The lawsuit was filed yesterday in U.S. District Court on behalf of an unidentified non-Hawaiian student. It argues that federal civil-rights laws prohibit private schools from denying admission on the basis of race.

"Although we have yet to see a copy of the complaint, Kamehameha Schools believes that its admissions policy is consistent with applicable law," said Constance Lau of Ka-mehameha Schools' Board of Trustees.

"We intend to vigorously defend our policy of giving preference to applicants of Hawaiian ancestry, and we are confident that we will prevail."

The suit was filed by Big Island attorney John Goemans and California attorney Eric Grant.

Three years ago Goemans represented Big Island rancher Harold "Freddy" Rice's challenge of Hawaiians-only voting for trustees of the state's Office of Hawaiian Affairs. In that case, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that "Native Hawaiian" is a racial and not a political or tribal status.

Kamehameha Schools generated howls of protest from alumni and Native Hawaiian activists last year when it admitted a non-Hawaiian eighth-grader to the Maui campus.

Critics accused Kamehameha of not doing enough to encourage Native Hawaiian applicants. This year Kamehameha returned to its Hawaiians-only policy.