By Diane Chang

Last Thursday morning, the usually serene UH Manoa campus was interrupted by police cars with flashing blue dome lights.  They screeched to a halt in front of Campus Center, joining already-parked Campus Security vehicles.

Outside a room reserved by the UH Mānoa Chinese Students & Scholar Association, a large crowd of Chinese nationals had gathered to renew their visas and passports from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The event was usually held in Chinatown, but the good-intentioned student group had volunteered to hold the first day of a two-day visa/passport processing event at Campus Center.  The students estimated that about 50 people would show up to get their visas/passports renewed but, by 9 a.m., at least 300 people had assembled. 

There was pushing, there was shouting. Tempers were short, and confusion abounded among the Chinese-speaking crowd. You had to stand in one line to get a number, then in another to get processed when your number was called.  But where were the lines?  Plus, a sense of panicky urgency was pervasive, because expiring visas/passports had to be renewed then or the following day at Tokai University, or you’d have to do it in person on the mainland West Coast!

The Campus Center staff, led by Director Sarah Park, and Campus Security officers, under the command of Chief Wayne Ogino and Captain Donald Dawson, responded above and beyond the call.  Like a small army, they took charge of the situation.  Two lines were delineated and monitored, a huge waiting area was set up near restrooms and eating places, and a sense of order and control soon prevailed.  The processing continued until 8 p.m.—5 hours after the scheduled 3 p.m. ending time.  When the last of more than 400 individuals had their visas and passports successfully processed, the usually serene UH Mānoa campus was peaceful once more.

Diane Chang, B.A. 1979, J.D. 2012, is director of communications for the UH Mānoa campus.  See http://manoa.hawaii.edu/.

Tags: UH Mānoa Chinese Students & Scholar Association

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