About Our Scholarship

ESTABLISHED IN 1918

Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole established the Hawaiian Civic Club of Honolulu in 1918
to elevate the social & intellectual status of all Hawaiians and to increase pride in Hawaiian
heritage. While delegate in Congress from Hawai‘i, Kūhiō made a trip back home in early
1917 and one day, as he stood at the corner of Fort and King Streets watching people walk
by, he realized not only did he not know these people as they passed by, but also, they did not
know him. He wondered where they were going, what was going on in their minds, what they
did, where they lived. Kūhiō knew that Honolulu was growing, that Hawaii was growing. He
wondered, were they aware of how Hawai‘i could grow and they, with her?

Kūhiō’s concern was deep seated. He wanted his Hawaiian to be educated. He wanted him to
elevate himself. He wanted to instill in and promote the economic, intellectual, social status,
well-being of the Hawaiian in his community and he wanted sincerely to see Hawai‘i’s culture to
be forever preserved, not only for the Hawaiian but for all Hawai‘i. With this trend of thought, he
called together a group of his very close friends to plant the seeds for the Hawaiian Civic Club.

The organization was founded with three objectives in mind at a time when socio-economic
indicators were dismal for many Hawaiians. In order to help turn this situation around, Prince
Kūhiō Kalaniana‘ole had three founding objectives in mind when he established the Hawaiian
Civic Club of Honolulu:

• 1) Elevate (restore) the social status of Hawaiians
• 2) Elevate (restore) the intellectual status of Hawaiians
• 3) Increase pride in race heritage and Hawaiian identity

Since our club’s founding, there have been many efforts to help meet these objectives.

INSPIRING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT

The purpose of the Scholarship Program is to inspire academic achievement and to facilitate
Hawaiians in their quest to attain higher levels of education, thus improving representation
of Hawaiians at post-secondary schools and equipping them with the academic tools necessary
to improve their economic welfare.

SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

The amount of the award is determined by the HCCH Scholarship Awards Subcommittee.
Awards vary and are based on the quality of the essay. Scholarship checks are made payable to
the scholarship recipient and the post-high institution and are mailed directly to the university,
college, or vocational program financial aid office. Scholarship funds may be used for tuition,
fees, books and other educational expenses.