STAR-BULLETIN / 2001 Hawaii Hall on the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus, shown here gutted for restoration, was rededicated yesterday.

Historic UH building
reopens with new
look, old memories

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By Helen Altonn
haltonn@starbulletin.com

The rededication of the first permanent building on the University of Hawaii's Manoa campus after a $15 million restoration project tugged at the emotions of alumni yesterday.

Hawaii Hall, completed in 1912, has housed four university presidents, as well as academic programs. It has reopened after two years of renovations, giving it a modern, air-conditioned interior while preserving the building's historic exterior.

Samuel N. Mukaida, class of 1942, recalled when a group of students gathered on the steps of Hawaii Hall to announce the formation of a Varsity Victory Volunteers' Corps.

Many university students then were part of the Territorial Guards but were discharged as "enemy aliens, not to be trusted," he said. "This was quite disturbing to the students."

The Varsity Victory Volunteers offered their services to the military "to show their loyalty and patriotism and did such a wonderful job it came to the attention of the president," Mukaida said.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team was formed as a result, he said, with the VVV as the core.

Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert, addressing about 300 people at the dedication ceremony, noted UH President Evan Dobelle was "helping the same men commemorate World War II" at a 442nd memorial service at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

Hawaii Hall's history and turbulent events of the time on and off campus are described in a commemorative booklet by UH professors Robert M. Kamins and Robert E. Potter.

The building was first known as Main Hall and the university was called the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts when it began in 1907 in a building near Thomas Square. Main Hall became Hawaii Hall when the college became the University of Hawaii in 1920.

Alumni from classes of 1942, 1953 and 1963, celebrating their 60th, 50th and 40th reunions respectively, were special guests at yesterday's ceremony.

Mukaida, who was a cheerleader on campus in 1942, looked at a photograph of himself in the new booklet leading the Varsity Victory Volunteers and other students in a cheer.

"Small kid kine," he laughed.

He also was editor and photographer of the student yearbook, which he had to produce in three months, he said. He would work all night, then sneak into the women's restroom to spend the night. "They had a sofa."

Faculty members proposed canceling commencement services that year, as well as other programs, because of the war, he said. But he and classmate Jenny Lee-In persuaded the administration to continue the programs and "let us have the satisfaction of a full college life."

Richard Dubanoski, dean of the College of Social Sciences, said, "Then and now, Hawaii Hall is THE building on campus that symbolizes the reputation and status of the University of Hawaii ... It is truly the heart and soul of the Manoa campus."

Kaupena Wong, the first faculty member to teach Hawaiian chant at UH, composed a special chant for the occasion about "glorious Hawaii Hall, peaceful and calm."

UH regent Ah Quon McElrath, a 1938 UH graduate, told the audience the rededication "evokes much history and nostalgia, not only about the building but also about the course of higher education."

Touring Hawaii Hall later, she said, "I did a lot of classes here and I can't recognize it."

The Manoa chancellor and the deans of the Colleges of Social Sciences and Arts & Humanities, as well as Arts & Sciences Student Academic Services, are located in the restored building.

Englert said it's fitting that his office is there because it's "closer to the students and where teaching takes place ... Hawaii Hall once again is the heart of the UH campus."