A RISING TIDE THAT FLOATS ALL BOATS

When one chooses to live in Hawaiʻi, one chooses to live in the ocean and not on it!  Rarely does one accidentally find oneself in Hawaiʻi, but at some point, a conscious decision is made to live, work, play, and learn in the ocean in one of the most remote inhabited destinations on Island Earth. Over the decades, thousands of Hawaiʻi Pacific University graduates representing a rare breed of intrepid voyagers chose to launch their life canoes on a rising tide of opportunity, renewal, and growth from these shores on what we fondly refer to as the “Kai Ulu,” the rising sea or tide.

The term kai refers to the sea, while the term ulu refers to growth, rising, or change. Thus, Kai Ulu honors and recognizes the sea change in the lives of HPU alumni and the communities they eventually choose to live and serve in. The rising tide of the University’s graduates is being felt around the global village of Island Earth at a time when an island worldview may be key to solving many of the challenges our global village faces in the near and far future. 

The phrase “Kai Ulu” also takes inspiration from the Kānaka Maoli (the rooted people and culture of Hawaiʻi) term for village or community, which is inclusive of the ecosystem and all that reside there, human and non-human relatives, which is Kaiāulu. In the Kānaka Maoli origin chant called the Kumulipo, life originated in the sea and, over time, made its way onto land. The terms kumu (source) and lipo (deep, dark waters) refer to the life source waters of the wombs of our mothers, the deep dark waters that we all swam in before receiving our first breaths and seeing our first light, the moment we moved from po (dark) to ao (light). The kaona, or hidden meaning of the name for surf in Hawaiian, is nalu, or “amniotic fluid,” which is so fitting when one adopts the world view that Hawaiʻi is also the navel of the planet where all can connect to mother . . . Mother Earth.

Similarly, each HPU graduate has risen from darkness into enlightenment and is now contributing to and influencing their respective communities, whether that may be in the Pacific or beyond, bringing with them knowledge and skills rooted in the principles, practices, and values of Aloha (reciprocity of giving and receiving), Pono (integrity and propriety) and Kuleana (responsibility and accountability). If ever there was a need for these values in practice in our world, it is now, and the sea change is happening thanks to the many alumni at HPU who have become the captains, navigators, and map makers in the global kaiāulu.

Welcome to Kai Ulu, where the captains, navigators, and explorers of the HPU alumni ʻohana may continue to connect, share, and learn from one another.