Principia College Students Encouraged Through Presentation by HOKA Co-Founder

ELSAH - Principia College students and community members recently had the opportunity to engage with the co-founder of the running shoe company HOKA.

On March 5, 2026, HOKA co-founder Jean-Luc Diard sat down for a fireside chat with Stuart Jenkins, Principia alum and founder of the company Blumaka. Over 600 students and community members came together to listen to this conversation. Lucia de Paz, Director of Principia’s Center for Business and Computer Science, explained that the event allowed students to engage with the community and think about their own possibilities.

“It really is a wonderful opportunity that makes textbooks and videos and things come to life,” de Paz said. “I think it creates a lot more depth of knowledge. You don't know what direction students are going to go into, but wherever they are, these are transferable skills and transferable knowledge that you can apply to other situations later on wherever you go.”

Jenkins has worked closely with Diard in his professional life. He collaborated with Principia to bring Diard to campus so students could engage with the HOKA co-founder.

de Paz noted that Principia’s alumni are great partners to the college and its students. Many students have found jobs and internships through Principia alumni, and this is a valuable connection.

“We have an amazing alumni network. They are very loyal, very committed to Principia,” de Paz said. “We have had so many opportunities throughout the history of Principia to bring really amazing people [to campus] that are around many very different industries.”

Diard’s and Jenkins’s visit to campus was a great example of this. Engineering students sat in on a panel with them the day after their fireside chat. Students could ask questions and learn more about innovation and business through these conversations.

While the fireside chat was an exciting event for students and community members who attended, de Paz emphasized that Principia offers learning opportunities and unique experiences like this quite often. As a liberal arts college, Principia encourages students to explore their interests and become “well-rounded” community members.

de Paz noted that Principia’s philosophy focuses on preparing students by encouraging them. Events like the fireside chat remind students that they have endless opportunities.

“There is really a true, genuine commitment to see the good in all people as far as your infinite capacity,” she added. “Maybe you're feeling that it's a challenge when you're learning it. How do we turn that around? A lot of it is how you think about yourself and the opportunities that you give yourself. I think it's a wonderful combination of having activities like these that allow you to think outside of the box and dream of yourself as bigger than maybe you were thinking about yourself yesterday. And that's what we try to cultivate in our education.”

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