Hawaiian Students and their Success in Academic Forensics: Analyzing Student Involvement in Forensic Activities at a Hawaiian Centered School

This study explored the involvement of a concentrated group of Hawaiian students in academic forensic activities. Specifically, this study examined the reasons contributing to the Malama Speech and Debate Team's success over the past ten years on both the local and national level despite forensics being a culturally white activity. Research included investigating the culture of students that forensics usually attracts in Hawaii and on the mainland.;Twenty former Malama Speech and Debate Team members comprised the population sample. Participants were administered a qualitative questionnaire and were asked to participate in one-on-one discussions with the researcher. The results were qualitatively and thematically analyzed. Overall, the results indicated that within the scope of this study, forensics is no longer perceived as a predominantly white activity. In fact, several participants believed that forensics actually involves the use of similar communication styles and conflict resolution methods as that of the Hawaiian culture. Thus, Hawaiian students are successful in forensics because the activity itself is built on traditional oral Hawaiian practices.;This study sheds light on a somewhat gray area in the academic world by offering a unique glimpse into academic forensics through the lens of Hawaiian high school graduates.