KS decision misused to support Akaka bill

J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Noenoe K. Silva, Jodi Byrd and Jon Kamakawiwo'ole Osorio have a commentary in today's Star-Bulletin saying the Kamehameha Schools decision has been misused to support the Akaka bill. They rightly point out that "since its inception in 1887, Kamehameha Schools has always allowed non-Hawaiians to attend," and argue that relatively minor changes will be needed in the admissions policy even if the Doe case is lost. They say that:

We must remember that when Bernice Pauahi Bishop gave her last will and testament, she was living in the kingdom of Hawaii and certainly did not intend to provide for children of another nation. Therefore, the only non-Hawaiian orphans and indigent children that should be admitted should be descendants of citizens of the kingdom of Hawaii.

They argue that the Akaka bill won't in fact protect Kamehameha Schools, but that "the bill threatens our crown and government lands by setting up a process for settlement to extinguish our claims once it attempts to legalize the history of the overthrow by reorganizing the Hawaiian people into a dependent entity under U.S. plenary power."

They conclude:

Lest we forget, the commerce clause also mentions foreign nations, which includes the kingdom of Hawaii. Hence, if the Akaka Bill doesn't violate the 14th Amendment, it certainly violates the treaties between the kingdom and the United States, which must be honored!

As Joseph Kahooluhi Nawahiokalaniopuu said on his deathbed, "E ho'omau i ke aloha i ka 'aina!" Persevere in love for the land and country!

In another commentary, Pohai Ryan argues that the admissions policy is justified and needed, and points out that:

Kamehameha Schools was recognized in a national magazine in 2001 as the most multiracial campus in the entire United States. No other campus can claim the mixture of nationalities and ethnicities that comprise the student body of Kamehameha Schools.

In yet another commentary, Walter R. Schoettle concludes with this point:

Perhaps the silver lining to the Doe decision is that Kamehameha Schools will be forced to return to a strict reading of Pauahi's will and seek the truly needy, indigent and orphaned, bona-fide native Hawaiian students, especially from the economically disadvantaged Hawaiian homesteads throughout Hawaii, who are now underrepresented in the student body.

Addressing that same question, the Advertiser reports on Kamehameha Schools outreach efforts:

In the past five years, since Kamehameha Schools was reorganized under a new board of trustees, the trust has spent $197.8 million on outreach programs in an attempt to extend its reach beyond its three campuses and help far more Hawaiian children.

Under a new strategic plan established in 2001, the money has gone to help pregnant and new mothers, preschool children and public schools, college students and adult dropouts, with some of it spent on non-Hawaiians.

Kamehameha's statistics show it is reaching thousands more children and others than the 5,400 attending school on its campuses, and has already met and exceeded many of its outreach goals for the first five years of the new strategic plan.

And the plan calls for spending $55.2 million this year on outreach — the biggest such annual expenditure thus far and a 50 percent increase since the strategic plan was launched.

Experts say the trust, which has been criticized for failing to reach more of the children Bernice Pauahi's will pledged to help despite its $6 billion in assets, is making up for lost time.

A couple related letters in the Star-Bulletin, and a three letters in the Advertiser. Oh, and some letters in the Maui News as well.

Posted: Mon - August 15, 2005 at 12:06 PM

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KS decision misused to support Akaka bill

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