Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 20, Number 8, 1 ʻAukake 2003 — Kamehameha Schools sued over admissions policy [ARTICLE]

Kamehameha Schools sued over admissions policy

By Naomi Sodetani Kamehameha Schools' admissions policy extending preference to children of Hawaiian ancestry is being ehallenged as a civil rights violation by a federal lawsuit filed July 25. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court by Waimea attorney John Goemans and attorney Eric Grant of Sacramento, is on behalf of an unidentified non-Hawaiian student. It alleges that the $6 hillion private

trust's admissions policy is "racebased discrimination." Three years ago, Goemans had cited similar grounds in filing a lawsuit on behalf of rancher Harold "Freddy" Rice, who challenged OHA's Hawaiians-only elections of trustees. In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "Native Hawaiian" is a racial and not a political or tribal status. (See story above). The student plaintiff is the child of a single mother who supports her family with help from public assis-

tance, according to his attorneys. They said the boy chooses anonymity to avoid feared retaliation. The school's decision last year to admit a non-Hawaiian eighth-grader to its Maui campus met with angry protests and petitions by alumni and Hawaiian activists. In response to the uproar, Kamehameha this year returned to its Hawaiians-only policy. Kamehameha Schools issued a statement saying it planned to vigorously defend its four-decades-old policy. "Kamehameha Schools will

continue to uphold Princess Pauahi's mission to provide educational opportunities for Hawaiians," said Colleen Wong, the estate's acting chief executive. Kamehameha denies that the school violated federal laws prohibiting private schools from denying admission on the basis of race. In a July 16 court filing, Kamehameha Schools argued that its policy of preference does not discriminate See KAMEHAMEHA on page 18

KAMEHAMEHA from page 8 against any raeial group. In faet, Kamehameha Sehools attorney David Sehulmeister eited that the sehool submitted a list of 63 raeial and ethnie eategories as showing an "overwhelming majority of students of Hawaiian aneestry" elassified themselves as belonging to one or more group. Children of Hawaiian aneestry have faeed "edueational atrisk faetors disproportionately eompared to non-Hawaiian ehildren," Sehulmeister said. The sehools' edueational programs "seek to address these needs." Goemans argued that, "Like Gov. George Wallaee of Alahama, the trustees of Kamehameha Sehools are standing in the sehoolhouse door to prevent the admission of qualified ehildren simply beeause

they have the wrong skin eolor and bloodline. "That is wrong, and this lawsuit will demonstrate that it is against the law." Grant added: "We fully expeet the federal eourts to vindieate the prineiple of equal proteetion and foree Kamehameha Sehools to stop diseriminating and to admit our elient." Founded in 1884 by the will of Prineess Berniee Pauahi Bishop, the Kamehameha Sehools, with $6 hillion in assets, is one of the nation's riehest eharitable organizations. It edueates nearly 5,000 ehildren of Native Hawaiian aneestry eaeh year. Over the years, the sehools' admission poliey has been upheld by the Internal Revenue Serviee but has not been ehallenged in eourt. ■