EWCA Discussion Board

By Itsuko Suzuki (’62-’64)

It’s that time of the year - when new participants arrive at the East-West Center to begin their respective programs. The excitement is palpable at the Center as things gear up in anticipation of their arrival.

This year 160 students will be arriving this weekend and will take part in various orientation programs scheduled by the East-West Center Education Program. Here is a sample of the types of activities going on at the East-West Center in the upcoming weeks:

August 9 - 11: Welcome Reception by current students and Hawaii Chapter alumni volunteers will be ongoing as each student arrives during this time.

August 11, 4:00 pm: Hawaii Alumni and Friends of the East-West Center are putting on a Bazaar Sale of used kitchen items for arriving students to help them furnish their rooms for a nominal price (10 - 50 cents per item). The small profit that is made will be given to the EWCPA to be used for student activities.

August 12 - 22: The Education Department is putting on a two-week student orientation chaired by Laurel Dudley.

August 13: The Alumni Office is hosting a pizza lunch to welcome new students and give them an opportunity to meet with alumni.

August 23, 11 am - 2 pm: The EWCA Hawaii Chapter will be hosting their annual picnic at Kapiolani Park, giving the opportunity for alumni to mingle with new students. Approximately 250 people, including participant’s families, will be gathering for this event.

About one hundred and sixty new East-West Center students will be arriving at the EWC in the first week of August. We would like to ask the Hawaii alumni to help these students by donating their used kitchen items.

Each year, the EWC Association Hawaii Chapter Board members assist the EWC Participant Association by collecting and selling the donated items for a nominal price (about $.50 a piece) to raise a little money for the Association and help new students save some money for necessary kitchen items.

PLEASE DROP OFF YOUR DONATED ITEMS AT:

ALUMNI OFFICE
EAST-WEST CENTER
1601 EAST-WEST ROAD
BURNS HALL, ROOM 1062

THE DROP OFF PERIOD IS FROM JULY 28 - AUGUST 1ST ONLY

Check out the East-West Views site for the blog post on last month’s Ho’okupa Ceremony for students completing their East-West Center programs.

By Beryl Yang

EWCA Hawaii Chapter 2008 Travel Grant Recipients (from left to right): Carl Polley, Thuy La, Maria Chelo Manlagnit, and Turro Wongkaren. Not shown: Stuart Candy

On Saturday, May 10, the EWCA Hawaii Chapter sponsored a celebration of East-West Center Day at Hale Halawai. Following opening remarks by special guest speaker Raymond Burghardt, the Hawaii Chapter announced five student recipients of the EWCA 2008 Summer Travel Grant: Thuy La (Vietnam), Maria Chelo Manlagnit (Philippines), Carl Polley (USA), Turro Wongkaren (Indonesia) and Stuart Candy (Australia). Continue Reading »

By Itsuko Suzuki ( ‘64 )

The East-West Center Alumni Associate Office offers a one-semester mentoring experience (for APLP-ers, a shortened version of the program) for interested EWC students.

This program is jointly sponsored by the EWCA Office and the Friends of the EWC.

EWCA Mentoring Program provides a great opportunity for EWC students to link with successful leaders in the professional fields in the Honolulu Community. The EWC students will be matched with these professionals according to the students’ field of specialty to gain valuable field experience related to the “work culture” and “work environment” in their mentor’s profession. Continue Reading »

We are working hard to link current students with alumni so that students will become active members of our alumni network when they leave the Center. Some of our chapters are largely made up of old timers, we need new timers to join our chapters. We are encouraging chapters to welcome new students when they are offered EWC scholarships and provide hospitality and advice to returning students when they come back home after their Center experience. Do you have suggestions on how we can build closer links between current EWC students and alumni?

It is decision time at the Center for student scholarship applicants. The Center has just completed reviewing hundreds of applications for these awards. We are proud to note that we expect that ten students will receive EWCA scholarships this year. Special thanks to the many EWC alumni who have made contributions to the alumni fund drive which provides the funds used for these EWCA scholarships. Your support means that the Center will have 10 additional students in its program in the year ahead. Mahalo!