WASHINGTON — The House has approved a resolution honoring the University of Hawai'i for its 100 years of public higher education.

U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, sponsor of the resolution, said the university's 10 campuses offer more than 620 programs featuring everything from culinary arts to tropical agriculture.

Speaking on the House floor Tuesday before the resolution passed on a voice vote, Hirono, D-Hawai'i, said the school is the only place in the nation where students can earn a master's degree in indigenous language studies, and has top programs for environmental law, Eastern philosophy, international business and second language studies.

"As we come to the end of the 100th year in the university's history, congratulations to all involved," she said. "Here's to the next 100 successful years."

Hirono, among the university's quarter-million alumni, said her years at the school in the 1960s were "a time of awakening and questioning for me."

"Attending the University of Hawai'i made a profound difference in my life," she said. "In fact, all four members of Hawai'i's current congressional delegation have degrees from the University of Hawai'i."

The widespread dispersal of former students to every state and at least 80 countries "brings aloha spirit to the world at large," Hirono said.

The university's football team is the only undefeated college team in the country this year and bound for the Sugar Bowl, Hirono said.

"But they are just one of the (university's) sports teams we cheer for across the Islands — from volleyball to basketball, our athletes draw about 700,000 fans to games every year," she said.

Reach Dennis Camire at dcamire@gns.gannett.com.

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