Star-Bulletin
Windward Community College as it appeared in 1975.
The school looks much the same today.
Windward
Community College
changes people’s lives
The school is celebrating its
By Pat Omandam
25th anniversary this year
Star-BulletinWhen Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard laborer Ben Kama Jr. was forced to find another type of job in 1978 due to a work-related injury, he decided to enroll at Windward Community College. On the first day, when his English teacher talked about a syllabus, Kama didn't know that meant a course outline.
But by the end of the semester he had earned two A's and a B, giving the 1962 Farrington High graduate confidence he could complete his college degree and get a better job.
"Windward really helped me strengthen myself," said Kama, 54. "I got stronger in the things I had experienced, and it provided me with the other things that I needed to succeed."
Kama graduated from Windward in 1980 and earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaii two years later. The executive secretary of the city Neighborhood Commission is one of about 26,000 students who have attended Windward and among those who believe their experience there changed their lives.
The college is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and will hold an "All-Class Reunion" picnic Sunday at its campus in Kaneohe. Windward today serves more than 1,600 students in credit programs and several thousand others through noncredit classes and special programs.
Although Windward is the smallest and youngest of the community colleges in the University of Hawaii system, it is a very effective campus, said Joyce S. Tsunoda, chancellor of community colleges. Unlike the other community colleges, Windward doesn't offer vocational programs. Instead, Tsunoda said, it focuses on a liberal arts program geared to further education. About 85 percent of Windward's students transfer to four-year colleges, she said.
"Without any exception, whenever I hear from students, they just tell me if it weren't for Windward, they don't think that their lives would have been what it is now," Tsunoda said.
By Ken Sakamoto, Star-Bulletin
Windward Community College students talk story. They are,
from left, Krystal Spears, Daniel Salsebo and Jay Saavedra.
Bruce Mossman, 55, a retired Honolulu police detective, said word of mouth from students of Windward's top-notch faculty -- two have won national awards for undergraduate teaching in Hawaii for the past two years -- was enough for him. Mossman, whose interest in student affairs prompted classmates last summer to vote him student body president, believes Windward is a fantastic place to start -- no matter how old you are."I think it's a testing ground to see if you can really go to college and make it," he said.
"Instead of paying a lot of money to go to a four-year college, why not start here and get your core requirements out of the way? And then after a year, if you feel really comfortable and you want to go to a four-year college, then by all means do so," Mossman said.
Corri Ditch, 20, president of Windward's honor society and a member of the student senate, praised the college's intergenerational and multiethnic student body for helping her make the change from high school. About a fourth of the students are native Hawaiians, with women making up between 65 percent and 70 percent of students. And senior citizens have been a part of the campus from its beginnings.
Windward's small-college atmosphere -- set in the lush foreground of the Koolau Mountain Range -- fosters a sense of pride among faculty, staff and students, she added.
"It's a kind of campus where if you're not in class, the teachers will see you in the hall and say, 'Where were you? Are you OK?' Whereas I know it's not the same way at Manoa," she said.
Provost Peter Dyer, who has headed the campus for 18 years, believes Windward has been an asset and a resource for the surrounding community, particularly among high school students who otherwise might not go to college.
"I would say we've had a large impact across a large constituency ," he said. "The college over 25 years has reached a lot of people who wouldn't have thought about college. And many that do now deliberately think about college, think about Windward."
A celebration
What: Windward Community College 25th Anniversary Picnic
