What happens when the UH Mānoa School of Communication and Information (SCI) throws its first open house? The results are 160-plus RSVPs to lively mini workshops attended by College of Social Sciences (CSS) students and alumni; an all-encompassing presentation about the five related but distinctive programs within SCI; and a networking reception honoring the first five SCI Distinguished Alumni for their exceptional leadership and significant contributions to the community.
It all occurred Friday, April 5, 2024, at George Hall and the Architecture Building. The SCI event spotlighted the programs of Communication, Communicology, Journalism, Library and Information Science, and the Matsunaga Institute for Peace. Now one of the largest academic units at UH Mānoa, SCI has 24 faculty members, 305 undergraduate majors and 76 graduate students, with a total of over 4,000 UH Mānoa students taking 220-plus SCI classes over the course of an academic year.
“The open house aimed to showcase the new school’s core values of communication, connection and community, and to foster relationships with alumni and community partners for collaborative growth and development,” said Hye-ryeon Lee, SCI chair and Communicology professor. “Communication and information are at the core of our existence. Communication competence, information literacy and communication technology literacy are foundational skills that our students need to succeed in today’s world. The SCI is the core unit that provides this important education at the University.”
Announced at the presentation were the five inaugural recipients of the 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award. They are Ruth Horie, retired catalog librarian at UH Mānoa; Nyle Sky Kauweloa, director of UH Esports and faculty specialist in Interdisciplinary Studies; Anne Marie Smoke, administrator of the Hawaiʻi State Judiciary’s Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution; Jennifer Sur Matayoshi, lead deputy Title IX coordinator and senior investigator at UH Mānoa; and Suzanne Puanani Vares-Lum, president of the East-West Center.
