‘There are tremendous opportunities’: Hensel addresses University of Hawaiʻi community

University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel delivered her inaugural systemwide address Wednesday evening (Jan. 14).

She outlined key accomplishments from 2025, addressed challenges facing higher education and set priorities for the year ahead throughout University of Hawaiʻi’s statewide 10-campus system.

“There are tremendous opportunities for this university that are not pie in the sky, that are not like, ‘Let me tell you things that will never happen,’” said Hensel in the address. “But real, tangible improvements that will make a difference in the life of our students, our faculty and staff and our communities and the state — that are within reach, that we are committed to do.”

Her address was livestreamed — to ensure broad access for faculty, staff, students and community members throughout the state — and marked the beginning of a new annual tradition intended to promote transparency, accountability and engagement with the University of Hawaiʻi community.

Hensel, who began her tenure Jan. 1, 2025, as the university’s 16th president, framed the speech as an opportunity to reflect on progress while charting a clear path forward for the university.

“We’ve been trying to do a lot of town halls and conversations about what’s going on in a very difficult time when it’s not so easy to talk about what’s happening,” Hensel said. “This is our attempt to make sure you know what we’re doing — that we’re delivering the value that the state expects — and also to identify where you can get involved to help us reach where we all want to go together.”

Her remarks highlighted major developments from the past year and priorities in 2026:

• Enrollment across the 10 campuses topped 51,000 in fall 2025, the highest in 8 years.
• Launch of Direct2UH, an initiative that streamlines admission to University of Hawaiʻi for the state’s public high school seniors.
• Advancing artificial intelligence throughout the University of Hawaiʻi system.
• Building an integrated workforce ecosystem.
• Improving student success, including graduation and retention rates.
• Record extramural funding in fiscal year 2025 amid increased uncertainty in 2026.
• Capital improvement project requests.
• Current landscape of collegiate athletics, including the impact of name, image and likeness, or NIL, rules.
• University of Hawaiʻi’s financial outlook, including state appropriations, tuition and fees, grants and reserves.

Hensel also acknowledged ongoing challenges facing the university, such as swiftly changing federal policies and cuts to federal research grants and awards.

She underscored the need for continued dialogue and systemwide alignment as well, as University of Hawaiʻi navigates a rapidly changing higher education landscape in Hawaiʻi and throughout the nation.

“I was really excited by it. I was inspired,” said Hawaiʻi Community Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Terry George about Hensel’s inaugural address. “I thought that President Hensel really just gave us a lot of straight talk, not only about what the real challenges are, where the money is, but also — sort of while identifying those challenges — she really shared a strategy of what we’re going to do about those.”

A recording of the address will be made available online for those who were unable to watch live.