The Heart of the University: Student Clubs and the American Colonization of the Pacific

Author

Eli ArnoldFollow

Year of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Type

Master of Arts (MA)

Degree Name

Anthropology

Other Degree Name/Area of Focus

Cultural Heritage

Department or School/College

Anthropology

Committee Chair

G.G. Weix

Commitee Members

Ardi Kia, Jody Pavilack

Keywords

Hawaiʻi, the Philippines, Pacific Islanders Club, Filipino Club, International Club, Kaimin

Subject Categories

Anthropology | Asian History | Hawaiian Studies | History | Social and Cultural Anthropology | United States History

Abstract

Students have travelled across the Pacific Ocean to study at the University of Montana for over a century, and the contributions of these students deserve to be studied. This thesis explores the educational and community building roles that the historic International Club and Filipino Club, as well as the contemporary Pacific Islanders Club fulfilled. Students from the Philippines and Hawaiʻi provide clear examples of the potential for college campuses to be gathering places for broader community. This thesis is also a study of the global phenomenon of colonialism as seen from Filipino and Native Hawaiian students who travelled to Missoula from countries that were forcefully annexed by the United States. They were able to found student clubs as platforms to share their own perspectives on world events. Filipino students who studied in Missoula during the American colonization of the Philippines became advocates for their home country. They were active in the International Club, and were elected to be its officers. These early Filipino students performed in plays, orchestral concerts, radio shows, and participated in other student group events; these public performances were held on and off campus for the benefit of students and local Montanans. Almost a century later, members of the Pacific Islanders Club would also advocate for Hawaiʻi through performance, with a focus on cultural preservation of ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi and Hula. The Pacific Islanders Club also took students on short study trips to Hawaiʻi to enhance its educational mission. All of these student clubs encouraged students and community members to participate in cultural traditions from the Pacific, and accomplished much through their advocacy.

Recommended Citation

Arnold, Eli, "The Heart of the University: Student Clubs and the American Colonization of the Pacific" (2025). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 12593.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/12593