The School of Pacific and Asian Studies named Dr Joakim “Jojo” Peter as the Center for Pacific Islands Studies 2018 Distinguished Alumnus. Jojo was honored in at a reception on March 7, 2018, at College Hill in Mānoa. Jojo is from Ettal, Mwortlocks, in Chuuk State, Federated States of Micronesia. He earned an MA in Pacific Islands Studies in 1994 and a second master’s in history in 1997 from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. He worked as director of the College of Micronesia Chuuk Campus before returning to Hawai‘i in 2011 to pursue a doctorate in special education at UHM focusing on immigrant families of children with special needs. He completed the PhD in 2017. He has been very active in community work both in Chuuk, where he was head of Chuuk Disabled Persons Association and a founding member of the FSM Disability Council, and in Hawai‘i where he co-founded the COFA-CAN (Compact of Free Association Community and Advocacy Network) and serves as community advocacy manager for We Are Oceania, a collaborative project aimed at centralizing the support systems for all Micronesian communities, families, and individuals in Hawai‘i. In 2017, Dr Peter was nominated to the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission by Governor David Ige, and his nomination was confirmed by Hawai‘i State Legislature.
School of Pacific and Asian Studies Names Center for Pacific Islands Studies 2018 Distinguished Alumnus
Posted: June 29, 2018