UH graduation returns to Molokaʻi with 42 graduates earning degrees

A commencement ceremony returned to Molokaʻi on Friday for 42 University of Hawaiʻi Maui College graduates at the UH Maui Molokaʻi Education Center, Kaunakakai, Hawaiʻi

The UH Maui graduation on Molokaʻi is typically held there every four years, with the last graduation ceremony held in 2016. The 2020 ceremony was not scheduled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The ceremony honors Molokaʻi residents who earned degrees at the Molokaʻi Education Center or at any other UH campus.  The graduates received their degrees/certificates in areas that include dental hygiene, early education, Hawaiian studies and construction technology.

The number of nurse aide graduates nearly doubled since the island’s last UH commencement with 23 students earning their certification, which will help to address a critical need on Molokaʻi. 

The ceremony featured the first ever doctoral graduate on Molokaʻi to be hooded at the special commencement. Molokaʻi native Pūlama Lima earned a PhD in anthropology from UH Mānoa. 

“Molokaʻi is our biggest teacher and the best way to show appreciation for that is to come home and devote yourself to community work,” said Lima.

As part of UH Maui College, the center offers a wide range of credit and non-credit courses and certificate and associate degree programs. 

“A lot of kids think that they canʻt do it because they come from Molokaʻi and they don’t have a lot of opportunities but this year I found that a lot of people want to help you, especially here at the college. People want to help you. If you just reach out to them theyʻll get you places where you didnʻt think you could go,” said Sonni Han, UH graduate.

“You have to dream and you have to believe in yourself always because you are your number one motivator,” said Meleana Pa-Kala, UH graduate.

Like other UH outreach sites, it provides selected courses from other UH community colleges and receives selected bachelors and masters degree programs from UH Mānoa, UH Hilo and UH West Oʻahu via UH–ITV.