Posted on: Thursday, November 6, 2003

EDITORIAL
Kamehameha 'scandal' should be resolved

Now that its hand has been forced by a lawsuit alleging an earlier harassment incident, Kamehameha Schools has finally admitted it is investigating a recent case of sexual misconduct on its Kapalama campus involving six football players.

The athletes have been suspended from playing while the school investigates the situation, which it acknowledges involves the videotaping of a sexual episode with at least one female student.

It is important to remember that these allegations, even if they prove to be true, hardly reflect on the good character of the majority of the students at Kamehameha or the good work the school does.

It is every school administrator's worst nightmare that students will get involved in something that reflects poorly on the entire institution.

The proof of the quality of the school does not lie in the aberrant behavior, but in the way it is handled.

Our private schools struggle to handle such incidents, well, privately. And that is understandable.

But Kamehameha, perhaps even more than other private schools in Hawai'i, has made itself a subject of great public interest through its very aggressive defense of its tax-exempt status and its restrictive admission policies.

The school is also the beneficiary of the huge landholding trust, formerly Bishop Estate, a trust that affects the daily lives of hundreds of thousands of Island residents through leasing and land-use policies.

Thus the school has an obligation not just to its own constituents, but to the public at large. This case must be dealt with as swiftly and as thoroughly as justice and the needs of the youngsters involved will allow.

And then the school should share the results of its findings and the changes it might impose with the rest of the community.