Villa_LOR-GradSchool-2011

Chaminade University, Honolulu Adjunct Professor, Department of Humanitiies Hawaiian Language, Leadership, Religion, and Oral History

CONFIDENTIALITY COVER SHEET 28 August 2011 To Whom It May Concern: Attached herein is a Letter of Recommendation as a professional reference in support of:

Mr. Kaipo Villa .

436-C Ulupaina Street Kailua, Hawaii 96734 kaipovilla@gmail.com (808) 741-6666

To the offices of University of Chaminade (Honolulu) – Graduate Studies Selection Committee With which I have adequate authority and experience to speak in regards to the student’s |Poor |

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[X] Community Svc | [_] Spiritual Base

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The student has waived the option to review this recommendation and has not requested to do so.

This letter contains information which is accurate and true to the best of my knowledge.

I appreciate your dedicated efforts and the value of your time in the review of this candidate.

I hope and endeavor that this letter will help in your process of choosing worthy scholars.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or inquiries.

Keahi Renaud, M.Ed Prof. Hawaiian Culture/Leadership Chaminade University of Honolulu Chaminade University Spr 2011, Dept of Humanities ralphkeahi.renaud@adjunct.chaminade.edu

(808) 927-1619 (personal) (848) NATIVES {628-4837}

Chaminade University, Honolulu Adjunct Professor, Department of Humanitiies Hawaiian Language, Leadership, Religion, and Oral History

LETTER OF SUPPORT AND RECOMMENDATION 28 August 2011 To the CUH Graduate Division of the Criminal Justice Program, aloha kākou: The graduate applicant, Mr. Kaipo Villa requested from me this letter of recommendation. I offer this document of unequivocal support with my honest thoughts and professional assessments noted below.

My name is Keahi V. Renaud, and I am an adjunct professor within the Department of Humanities at Chaminade University in Honolulu (CUH) teaching all components of the Hawaiian Religion & Culture, Language, and Polynesian Leadership coursework. I am trained as a mechanical engineer holding a Masters Degree in Education (Secondary Physics), and I recently completed medical school. I have spent the last two decades as a traditional Hawaiian Cultural Practitioner under the intensive training and mentoring of Kumu John Keola Lake (former Kumu-in-Residence at CUH).

These credentials along with my experiences as a former member of the United States Marine Corps, I provide my humble but clear perspective regarding the personal integrity and academic caliber of this graduate study candidate for application.

In these years as a teacher, mentor, and cultural practitioner, I’ve encountered on rare occasion the uncommon student who epitomizes the truest benefits and deepest satisfaction which teaching provides.

Mr. Villa has been and continues to be one of those “motivating” students. His focused allowed him to excel in my Hawaiian Language (HA 101/102). His abstract formation of existential concepts in a spiritual context held him in the top of my senior-level Hawaiian Religion & Spirituality (HA 450) course. However, it is his altruistic nature and self-confidence within my Advanced Polynesian Leadership course (HLT 320) which showed his true colors allowing him to thrive and shine.

It is my observations that Kaipo Villa’s has a propensity to challenge his coursework by taking the classroom experience to the next level while he contemplates it several fathoms deeper than the norm.

This mode of high-level thinking is exceptional particularly with my pedagogical approach which revolves around an inquiry-based experiential socratiscism emphasizing problem-solving context.

Kaipo’s motivation has proven contagious to his classmates, his peers, and most notably, very motivating to me. Based upon his performance profile, I believe this graduate applicant is an ideal candidate for graduate studies Chaminade University within the Criminal Justice Graduate Program.

Therefore, allow me to say how very much impressed I am at this student’s determination, focus, professionalism, and dedication. I base this recommendation on my skills to spot an altruistic leader amongst the many intellectuals. In the end, there may be many intellectuals… but it is my humblest opinion that the Hawaiian community has a more dire need for strong, well-educated, LEADERS. Isn’t this precisely what a graduate student should embody and represents as he seeks his graduate training?

Therefore, in conclusion, I would, without reservation, provide my absolute recommendation and support of Mr. Kaipo Villa as a strong and successful candidate for graduate studies.

Mahalo for your time and consideration of this recommendation in support of this motivated scholar applicant. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or inquiries

Keahi V. Renaud, MEd Prof Keahi V. Renaud, Chaminade University keahir@hawaii.edu / (848) NATIVES {628-4837}

Leadership Education in all things Hawaiian, Health, and Hula