","thumbnailUrl":null,"author":{"@type":"Person","name":"University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics","jobTitle":null},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics","url":"https://hawaiiathletics.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://hawaiiathletics.com/images/logos/site/site.png","width":50,"height":50}},"about":null,"speakable":{"type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":["article-content","article-headline"]}} VIDEO: UH Celebrates 40 Years of Rainbow Wahine Athletics - University of Hawai'i at Manoa Athletics
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VIDEO: UH Celebrates 40 Years of Rainbow Wahine Athletics

(L-R): Vice President Rockne Freitas, Governor Neil Abercrombie, Mahina (Eleneki) Hugo, Reydan "Tita" Ahuna, Justice Sabrina McKenna, Cindy (Boerner) Mazda, Jill Nunokawa
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HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i celebrated its 40th anniversary of women's athletics with the Rainbow Wahine Awards Banquet on Wednesday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The event honored current and former Rainbow Wahine student-athletes with Liz Chun as the Mistress of Ceremonies.

The banquet opened with a parade of student-athletes followed by a dinner. Courtney Gaddis of the women's basketball team gave the invocation and Hawai'i Supreme Court Justice Sabrina McKenna was the keynote speaker. Also speaking were University of Hawai'i Vice President Rockne Freitas and Governor Neil Abercrombie. Individually honored were Rainbow Wahine alumnae Reydan “Tita” Ahuna, Cindy (Boerner) Mazda, Jill Nunokawa, Mahina (Eleneki) Hugo, and Justice McKenna.
 
The evening also included an awards presentation, along with a Rainbow Wahine sports video by OC Sports. The celebration concluded with a senior recognition ceremony and the senior student-athlete response by women's volleyball player Kanani Danielson.

Then-UH Athletic Director Donnis Thompson launched Rainbow Wahine sports by forming a track and field program in 1961, and the true foundation of UH women's athletics came in 1972 with the landmark passing of Title IX. The law, authored by the late state of Hawai'i Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink,  required equal support for men and women in academics and athletics at any institution receiving federal money. The law triggered a boom in women's college athletics programs, including the start of the renowned Rainbow Wahine volleyball program.




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