Dear CSSW Community,
I am delighted to share the wonderful news that the President and CEO of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE), Dr. Halaevalu F. O. Vakalahi, will be Columbia School of Social Work’s 2024 commencement speaker.
Dr. Vakalahi is a Pacific Islander-American woman, born in Tonga and raised in Hawai’i. Prior to joining CSWE, she was Professor and Dean of the College of Health and Society at Hawai’i Pacific University, leading educational programs in the disciplines of social work, nursing, public health, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physician assistant. She has also served as Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Social Work at Morgan State University; Associate Professor and MSW Program Director at George Mason University; Lecturer and BSW Coordinator at San Francisco State University; Assistant Professor and Department Chair at Brigham Young University-Hawai’i; and Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University.
Dr. Vakalahi has taught courses in social policy, human behavior and the social environment, and organizational leadership. Her scholarship spans Pacific Islander culture and community, and Women of Color in academia – areas in which she has contributed extensively to the literature. She is a strong proponent of equity and justice in social work education, and how the profession of social work can help to build a better society.
I have had the pleasure to learn from and work alongside Dr. Vakalahi in my role as dean – she is a remarkably talented, inspirational, and compassionate leader, and I am overjoyed to be able to welcome her to our CSSW community.
In community,
Melissa