A divided federal appeals court ruled today that Kamehameha Schools can favor Hawaiian natives for admission to help a downtrodden indigenous population.

The 8-7 decision by a 15-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the court's three-judge decision that the Kamehameha Schools policy amounted to unlawful discrimination.

The majority noted that the case, brought by a white student excluded from admission to the private school because of his race, was unique because Congress has singled out the plight of native Hawaiians as they have with Alaskan natives and American Indians.

The policy, the court ruled, "furthers the urgent need for better education of Native Hawaiians, which Congress has repeatedly identified as necessary."