HUI ‘O NANI HAWAI’I CLUB FOUNDED: 1962
“We wanted to pass on the vision of what it was like growing up in Hawai’i, to bring students from Hawai’i together with students who were not from there.” —Elliott Chamizo, ’66, founding officer of Hui ‘O Nani Hawai’i Club
By Tracy DeCroce Separated by an ocean and worlds apart from their distinctive island culture, a small band of students from Hawai’i founded the Hui ‘O Nani Hawai’i Club in 1962. Its two-fold vision was to share Hawai’ian culture within a diversifying Seattle U campus and create a home base for students from the islands. In its first year, the club organized a luau with traditional food and dancing that drew 200 people. It remains one of Seattle U’s most popular campus events. Hui ‘O Nani Hawai’i means
“gathering of beautiful people of Hawai’i.” In its early days the club would greet incoming freshmen at the airport, have potlucks and organize ski trips. Today, the 200-member club still “provides a home away from home for the people of Hawai’i and, of course, for those who take interest in the culture,” says Club President Kylie Teramoto, ‘17. Pictured: Hui ‘O Nani Hawai’i Club officers in 1963.
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