The University of Hawaii at Manoa gets on a list of the 30 Most Beautiful College Campuses in the world, and the first instinct might be to laugh at the irony and to shame the author of the article for not knowing what she’s talking about.

After all, the Aug. 15 piece in House Beautiful magazine put UH-Manoa, the butt of long-running jokes about deferred maintenance, on the same list as Princeton, Dartmouth, Harvard, Cambridge and Trinity College in Dublin. It’s not the first time UH-Manoa has made a “most beautiful” list, either.

This recent description of Manoa’s campus is suspect: “Don’t miss the white sand beaches within walking distance from campus,” it says, while the accompanying photo is of the East-West Center’s garden, which is not part of the university.

Meanwhile, within walking distance of UH, Punahou has a beautiful campus with the lovely stone arches of Pauahi Hall that echo the architecture of tradition-­steeped universities. ‘Iolani’s Sullivan Center has one of the best views of Diamond Head and Waikiki in all of Honolulu. Kamehameha Schools Kapalama has both a stirring panoramic vista and hallmark architecture, and the buildings actually all look like they belong on the same campus. McKinley’s architecture is beloved. If the magazine did a listing of pretty high school campuses, any one of those might be in contention.

It would be easy to make fun of the UH campus, its hodgepodge of building styles and its ever-present backlog of repairs.

But!

There are pockets of pretty all across the University of Hawaii system. Give credit for that.

In the morning the University of Hawaii at Hilo is often dusted with sunlit raindrops shining like diamonds across the lawns. In spring the cluster of pink trumpet trees bloom in profusion and make for an enchanting scene between buildings that rivals D.C.’s cherry trees or Japan’s sakura festival.

Windward Community College has the grandeur of the crenellated Koolaus rising behind the campus, standing like the very source of knowledge. Chicken families scamper across the grass untroubled, for the most part, by friendly cats who share the same domain. In the evenings, wild piglets might gallop across the great lawn following their round mommy. The campus is lush and quiet, luxuriously spacious and, though it is not exactly an aesthetic factor, parking is free, which is lovely.

Kapiolani Community College has an amazing coastline view, and on clear days, and with good eyes, you can make out other islands in the distance across the ocean channel.

The dining room of the culinary arts program at Kauai Community College looks out to the dramatic jagged mountains that point to Nawiliwili.

And, yes, even at often-­maligned Manoa, there are photo-worthy images like the graceful royal palms that stand proud, the windows upstairs in Hamilton Library that are perfect for watching the misty Manoa rains, and sun-soaked tradewind days. Most beautiful in the world? Maybe not all of the “University” part, but certainly the “of Hawaii” part.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.