rain in a tent shared by Sarah Tochiki, who directed the Kauai Community College Wind Symphony and Symphony Orchestra, and students waiting to be announced for their awards.
A Waimea High School instructor who formerly coordinated the Early College program said a lot of the Early College programming is paid for with federal funding, and Kauai is fortunate that the recent federal funding cutbacks have not yet impacted the program.
Brian Yamamoto, a Hawaiian Botany professor, said a pair of students from Okinawa, Japan, were among the Early College students spread across four high schools on Kauai.
“They usually are here for just one year,” Yamamoto said. “They were able to squeeze everything in and earn the certificates. One of them is going on to Disney World to continue her botany study.”
Following the opening pule by Puali ‘ili‘imaikalani Rossi, a Hawaiian Studies professor, William Dressler, the student success coordinator at Kauai Community College, was announced the recipient of the Regents’ Medal of Excellence in Teaching for his efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure his students’ success in overcoming the effects of the virus and succeeding academically.
The Regents’ Medal, one of 16 presented within the University of Hawaii system, recognizes faculty who exhibit an extraordinary level of subject mastery and scholarship, teaching effectiveness and creativity, and personal values beneficial to students. Regent Laurel Loo presented the Kauai Community College medal.
Following the evening of excitement, congratulatory lei presentations, and food, Kauai Community College is recruiting for the Fall Semester with its ‘Ohana Night,’ which starts at 4 p.m. on June 17. Fall Semester classes start on Aug. 25.
There is still room for the summer session at lower tuition rates.
For more information, visit www.kauai.hawaii.edu.
