The Diamond Celebration

How it began…

The university began as St. Louis College in 1955 and eventually became a co-educational institution that changed its name to Chaminade College in honor of Marianist founder William Joseph Chaminade.

Through time and transformation, Chaminade College became what is now known today as Chaminade University of Honolulu. The university has an enrollment total of more than 2,500 students and serves 25 undergraduate and graduate degrees. Chaminade is known for being the only private Catholic institution on the island and one of the most highly diverse campuses in Hawaii.

Ten years prior

In 2005, Chaminade celebrated its 50th anniversary also known as the Golden Anniversary. For the academic school year, the university hosted an opening reception, a photo exhibit in the Sullivan Library, a Fun Run, an art show, an alumni reunion weekend, and a 50th anniversary gala celebration at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel with an attendance of nearly 300. Chaminade has even contributed to the annual Kaimuki Christmas parade and block party.

One of the most memorable contributions to the Golden Anniversary was the accumulation of service hours from students, faculty, and staff. Chaminade successfully completed 50,000 hours of community service as a goal for the 50th anniversary.

The Diamond Celebration

Now, Chaminade is glorifying its Diamond Celebration after a thriving 60 years of growth and development. Banners with the 60th logo have been displayed around Chaminade and renovations have occurred throughout the campus, specifically in the Clarence T.C. Ching building where the Chaminade seal can be found beautifully displayed on the floor of Ching Hall in between the new business office and admissions office.

Currently, the mission for Chaminade is to spread awareness about the 60th celebration to students, faculty, staff, and the community. Aside from banners and T-shirts, clubs and organizations on campus have been publicizing the anniversary by including the logo on flyers around campus, with e-mails, and by word of mouth. Chaminade is hoping to carry forward the celebration until next semester.

For the 60th anniversary, Chaminade is pushing to reach 60,000 service hours by the end of next semester. The purpose of this is to challenge the Chaminade community to give back and accomplish this year’s goal of 60,000 service hours.

Social media accounts such as an Official website, Facebook, and Instagram have also been created to highlight the Diamond Celebration. Chaminade is currently looking for new content to post on its social media sites, as well as any events with clubs and organizations that would like to collaborate. The 50^th anniversary was the biggest celebration to date for Chaminade. However, the 60th anniversary is more focused on spreading awareness and keeping the celebration alive.

In an interview with Kapono Ryan, the director of communications, she was asked what Father Chaminade would think of the university today she said, “Father Chaminade focused a lot on transformation, change, and adaptation,” said Ryan. “So I am hoping that he would be happy with how everything turned out with us.”