AP News, May 15th, 2007
A private school system has reached a settlement with a white student who was denied admission because he isn't a Native Hawaiian, ending a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The settlement between the unidentified student and the Kamehameha Schools system ends the four-year-old lawsuit. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
The student, who has since gone to college, claimed that the 120-year-old Kamehameha Schools violated civil rights law by excluding applicants who cannot prove Hawaiian ancestry.
The school, which has 6,700 students at schools on three islands, admits qualified Native Hawaiian students, with non-Hawaiians getting in only if openings are available. But only one in eight eligible Hawaiian applicants is admitted, effectively excluding non-Hawaiians.
A sharply divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the admissions policy on an 8-7 vote in 2006.
John Goemans, a lawyer for the student, acknowledged the settlement came late in the process but said his client wanted to resolve the case.
"What counts is the best interest of our client," Goemans said. "And at this point, our client is satisfied. This does not affect the constitutionality of the program."
J. Douglas Ing, chairman of Kamehameha Schools Board of Trustees, said dismissal of the case preserves Native Hawaiians' political status as an indigenous people.
It also recognizes the federal government's "obligation to the native people of Hawaii and provides judicial support for programs that serve to promote and improve the well-being of the Hawaiian people," Ing said.
Kamehameha was established under the 1883 will of Hawaiian Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop as part of a trust reported to be worth $7.7 billion last June 30. The trust reported spending $221 million on education. Part of the schools' mission is to counteract historical disadvantages Hawaiians face in employment, education and society.
___
On the Net:
Kamehameha Schools: http://www.ksbe.edu/
Supreme Court: http://www.supremecourtus.gov
