Kapi‘olani Selected for USC Takeoff: Men of Color Initiative

Kapi‘olani Community College is one of 12 community colleges nationwide selected to receive a $75,000 grant and participate among a cohort of colleges in the University of Southern California Race and Equity Center’s Takeoff: Institutional Innovations for College Men of Color project. The grant assists community colleges nationwide that are advancing initiatives to support men of color on their campuses.

“We are very excited to be awarded this grant as a way to support our Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island males at Kapi‘olani,” said Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Michaelyn Nākoa Hall. “We have always known there was a disparity in enrollment between Native Hawaiian males and females. When this proposal was posted, we took a look at the data and were shocked at how big the gap was. Of the Native Hawaiian students at Kapi‘olani CC, only one-third were males compared to the two-thirds female. This motivated our team to devise a plan to support our kāne.”

Kapi‘olani’s Takeoff pilot will diversify the Indigenous populations served through the ECMC Foundation’s Men of Color Initiative by developing scalable, culturally responsive interventions for Pacific Island men, including Native Hawaiians. The ECMC Foundation has made a $20-million commitment to transform the higher education experiences for Black, Latinx, Southeast Asian, and Native American men. The Men of Color Initiative specifically aims to increase those earning degrees.

Related links: University of Hawai‘i News Release, https://www.hawaii.edu/news/2023/06/26/75k-to-support-men-of-color-at-kapiolani-cc/

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