Student’s ʻohana gives back by renovating UH Mānoa welcome center

A new, modern welcome center will greet prospective students to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, thanks to the generosity of a spring 2024 graduate and her family.

Haley Taylor, a communication major in the College of Social Sciences, worked as a tour guide in the UH Mānoa Office of Admissions for three years. It was because of her “UHMazing” experience being part of the office and showing off what the university has to offer that persuaded her family to make a generous contribution to renovate the center.

UH Mānoa Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Nikki Chun helped welcome the new space.

Taylor, her family and other campus leaders gathered for a grand reopening ceremony on May 10. The welcome center is located in the Office of Admissions in the Queen Liliʻuokalani Center for Student Services room 001.

“All I can think of is opportunity, opportunity that we haven’t even imagined yet,” UH Mānoa Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Nikki Chun said. “That’s why I’m excited to bring other people into this and ask them, ‘what do you imagine?’ And ultimately, I hope that when future students come here, they feel like the space is a reflection of the experience that they have at Mānoa.”

Hawaiʻi ties keep ʻohana close

Taylor was born in Tennessee and went to high school in Las Vegas, but in between spent four years residing in Hawaiʻi Kai. Although she is headed to the continental U.S. to pursue a graduate degree, she said she’ll be back to visit, and already looks forward to visiting the center and reconnecting with colleagues turned friends.

“Coming back in the future, I think it’s just going to bring back a lot of memories,” Taylor said. “Being able to showcase that with anyone I bring back, seeing the plaque on the wall and knowing that my small part here is lasting and gonna make an impact on so many people, I think I’m just looking forward to that, letting them understand how important this is.”

Haley’s father, Jason, is a trustee with UH Foundation. He is the chief sales officer at Gannett and president of USAToday Network Ventures. The Taylor family lived on Oʻahu when Jason served as senior vice president of sales and marketing at the Honolulu Advertiser from 2003 to 2007. Jason initiated the conversation about making a generous contribution with UH Foundation CEO and UH Vice President for Advancement Tim Dolan, who then reached out to Chun.

“When we lived here years ago, the island was so welcoming to our family that we wanted to do something to extend that to future families,” Jason said. “We knew that the Office of Admissions was so important to Haley and her development during her four years here so it just seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

“The Taylor family has made a lasting impact in supporting our current and future students at UH,” Dolan said. “We’ve been very fortunate to have Haley’s father, Jason Taylor, on our Board of Trustees, and we are sincerely grateful for their gift to permanently enhance UH’s Welcome Center.”