On Campus
UH relies on Nainoa Thompson
By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer
He's a symbol of the Native Hawaiian cultural renaissance.
Now Nainoa Thompson has been called "symbolically important" for the University of Hawai'i.
Thompson, a Kamehameha Schools trustee and master navigator of the voyaging canoe Hokule'a, resigned as a UH regent in June after citing a lack of time, because of family concerns and his commitment to Kamehameha Schools and the Polynesian Voyaging Society.
Sailing trips have kept Thompson out of town much of the time, and Kamehameha board meetings sometimes coincide with those of the UH regents. He had missed several UH meetings in the past few months. But Thompson felt so bad about resigning that he didn't want to go to his last board meeting in June.
He said he felt frustrated, had not fulfilled his duty and was leaving with mixed feelings. He had to be persuaded to attend the meeting where he and other outgoing board members were thanked for their service.
His absence from the UH scene didn't last long.
Thompson was drawn back into the university once again last week when Evan Dobelle, the new president of the UH system, named him a special adviser on Native Hawaiian affairs.
He will be unpaid for the role, and it's unclear how much he will actually participate in university issues. "I don't have clarity of the role," he said. "That will happen in time."
Thompson said his new title fits better with his goal of educating Hawaiian students. Dobelle said he chose Thompson because it seemed he could represent Native Hawaiian sensibilities.
"It is important to all of us that by making him a de facto part of the senior team, his conscience always will be at the table," Dobelle said.
At the news conference last week when Dobelle announced the members of his senior staff, someone asked whether Thompson's appointment happened because of the previous administration's public relations problems with Native Hawaiian students.
Dobelle said he had no idea that former President Kenneth Mortimer had clashed with Native Hawaiians. "I am blessed in many ways by having no knowledge of things," Dobelle said.
Mortimer's resignation came in the wake of protests organized by Hawaiian students that led to the rejection of his proposal for a tuition increase. It's also widely known that UH has had its share of clashes on Hawaiian issues, such as the telescopes atop Mauna Kea or tuition waivers for Native Hawaiian students.
During his time as a regent, Thompson helped broker the master plan to manage the 13 telescopes atop Mauna Kea. But he abstained from voting on the issue. As a Hawaiian, he said, he keenly felt the opposing tug of land used for scientific and for sacred purposes.
His departure from the board also means that when the regents meet next week, four of the nine will be new. The terms of Donald Kim, law student Sat Khalsa and Chairwoman Lily Yao all ended in June.
Vice Chairman Alan Ikawa, who won accolades for leading the search committee that found Dobelle, is seen as a likely candidate to become the regents' new leader at the board's next meetings July 19 and 20.
Kathleen K.S.L. Thurston, a Honolulu businesswoman and commissioner with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, will succeed Thompson.
Reach Jennifer Hiller at jhiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8084.
