As the athletic director at the University of Hawaii Hilo, I am privileged and blessed to play a role in building a department of staff and coaches that are committed to our student-athletes.
As the athletic director at the University of Hawaii Hilo, I am privileged and blessed to play a role in building a department of staff and coaches that are committed to our student-athletes.
I take great pride in that responsibility. I desire to build a team that wants to help make the student-athlete experience the best that it can be. One of those team members is our faculty athletic representative, Dr. Randy Hirokawa. Randy loves athletics (don’t get him started talking about when he was the public address voice for the Iowa Hawkeyes softball team) and he certainly has a passion for the challenges that face our student-athletes at UH Hilo.
My favorite time of the year is graduation weekend. At the end of the day, the reason why we are all here is to prepare, educate and graduate our students. Randy plays a leading role in this process and is a strong advocate for our student-athletes. Let me add that I have worked with several faculty athletic representatives in my career and Randy is one of the most engaged and committed that I have had the pleasure to work with. I am proud to also call him my friend.
I asked Randy to talk about his role and some of the academic accomplishments of our student-athletes this year.
Hirokawa: I serve as the faculty athletic representative at UHH. The FAR is an NCAA-mandated position that serves as the liaison between the athletics department and the faculty and administration at UHH. In my role, I work closely with athletics director Pat Guillen and his staff on all academic matters. In recent years, particularly under Pat’s leadership, I am pleased to see an increased emphasis on the academic performance of student-athletes at UHH.
Not surprisingly, important indicators of our student athletes’ academic success have improved steadily.
For example, the spring 2016 semester GPA for student athletes at UHH was 3.06, up from the previous spring 2015 semester GPA of 2.89. I believe this is the first time in the history of UHH that the overall GPA of student-athletes has exceeded 3.0 in any semester. Retention and graduation rates of student-athletes at UHH have also steadily improved in recent years and, in fact, exceed the retention and graduation rates of the general student population at UHH.
Not only is UHH placing an emphasis on the academic success of its student athletes, but they are also placing an emphasis on recognizing, and celebrating, the academic accomplishments of their student-athletes. Earlier this month, I had the honor and privilege of speaking at the inaugural Scholar Athletes Reception, which recognizes student-athletes who earned a cumulative GPA of 3.3 or higher.
In all, 48 student-athletes were honored at the reception. In speaking to these scholar athletes, I emphasized how inherently difficult it is to maintain a 3.3 GPA or higher, while also fulfilling their athletic commitments as well. Most, if not all, of these student-athletes have to get up early every morning to engage in weight training or physical conditioning, then attend a full day of classes, then go to practice for three or four hours, then do their school work, before going to bed by midnight (if they are lucky) only to do it all over again the next day.
Honestly, unless you’ve been a student-athlete, I think it is difficult to really know how challenging it is for a student-athlete to excel both in academics and athletics as many of the student-athletes at UHH do. They surely do deserve our admiration and respect.
Finally, I want to give a shout-out to Kailah Buchanan, a graduating senior in marine science and a member of the women’s soccer team, for receiving the Sakai and Harue Wakakuwa Female Academic Athlete of the Year, which is given annually to the female student-athlete with the highest GPA. I also want to congratulate Micah Carter, a sophomore majoring in kinesiology and exercise science and a member of the baseball team, for receiving the Joe and Harriet Estrella Male Academic Athlete of the Year, which is given annually to the male student-athlete with the highest GPA. Both Kailah and Micah are two-time winners of their respective awards.
It is usually the athletic performance and accomplishments of our student athletes that get most of the “press.” But it is important for the community to know that the academic performance and accomplishments of our student-athletes at UHH are truly impressive and worthy of recognition, too.”