Posted on: Tuesday, May 6, 2003

EDITORIAL
McCubbin resignation mustn't stall momentum

An air of mystery that surrounds the sudden resignation of Kamehameha Schools Chief Executive Officer Hamilton McCubbin should not cloud the good work he has accomplished during his tenure.

McCubbin — backed by a forward-thinking Board of Trustees — threw open the doors of the venerable former Bishop Estate both figuratively and literally.

The first priority should be to find a successor president who can continue this important work.

Underlying most of the programs and changes led by McCubbin was a desire to see Kamehameha Schools become more fully a partner with the larger community. For years, Kamehameha Schools had an insular, closed approach that caused it to lose valuable opportunities.

McCubbin and the new board threw off that approach and established a new relationship with school beneficiaries and with lessees on estate land. They set in motion an ambitious effort to serve the entire Hawaiian community, and indeed, the community as a whole.

The goal, which should remain, was to see to it that every Hawaiian with an educational need could find help or support from the trust founded by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

Kamehameha Schools has turned a corner to a new epoch of service. McCubbin's untimely resignation must not allow that momentum to falter.