College Safety & Awareness session held at Iolani High School

Jan Boivin, HPU Chief Equity Officer; Lyle Fong, Iolani School parent;
and Marites McKee, HPU Dean of Students 

Hawai‘i Pacific University Dean of Students Marites McKee and Chief Equity Officer Jan Boivin provided a presentation to over 75 recent Iolani High School graduates and their parents during an informational session held on July 6 at Iolani High School.

The talk was part of HPU’s “We Care” Campaign, which is designed to raise awareness amongst incoming HPU freshmen, as well as Hawai‘i’s graduating high school seniors, on issues such as the correlation between sexual assault and alcohol consumption and the importance of bystander intervention. The ongoing campaign also includes safe bar keeping and alcohol awareness education for downtown Honolulu establishments.

“HPU is committed to educating Hawai‘i’s graduating high school seniors and their parents about campus safety and sex assault — before students are caught up in the flurry of freshmen onboarding at their receiving college and university campuses,” said Boivin.

McKee shared, “Young men and women who attended our presentation last year have circled back with stories of how our presentation helped them make safe choices. There is no better feedback than that.”

Iolani parent Lyle Fong, who also appeared with McKee and Boivin on ThinkTech Hawaii to describe HPU’s “We Care” Campaign, facilitated the presentation.

The “We Care” leaders, McKee and Boivin, will be continuing their efforts to educate Hawai'i’s graduating seniors — and their parents — about the value of “talking story” about alcohol consumption and sexual assault awareness before students depart for their college campuses.