"My place in education is a representation of the resilience and support of my ancestors, my community, my family, my friends, and those who will come after me."

Hometown

Olathe, Kansas

Department

Educational Administration

Related Degrees

• MEd, Educational Administration: Higher Ed

How did you become interested in the field of educational administration?
During my undergraduate degree, I worked as a resident assistant (RA) in Housing, and our supervisors were higher education students who were doing their graduate assistantships in Housing. I became interested in higher education, specifically student services and support, through my interactions with graduate students and student services specialists on campus in our Multicultural Center that I had pilina with. I realized that I could imagine myself being on a similar path, doing work dedicated to student support, first gen empowerment, and social justice efforts.

Do you work or participate in any clubs or organizations in or outside of school?
I’m a co-founder and member of the Sister Circle at Mānoa, chair of the Alice Ball Black Graduation Planning Committee, member of the Black Student Association, executive board member of the Indigenous Student Association, president of the College of Ed Master Student Association, Point Foundation Scholar, and haumana of Uhau Humu Pōhaku. I also have been involved in organizing space for Black graduate students to come together on campus.

How is the COE program impacting or benefitting your career path?
I love that I get to call the EDEA department home. I have grown as a student, critical thinker, writer, community member, and person ever since I started my MEd program and moved to Hawaiʻi, which I now call my home. This experience, and what I am learning from my peers, professors, and mentors in the COE and beyond are a great privilege and kuleana that I cherish and use in the work I do every day, and
will continue using once I transition into a higher ed professional role.

Is there anyone in particular who inspired you to pursue a career in education?
I am a first-generation college student, and I was the first one in my family to receive a bachelor’s degree. My mother and family have been my greatest supporters on this educational journey. I have two younger sisters at home, and my hope is that they can see my experiences and know that the educational possibilities are endless for them. My place in education is a representation of the resilience and support of my ancestors, my community, my family, my friends, and those who will come after me. I could not be where I am today, or who I am today, without the villages of people who are in my life today.

What are your future plans with your degree?
I hope to one day be in a higher education position that allows me to work with, create, and build support systems for our marginalized and unrecognized student communities. Above anything, I want to make meaningful change and do my part in creating a world of liberation, imagination, and solidarity.

Niya delivered a speech commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King at the Hawaiʻi Kuu Home Aloha 2024 Summit.

“For this year’s speech, I really tried to stress the critical understanding we owe to the messages and beliefs that Reverend Dr. King perpetuated throughout his life and career in civil rights and social justice. He believed that peace, love, justice, and non-violent direct action were a means for creating and sustaining a world free of war, free of racism & discrimination, free of colonialism, and free of poverty. Dr. King is not simply a man to use as propaganda for false messages of ‘colorblindness’ or ‘unity’ around race in our country as if the same issues he died for and not the ones we still fight against today. He was resolved in his beliefs of anti-racism, anti-militarism, anti-imperialism, and anti-poverty in the U.S. and the world. Above all, he loved his family and he loved people. Having the opportunity to commemorate him on the same day as the 131-year recognition of the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, served as a reminder that there is still work to be done.” ~ Niya McAdoo