Pause for Coz Profile - Keanu Dayton ’24
“My sister and I are both attending college out-of-state and the Fr. Coz Scholarship has alleviated some of the stress my family is facing,” explains Honolulu native and mechanical engineering major Keanu Dayton ’24. “I decided early on that I wanted to go off-island to pursue my education, and the aid SCU provided made it possible.”
Receiving a Fr. Coz Scholarship helped Keanu pursue his ambition to study mechanical engineering, while also allowing him to pursue his passion for rugby which has “become an integral part of my experience and contributes greatly to my identity as a student at SCU,” he says. However, Keanu hasn’t limited his activities to rugby; he has been an active participant in SCU’s acapella club, Vocalicious, and the Hawai’i and Barakada culture clubs.
When considering his future plans, Keanu turns homeward. “I hope to help move Hawaii into a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly state of being,” he says, “because this would align with specific Hawaiian values that resonate within me.” When asked how his academic path will help him achieve his goals, he says that his education has given him the knowledge to understand how innovation can make Hawaii more climate resilient. Keanu sees his major as a means of “laying the foundation for what I can begin to accomplish in my professional career.”
And receiving the Fr. Coz Scholarship alleviated a real obstacle between Keanu and his personal and professional ambitions. In lifting some of the financial burden, students like Keanu Dayton can focus on meeting their full potential while leading lives of purpose and impact.