Chaminade, A Descriptive Overview

November 2006

Chaminade University of Honolulu is a small, Catholic, comprehensive university sponsored by the Province of the United States of America of the Society of Mary (Marianists). It is located on a hillside in suburban Honolulu, two miles from Waikiki beach. Chaminade’s Fall 2002 enrollment was 1030 traditional day students (389 in residence), approximately 557 graduate students, and adult students enrolled in an accelerated evening program offered at nine sites on Oahu and via distance education. Chaminade currently offers three bachelors degrees in twenty-two undergraduate majors, five graduate degree programs, and several professional certificate programs.

The University is named after the founder of the Society of Mary, Father William Joseph Chaminade, a French, Catholic priest who survived the political turmoil and religious persecution of the French Revolution. Father Chaminade believed that the rebuilding of the Church in France in the aftermath of the French Revolution would best be accomplished by the engagement of the laity in small communities of faith, dedicated to prayer, education and acts of service to the larger community. After two decades of work with those communities, and the founding of the Daughters of Mary in 1816, the third part of his vision of the Marianist Family materialized when he founded the Society of Mary, a religious community of priests and lay brothers in 1817.

The Marianists realized that education provided the means for passing on their distinctive vision of the Christian life to future generations, and, central to their educational efforts, was an emphasis on liberal education. In this sense, they understood that education was not merely a means for imparting a religious vision, but also an intellectual formation valuable in itself. This educational tradition and spirituality of the Society of Mary also embodies the ideal of service and an abiding respect for the complementary nature of a liberal education, on the one hand, and professional and technical education on the other. As the only Catholic university in Hawaii, Chaminade affirms a commitment to the integration of intellectual skills, Marianist values, social responsibility and cultural awareness.

In 1849, members of the Society of Mary came to the United States to minister to immigrant populations. As an outgrowth of their ministry, they founded first what grew to the University of Dayton and, shortly thereafter, what became St. Mary’s University of San Antonio. In September of 1883, eight Marianists arrived in Honolulu and assumed the leadership of what is now St. Louis School. After many years of encouragement by the alumni of St. Louis, the decision was made by the Marianists to establish a Catholic college in Honolulu and, as a consequence, St. Louis Junior College opened in 1955. In 1957, the college became a four-year coeducational institution and the name was changed to Chaminade College. Chaminade expanded its services to the community in l967 with the establishment of an evening session to serve adults with business, family and military responsibilities who desired to pursue a college degree. In l977 Chaminade added graduate programs and the name was changed to Chaminade University of Honolulu.