Eōmailani Kukahiko, Kahunawai Wright, and Jennifer Māhealani Quirk were awarded the 2025 IPKC Outstanding Indigenous Student Support Program by the Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) Indigenous Peoples Knowledge Community (IPKC).
They were recognized for their work with the Hilinehu: Educational Leadership Advancement (HELA) program. HELA, cited by the awards committee for its transformative influence on students, provides support through mentorship, professional development, stipends, and opportunities to develop a community of Native Hawaiian scholars.
Quirk, who is the Director of the Graduate Professional Access (GPA) Program at UH Mānoa, said, “It is an immense honor to receive this recognition from our Indigenous colleagues and peers in the field let alone our professional student affairs association for our work providing co-curricular support to Native Hawaiian graduate students through intentional, place-based programming and mentoring.”
Kukahiko and Wright accepted the award during the 2025 NASPA Annual Conference in New Orleans last month where they presented a general interest session on graduate student mentoring, titled No ka lāhui: Mentoring for Kānaka Futures which highlighted unique moʻolelo of success from the program’s mentors.
“We have been blessed to serve a diverse and dynamic community of haumana from a wide array of degree programs,” Quirk said. “As our students have learned from us, we too have learned soooo much from our students. Their stories and experiences drive us, keep us grounded, and remind us of the responsibility and success of our work, now and for years to come.”
Eōmailani Kukahiko is a specialist in the COE Department of Curriculum Studies (EDCS).
Kahunawai Wright, who has been an associate professor in the COE Department of Educational Administration (EDEA), is currently the Interim Associate Vice Provost for Student Success & Dean of Students.
Jennifer Quirk, who is a doctoral student in EDEA, serves as Director of the Graduate Professional Access (GPA) Program in the SEED Office.
