Federal lawsuit challenges private school that gives preference to Native Hawaiians

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HONOLULU (AP) — A lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. court in Honolulu challenges an admissions policy of a wealthy and prestigious private school that gives preference to applicants who are Native Hawaiian.

A leading opponent of affirmation action launched a campaign last month to test the policy’s legality and stop Kamehameha Schools from favoring Hawaiians. It’s part of a movement to expand the legal definition of racial discrimination in education, which comes on the heels of a Supreme Court ruling against affirmative action in college admissions and is bolstered by the Trump administration’s war against diversity, equity and inclusion.

Now, they’re targeting scholarships, academic programs and admissions policies tied directly or indirectly to race.

The lawsuit was expected after Students for Fair Admissions — led by Edward Blum, a leading opponent of affirmative action — set up a website posing the question, “Is your child barred from Kamehameha Schools based on ancestry?”

The lawsuit doesn’t include any named or anonymous plaintiffs other than Students for Fair Admissions. The complaint says the group has members who are “injured by Kamehameha’s discrimination,” and members who are “ready and able” to apply to the Hawaii private school system, which has an endowment valued at more than $15 billion.

“We are ready for this challenge,” trustees said in a statement. “The facts and the law are on our side, and we are confident that we will prevail.”

Kamehameha Schools was founded by the will of Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha I. When she died in 1884, her will directed the establishment of schools that give preference to Native Hawaiians.

Each year, the number of applications exceeds the number of spaces by as much as 17 to 1, depending on the campus and grade, according to the Kamehameha website. Alumni and parents of current students say a Kamehameha education is highly desirable because it’s affordable, offers stellar academics and is grounded in the culture of Hawaii’s Indigenous people.

“Nothing about training future leaders, or preserving Hawaii’s unique culture, requires Kamehameha to block its students from learning beside children of different ancestries — Asian, black, Hispanic, or white,” the lawsuit said.

The comment shows the group behind the lawsuit doesn’t understand what is means to be Hawaiian or multiracial, said state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, who is running for Congress.

He noted that his mother is a white woman from Medford, Oregon, making him Scottish, German, French, Tahitian and Hawaiian.

The challenge to Kamehameha Schools is coming from “tone deaf outsiders who know nothing about Hawaii,” said Keohokalole, who applied in 1995 for seventh grade, and two years later for high school, but was rejected and graduated from a Catholic boys school.

There’s an understanding among Hawaii residents that only students with Hawaiian blood will be admitted. Many see the policy as a way to remedy disparities stemming from U.S. colonization and the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom by a group of American business owners.

The lawsuit says that if not for the admissions policy, there are non-Hawaiian families who would apply for reasons including: “bad experiences with local public schools,” Kamehameha’s “high-quality programs” and for its networking and career opportunities.

This isn’t the first time Kamehameha has had to defend its admissions policy.

In 2005, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the policy of restricting admission to Hawaiians, ruling it violated federal civil rights law. Kamehameha sought a rehearing.

The following year, the court upheld the policy. Kamehameha later settled with the family of the student who brought the case when he was denied admission.

According to the recent lawsuit, that settlement was $7 million.