Posted on: Friday, July 30, 2004

EDITORIAL
End to Dobelle affair leaves a sour taste

It is tempting to regard the mediated settlement agreement between the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents and Evan Dobelle as the welcome end to an ugly chapter in the state's history.

But documents released in connection with the settlement include an astonishing description of the regents' course of action, raising questions about their fitness to oversee the university in the future.

The documents said regents chose to fire the UH president "for cause" (meaning for serious criminal or ethical breaches) without having notified him of the reasons or heard his response, and realizing that they might have to reconsider the decision once they did so.

We are not making this up.

The statement regents issued yesterday said, "Based on the information the Board had at the time, the decision was made to relieve Dr. Dobelle 'with cause.'

"However, the Board recognized at the time that it was obligated to apprise Dr. Dobelle of the basis for its 'for cause' decision, to allow him the opportunity to respond and to reconsider their decision thereafter if warranted."

This is bizarre. The regents now say they took action that threw the university into an uproar with full knowledge they might need to reconsider.

So why, we have to ask, didn't they take the appropriate steps in private before making their decision?

Instead, they took the firing public, knowing they might have to undo their decision if Dobelle, once apprised of reasons for the "cause" firing, could convince them they were wrong.

And now, under mediation, this apparently has happened.

The firing has been rescinded and Dobelle has now voluntarily resigned

Given the money and stakes involved, and given the strange circumstances under which this has played out, the public deserves a full and immediate accounting of what information the regents had when they fired Dobelle and what they learned later to change their minds.

The now-aborted firing of the president had — and still has — the potential to do serious, if not permanent, harm to the university.

Universities live and die on their reputations. Attracting quality students, outstanding faculty, money for research and ongoing financial support depends on the quality of a university's reputation.

And there is no other way to say it: The reputation of UH took a serious hit. The task of rebuilding its reputation will be slow and painful.

As part of that rebuilding effort, Gov. Linda Lingle should replace the current regents. They were parties (as was Dobelle, to be sure) to a bad and badly handled situation.

As part of the agreement, Dobelle will walk away with a $1.05 million cash payment and a two-year untenured post as a $125,000-a-year "researcher."

The plain fact is that Dobelle, partly through his own actions, lost the confidence and trust of the board. The relationship had to end.

But it ended in a bad and unnecessary way. Now, the rebuilding must begin.