In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Title IX, University of Hawai'i Athletics will pay tribute to memorable Rainbow Wahine student-athletes and teams in a series of stories written by Lance Tominaga. The stories will run throughout the 2022-23 athletic season and can be found on the page #Wahine50: Celebrating 50 Years of Rainbow Wahine Athletics.

Sabrina McKenna admits that much of her life's successes can be attributed to good timing, but that really is only part of the story.

True, she was one of the earliest beneficiaries of Title IX, the 1972 federal law that sought to provide girls and women equal opportunities in athletics and academics. But McKenna took that opportunity and, with her customary determination, perseverance and work ethic, carved a path that eventually earned her a place on the highest court in the state of Hawai'i.

Along the way, she broke down barriers and laid a foundation for others to build upon. In 1974, McKenna suited up as a member of the very first University of Hawai'i basketball team. Thirty-seven years later, in 2011, she became the first openly LGBTQ judge to sit on the Hawai'i Supreme Court.

"I never set out to be a trailblazer," she insists.

But that is exactly what she is.

McKenna was born on Oct. 7, 1957 in Tokyo, Japan, to an American father and Japanese mother. Frederick James McKenna, Jr. was a psychology professor and former sports announcer. Marita Lou McKenna became a hotel and travel services coordinator for the U.S. military. Frederick died when Sabrina was nine, but not before passing on to her his passion for sports.

Sabrina's first experience playing basketball came during her middle school P.E. class.

"Back then, they had these stupid rules that didn't allow girls to play full court because they thought we were too weak," McKenna says. "There were offensive players and defensive players. Because I was pretty short, I was only allowed to play defense. I wasn't allowed to shoot. That really upset me."

Determination, perseverance and work ethic. Every day, McKenna skipped lunch and headed to the gym to practice shooting. After a while, she was able to join the offensive side of the court.

"That really kind of led me to really enjoy basketball," she recalls, smiling. "I started playing formal ball in high school, and I'd even go to the base gym after school and play pickup ball with the high school boys or G.I.s. I just became a gym rat."

McKenna moved to Hawai'i in 1974 to attend the University of Hawai'i and to honor her father.

"It had always been his dream to retire in Hawai'i and become an adjunct professor [at UH]," she says. "Also, I had a cousin from Japan who moved to Hawai'i one year before me. Add to that, my father was buried in Punchbowl and I knew my mother would eventually be buried there as well. Finally, we visited Hawai'i when I was a child, and I just loved it here."

As a freshman, McKenna tried out for the fledgling Rainbow Wahine basketball team. Not only did she make the roster, but, to her surprise, head coach Patsy Dung awarded her a scholarship.

Standing 5'7", McKenna played both guard and forward for Hawai'i.

"Sometimes I had to guard players that were 6'3" or taller," she recalls, smiling. "It was okay if they weren't very athletic. But if they were, it was really tough!"

The 1974-75 squad went 4-2 in its inaugural season, beating UH-Hilo and BYU-Hawai'i twice and dropping a pair to Alaska-Anchorage. To supplement their schedule, the Rainbow Wahine also played several games against the local community colleges.

The team traveled to the mainland for the first time during McKenna's sophomore season. She recalls a pair of games against Cal in Berkeley in January. "They kept all the windows open," she says with a laugh. "It was so cold in that gym. We were freezing. I always joked that they did that on purpose because they knew we couldn't handle it!"
 

Even with Title IX in place, it was clear that more work needed to be done to achieve equity between the school's men's and women's athletic programs.

"We didn't have the resources that the men did," says McKenna. Our per diems and travel budgets were much more limited. We'd stay four to a room at a Motel 6, and our meals were at Denny's. Coach Dung would rent a van and drive us to the games.

"Our practices were at 5:30 p.m. at Klum Gym, after the men's team. Sometimes we'd have to pound on the doors to get in because they wouldn't stop at 5:30."

Still, McKenna isn't complaining.

"I felt really lucky just to be able to play, and that we had a team," she says. "I have so many great memories and formed great friendships."

