{"id":216228,"date":"2025-05-19T13:21:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T23:21:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=216228"},"modified":"2025-05-28T12:33:03","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T22:33:03","slug":"hawaii-cc-palamanui-commencement-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2025\/05\/19\/hawaii-cc-palamanui-commencement-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Hawai\u02bbi CC<\/abbr>\u2013P\u0101lamanui celebrates commencement in new outdoor space"},"content":{"rendered":"
Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\"peopleHawaiʻi<\/span> Community College–P\u0101lamanui<\/a> marked a milestone on May 17, with its 2025 spring commencement ceremony, held for the first time at the campus\u2019s newly constructed outdoor learning and dining area. The space was designed to offer students a comfortable environment to study, gather and dine outdoors.<\/p>\n[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/beMCDucEgrI” el_aspect=”34″ align=”right” el_id=”wrap-video-right”][vc_column_text]\n

“This is the first time we\u2019re having this opening on this new lanai, and it is such an exciting experience,” Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> Chancellor Susan Kazama said. “We have over 300 of the family and friends that came to greet our 60 graduates here. It\u2019s such an exciting time.”<\/p>\n

Along with Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> graduates, several Hawaiʻi<\/span> Island students also received their degrees from 糖心视频<\/abbr> West Oʻahu<\/span> and 糖心视频<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. Among the graduates was student speaker Drew Camacho<\/a>, whose journey from incarceration to academic success highlighted the perseverance and diverse paths of this year\u2019s graduates.<\/p>\n

“As we step into the next phase of our journeys, remember this. The world needs dreamers like us. It needs people who are willing to challenge the status quo, who believe in the impossible and who are relentless in the pursuit of their goals,” Camacho said in his speech.<\/p>\n

The ceremony concluded with the singing of “N\u0101ʻ\u016b<\/span> P\u0101lama Nui<\/a>,” a mele honoring the cultural vision of P\u0101lamanui, composed by Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr> Professor Taup\u014duri Tangar\u014d.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s been a long road for me,” said Deandraleen Kalahiki, a Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr>–P\u0101lamanui graduate with an associate\u2019s degree in liberal arts. “It took about a little over 10 years. I can only strictly do online so I\u2019m a mom of three too. Balancing life and everything and work, is truly a blessing to be at this moment now.”<\/p>\n

Hunter Wehrsig, a Hawaiʻi<\/span> CC<\/abbr>–P\u0101lamanui graduate with a certificate of achievement in fire science said, “A lot of hard work that you put in and then finally paying off. Graduating and then going into the workforce is my plan as a firefighter.”[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_masonry_media_grid css=”” grid_id=”vc_gid:1748471420444-8ec40ff2-d589-5″ include=”216236,216235,216233,216185,216183,216182″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hawaiʻi<\/span> Community College–P\u0101lamanui celebrated its 2025 commencement in a new outdoor space, honoring 60 graduates and their inspiring journeys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":216235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[234,61,435,71],"class_list":["post-216228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-news","tag-commencement","tag-hawaii-community-college","tag-palamanui","tag-uh-community-colleges","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t