Dan Hale recalls his time at Punahou School, where he was friends with Barack Obama. It was there that they became friends on the basketball team and shared a class with their instructor, Eric Kusunoki. Hale relates that Kusunoki was an integral role model and friend, helping develop what he describes as a community of support. He recalls Obama's leadership qualities, intelligence, modesty, and abi lity to build friendships across multiple social groups while they attended Punahou. Dan went on to play semi-professional basketball in Los Angeles and college basketball for the University of Hawaii. He also fondly remembers his time at the University of Hawaii, where he was a student of Professor Davianna McGregor during the founding of the university's ethnic studies program. Hale recalls the Hawaiian renaissance and civil rights movements while growing up in Hawaii and how Hawaii's diverse environment lends itself to the potential for getting along
Presidents--United States; Teachers; Hawaii Politics and government; Hale, Daniel; Obama, Barack; Punahou School
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
46 pages
Note (Biographical)
Dan Hale is an educator born and raised in Hawaii. He has taught and coached basketball at schools in Hawaii and Virginia and now serves as the athletic director and counselor at Saint Louis High School in Honolulu. Hale attended Punahou School with B arack Obama, where they became close friends as teammates on the basketball team. He has also worked in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles and played in a semi-professional basketball league. He attended Chaminade University and the University of Hawaii, where he studied anthropology with an emphasis on Native Hawaiian culture
Note
Interviewed by Dr. Davianna McGregor and Landon Tom on August 22, 2022. This interview is part of the University of Hawai'i: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Daniel Hale, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023