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Hawai’i Club

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Written by Juliette Burns, Class of 2026

The Hawai’i Club at Willamette University has a long history of providing a space for students from Hawai’i on campus, while opening up dialogue and sharing experiences about Hawaiian culture. The club’s origins trace back to the Hawaiian Student Union (HSU), which was formed in 1968. Their stated goals were the ‘creation of a cultural balance on the Willamette University campus…the addition of courses that include Hawaiian history and culture…[and] the unification of Hawaiian students on campus to make it easier to introduce Hawaiian culture to main-landers.’1 The club also had their sights set on a lu’au, an event which would go on to be a core part of yearly campus events.

The club has gone through various incarnations of its name, all with the same general form. The Hawaiian Student Union appears to have ended or became the Hawaiian Club by the early 1970s, and it is under this name that the club began putting on important events such as the lu’au. In the late 1980s and 1990s there began to be a simultaneous use of Hawaiian Club and Hawaii Club.2 They transitioned fully into Hawaii Club by the 2000s. Throughout the 2000s and into the time of the writing of this entry, Hawaii and Hawai’i have been used interchangeably for the organization both internally and campus wide.3 This is also when the term ‘Hawai’i’ began to be used in the campus newspaper The Collegian to refer to the island itself. The differences of these terms are explained in a National Park Service document:

“Today, the correct spelling of words in the Hawaiian, Samoan, or Chamorro languages require the use of special writing marks when appropriate…The name of the state, Hawaii, is not written with an ‘okina between the two “i”, because our Statehood Act in 1959 used the spelling ‘Hawaii.’…Thus, the name of the state is Hawaii, while the name of the island of the same name is Hawai‘i.”4

The Hawai’i club, in its various incarnations throughout the years, introduced annual lu’aus to the Willamette campus. As of 2023, the latest lu’au was numbered as the 33rd annual lu’au. This number, though, only refers to the consecutive years of a lu’au on campus, and in fact there were lu’aus held on campus even before the creation of the Hawaiian Student Union in 1968, put on by various groups as desired.5 The first lu’au at Willamette University following the creation of the Hawaiian Student Union took place in April 1971. HSU was not explicitly credited for this event, but the involvement of Hawaiian students in the 1971 lu’au and the clear involvement of the club in the next lu’au, shows that it was likely their influence which brought the first official lu’au to Willamette University.6 Their second lu’au took place in March 1973, with forty club members working the event. This number shows the high level of interest in the club, especially since it had been cited just a few years previous that there were a bit over 50 students from Hawaii on campus.7 This lu’au involved discussions of the history of the islands and demonstrations of Hawaiian dancing.8

Following this lu’au, the Hawai’i Club/Hawaiian Club would put on the event almost every year for decades. As evidenced by the April 2002 Collegian article that calls that year’s lu’au the ‘thirteenth annual,’ as well as the mentioned ‘33rd lu’au’ in 2023, it appears that the lu’aus of 1988/1989 may have not been put on.9 Still every other year had its share of Hawaiian food and entertainment on campus through Hawai’i Club efforts. Regardless of the number of consecutive years assigned to each lu’au event, Willamette University has had a consistent official lu’au nearly every year since 1973. Of course, the 2020 lu’au did not come to fruition due to COVID-19. The Hawai’i Club did not slow down for a moment, putting on the 31st annual lu’au in 2021, as their first virtual luau—uploading it to the Willamette University Youtube channel.10 Various members spoke, danced, and showed clips from older lu’aus to supplement the group activities which remained unavailable. They have put all subsequent lu’aus on Youtube as well, though the events reverted back to in-person by 2022.

The Hawai’i Club is more than a one-hit wonder, and for as long as they have existed, the club has been involved in activities and events outside of the lu’au. During their first years of existence, the Hawai’i Club (Hawaiian Student Union) was well known for intramural sports and they were top seeded in their intramural football league in 1972.11 In 2007-2008, they put on “A Taste of Hawaii,” a sampling of Hawaiian food along with some entertainment; and in 2009, they received the Outstanding Student Organization Award from the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership.12 The club also has arranged activities away from campus, whether to attend other lu’aus, hike up Mt. Hood, coordinate surf meets and outrigger canoe races, or meet up over breaks in Hawaii.13 The club continues to travel around Oregon, going to the pumpkin patch, markets in Portland, and more.

The club has always had a sizable number of members through the years. While only some documents mention active members specifically, numbers fluctuate from 20 to 100 members, active or otherwise, throughout the decades. Hundreds of people from on and off campus attend the lu’aus as well, being one of the main Willamette events along with events like Wulapulozza and the Pow Wow. The Hawai’i Club continued their lu’au tradition into the 2020s. They continue to put on various events showcasing Hawaiian culture, and in 2022, a club member created a zine showcasing an overview of Hawaiian culture, history, language, and the club history.14

Endnotes

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  1. ˆ Al Edmonds, “W.U. has Hawaiians, Too,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), November 8, 1968
  2. ˆ “hawaiian club presents pageant,” Wallulah 1973 (Willamette University, Salem, OR); Box 12, Folder 11, Hawaii Club 1990-2001, Hawaii Club 1977, 1990-2020, Willamette University Office of Student Activities Records, Willamette University Archives,
  3. ˆ Ibid; “Hawai’i Club prepares Luau,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR)
  4. ˆ Bobby Camara, “CORRECT SPELLINGS OF GEOGRAPHIC (PLACE) NAMES,” Pacific Island Network Vital Signs Monitoring Plan, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
  5. ˆ “Pumpkins, Symphony themes of Fall Dance,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), October 14, 1960; “Alpha Chi’s fun-filled year,” Wallulah 1966 (Willamette University, Salem, OR)
  6. ˆ “Beautiful times at Hawaiian luau,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), March 6, 1971; “hawaiian club presents pageant”
  7. ˆ Edmonds, “W.U. has Hawaiians, Too”
  8. ˆ “Hawaiian Pageant-Luau,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), March 8, 1973
  9. ˆ “Derek Lindbloom, “Hawai’i Club prepares luau,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), April 18, 2002
  10. ˆ “Hawai’i Club’s 31st Lū’au – Ua Ola Loko I Ke Aloha,” April 24, 2021
  11. ˆ “IM Football begins,” Willamette Collegian (Salem, OR), September 14, 1972
  12. ˆ Box 54, Folder 2, Posters 1986-2020, Hawaii Club 1977, 1990-2020, Willamette University Office of Student Activities Records, Willamette University Archives; Box 12, Folder 21, Outstanding Student Organization Award, 2009, Hawaii Club 1977, 1990-2020, Willamette University Office of Student Activities Records, Willamette University Archives
  13. ˆ Hawaii Club Album 2, color, 2010, Campus Photograph Collection, Willamette Archives and Records; “Hawaiian Pageant-Luau”
  14. ˆ Box 26, Folder 35a,I ka wā ma mua, ka wā ma hope (The future is found in the past), 2022, Hawaii Club 1977, 1990-2020, Willamette University Office of Student Activities Records, Willamette University Archives; Shyla Sato, Personal communication with author, September 23, 2024

Works Referenced

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Image Citations

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