The Rainbow Wahine went 20-14 in her four seasons as a Rainbow Wahine. Her time in the program, however, provided a lot more than victories on the court.

"Playing sports really helped me professionally later on," explains McKenna. "Playing sports not only teaches you how to win, it teaches you how to lose, too. You learn to pick yourself up [after a setback] and keep going. You learn about discipline, perseverance and teamwork. You learn about finding your role and what you can do to contribute to the overall goals of the team."
 

After earning her degree in Bilingual Japanese, McKenna enrolled in the University of Hawai'i's William S. Richardson School of Law. That life-changing decision, she explains, was inspired by two remarkable women.

Marilyn Moniz was a fellow Rainbow Wahine athlete and member of the school's first women's volleyball team. In 1976, she became the first woman to be awarded the Jack Bonham Award, which is annually given to the UH student-athlete who "best exemplifies the ideals for which Jack Bonham stood for in the areas of athletic excellence, academic achievement, public service, leadership and character." It is considered the most prestigious award in UH Athletics. (Moniz would later serve as the school's Senior Women's Administrator and Associate Athletics Director for nearly 30 years.)

"Marilyn was such an inspiration," says McKenna. "When she went to law school, it really opened my eyes. I thought, "Wow, athletes can go to law school!"

Then there was Patsy Mink, the Hawai'i Congresswoman who authored the Title IX legislation and led the charge to get it passed into law. Shortly after her passing in 2002, Congress renamed Title IX as the "Patsy T. Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act."

Mink was the first Japanese-American woman to earn membership in the Hawai'i State Bar Association. She was also the first woman of color and the first Japanese-American woman elected to Congress.

Says McKenna unabashedly, "She's definitely my hero."

Ultimately, McKenna's decision to enter the law profession was the result of her desire to make a positive difference in the world.

"I wanted to try to help people improve their lives," she says. "I know my own life improved through the law, so I thought this was a great way to acquire the knowledge and ability to help other people. I was never afraid to stand up and argue a case for others."

McKenna graduated from law school in 1982 and became an associate at Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel. In 1987, she left the firm to serve as a corporate secretary and general counsel to Otaka Inc., an international business organization. She would also lead classes at the UH Shidler College of Business and the William S. Richardson School of Law.

It was in 1991, during her time as a law professor, that McKenna came out to her colleagues. This was after Hawai'i Gov. John Waihee signed into law a bill that prohibits job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

"I learned through my experiences in Family Court about the problems faced by LGBTQ youth," McKenna says. "If your family accepts you, it's everything. [LGBTQ] children that come from families that reject them are eight times more likely to commit suicide than those with families that accept them. I also learned that Asian-Pacific Americans were the least likely to come out to their parents.

"So I realized it was extremely important for people like me to be open and honest. It was important to provide an inspiration for others."

[Last year, the American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity presented McKenna with its Stonewall Award, which recognizes members of the judiciary who have "championed diversity for the LGBT community, both within the legal profession and impacting the greater human universe."]

In 1993, McKenna was appointed to serve as a District Court judge. Two years later, she became a judge on the Circuit Court. In 2009, at the request of then-Chief Justice Ronald Moon, McKenna became the Senior Judge of the Family Court of the First Circuit.

From 2002 through 2010, McKenna sought a seat on the Hawai'i Supreme Court and the Intermediate Court of Appeals.
 

"I applied so many times," she recalls. "I made so many lists but was never selected. It was hard to keep applying and not being picked."

Determination, perseverance and work ethic.

Finally, on Jan. 25, 2011, she got the nod. Gov. Neil Abercrombie nominated McKenna to serve on the Supreme Court. She sailed through the nomination process and, on March 3, was officially sworn in as an Associate Justice.

More than a decade since "receiving one of the biggest honors of my life," McKenna still hasn't forgotten her roots. And she still has a passion for basketball and the Rainbow Wahine.

"Oh, definitely!" she says. "I still follow the program. In fact, I'm a booster. I am a big fan of [head coach] Laura Beeman and her team."