Damien's 10 year co-ed Anniversary

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Damien’s 10 Year Co-ed Anniversary

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By: Luke Suan

Published: March, 7th 2023 

Damien’s transition to Co-ed 

Established in 1962, Damien was created as an all boys school and it has been that way for over 50 years, but up until the 2012-2013 school year that tradition was broken. Due to the economic and enrollment problems at the time, the administration had to make a drastic change in order to save the school. At the start, they attempted to collaborate with other schools in the neighborhood; they were close to coming to an agreement with St. Theresa school but it didn’t work out because of everyone not wanting to let go of things and sentimental issues. Then, they tried again and attempted to make an agreement with Saint Francis school about building a facility in West Oahu but it also didn’t work out because the Christian Brothers opposed the idea and the project wasn’t cost effective. Now nearing the 2012-2013 school year, administration noticed that enrollment started to slowly decline, from the 530 students in the 2008-2009 year to an all time low of 360 students going into the 2011-2012 school year. “What would you rather do, admit girls or continue to lose students and shut down the school?” said Bernard Ho, as reported in the Hawaii Business Magazine. So, the solution they came up with in the end was to open up the school to co-ed. 

The Christian brothers had no problem with the change but many of the alumni were questioning the change, “I think initially because it came as a surprise and like a last minute announcement, there was the obvious and expected shock and then once those concerned alums reached out to the school and it was explained to them that the problem was basically existential. Like if you're choosing between the possible closing of the school or co-ed and keeping the school alive, I don’t really see how it’s a choice, you have to do what you have to do to survive” said Mr. Higa, who was a teacher during the transition.

According to Bernard Ho as reported in the Hawaii Business magazine, the only issue with the transition was converting the bathrooms and locker rooms so it can be for both boys and girls. Even though it wasn’t costly they had to renovate almost half of the bathrooms. 

“It was kind of a rough transition at the start because there were a certain number of male students who didn’t want the girls around and they would make it known pretty obnoxiously. For some they didn’t care or they were very thrilled for them” said Mr. Higa. But as soon as the women came in, the perspective of boys took a turn.

Coming in, not too many girls were put together in classes, it was stated that the guy to girl ratio in classes was 3:1. “So, sometimes in classes there would only be one to two girls in a class full of 20 other guys. It took a while to adjust but overall everyone was very friendly and welcoming to try to make us comfortable” said Ms. Andres who was a part of the first graduating co-ed class in 2016. A lot of girls were excited, many were honored to finally be able to attend Damien. “It was a pretty easy adjustment to make because I became friends with people who were in the same clubs and had the same interests as me, so generally it was a positive experience. There were a lot of events during the school year so it made it easier to bond with other students and get to know them. Even in the classes, because it was so small it made it easier to bond with the teachers and other students”