From left, Chaminade vice president Diane Peters-Nguyen, regent Vaughn Vasconcellos, regent chairwoman Kathleen “Kitty” Wo, Irene Hirano Inouye, president Brother Bernard Ploeger and Jennifer Goto Sabas. (Photo courtesy of Chaminade University)
To honor the late Sen. Daniel K. Inouye for his impact on Chaminade University of Honolulu, the university on Feb. 24 named its School of Nursing skills laboratory after him.
University president Marianist Brother Bernard Ploeger said Chaminade named room 113 in Henry Hall as the “Senator Daniel K. Inouye Nursing Skills Laboratory” because, according to the senator, it was the room in which he took his medical exam to enter the U.S. Army. During World War II, the military temporarily took over the campus using Henry Hall as a hospital.
The chairwoman of the Chaminade board of regents, Kathleen “Kitty” Wo, said the honor was fitting considering all the senator has done for the school.
“The federal programs Sen. Inouye sponsored have had a transformational effect on our university,” she said.
“Primarily through the Title III program as a Native Hawaiian serving institution, federal funding to Chaminade has totaled $25 million over the past five years,” Wo said.
She said that the senator’s office also helped secure a $1.2 million capital grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration for the nursing school.
Sen. Inouye served on the Chaminade Board of Governors from 2003 to 2008.
At the senator’s urging, the university initiated a master’s degree in criminal justice administration with an emphasis in homeland security. The program is offered in partnership with the Naval Postgraduate Institute.
The senator’s widow, Irene Inouye, was present at the dedication ceremony and thanked the university leaders for remembering him with this honor.
