Regents fire Dobelle
By Beverly Creamer and Derrick Depledge
Advertiser Education Writers
Advertiser library photo
In a unanimous decision last night, the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents fired president Evan Dobelle and said he had been terminated "for cause."
Evan Dobelle was fired last night after an all-day regents meeting.
A firing for cause, unless successfully challenged in the litigation that is likely to follow, frees the university from paying out a $2.2 million severance package for Dobelle.
David McClain, vice president for academic affairs, was named acting president.
"Sadly, we have come to the realization that (Dobelle) no longer has our trust, and there is no longer the unity of purpose between the board and the president, or a clear recognition of his integrity, character and commitment," board chairwoman Patricia Lee said in a statement announcing the termination at about 8:40 p.m.
With the other regents standing behind her, Lee said Dobelle had been terminated "for cause." She did not elaborate.
The specific cause of termination will be referred to Walter Kirimitsu, the board's legal counsel, and he said it will be announced by the board as early as today.
According to Dobelle's contract, termination for cause is limited to one of the following: conviction of a felony, a determination by medical professionals that he is mentally unstable or conduct that constitutes moral turpitude, brings public disrespect and contempt or ridicule on the university and if proven in court, would constitute grounds for his criminal conviction or the university's civil liability.
Dobelle, who is traveling with family on a college trip for his son Harry, could not be reached for comment.
Lee said last night that regents had been trying for several hours to contact him and had reached his wife Kit, but he had not returned their calls..
Earlier this week, Dobelle called a published report — based on comments from anonymous regents that the board was considering firing him — "a total violation of the evaluation process."
McClain
Lee was asked about potential legal action and said she could not comment.
"Clearly this is the most difficult decision ever to be made by the regents," Lee said. "However, we are confident that we have made the right decision at the right time and our beloved University of Hawai'i will continue to move forward successfully."
According to his contract, Dobelle will be permitted to stay in College Hill, his official residence, for 60 days.
He stays on the payroll for 30 days on official leave.
Last night's announcement came after a 12-hour closed-door session. The agenda listed a discussion of Dobelle's performance and an audit of his $200,000 protocol fund.
The audit by the accounting firm of Deloitte and Touche touches on a number of areas dealing with travel, reimbursements, credit card charges and personal expenses. Dobelle has responded to all of the criticisms, has made reimbursements as necessary, and has changed a number of procedures to standardize reimbursement policy.
July 2001: Evan Dobelle takes over as the 12th president of the University of Hawai'i. At a salary of $442,000 plus benefits, he becomes the most richly compensated president in UH history. His contract runs through June 2008. November 2001: Dobelle hires two former associates to be chief financial officer and vice president for external affairs. Their annual salaries are set at $227,000 and $184,000, respectively. November 2001: Dobelle unveils ambitious plans for a Kaka'ako biotechnology park, which is expected to include a new medical school, the Cancer Research Center and the Pacific Biomedical Research Center. August 2002: The UH Board of Regents praises Dobelle in his first evaluation, ticking off a string of accomplishments, especially in bringing about "a change in attitude" throughout the system. September 2002: Dobelle turns down a $28,000 pay raise approved by the regents. November 2002: Dobelle, speaking as a private citizen in a television spot, endorses Democrat Mazie Hirono in the race for governor. May 2003: The first of a number of appointees to the Board of Regents by Gov. Linda Lingle are seated. Ultimately, she will appoint eight members to the 12-member board. April 2004: An outside consultant is hired to conduct Dobelle's third-year evaluation.
Dobelle's relationship with the board had been deteriorating for the past year, showing up in flashes of temper on both sides during monthly meetings and a protracted dispute over his second-year evaluation.
HIS YEARS AT UH
Dobelle turned to legal counsel in asking the State Office of Information Practices to evaluate whether the regents had violated state sunshine laws, with the OIP saying that some regulations had been overlooked by the regents. They specifically changed the agenda, and did not give Dobelle the opportunity to make a meeting involving his evaluation public which was his right.
In later days they offered Dobelle every opportunity to open evaluation meetings to the public but he declined.
While both sides said they were putting differences behind them at the end of that process, regents had increased their level of oversight of the university president, his spending, and administration of the 10-campus system.
Two days ago, regent Vice Chairman Kitty Lagareta said the rocky relationship couldn't continue and likened it to a marriage where the partners were always fighting.
But she stopped short of saying the regents would be considering his dismissal — saying that each individual is an independent thinker and the board had yet to discuss his evaluation. Nor had the board discussed buying out Dobelle's contract, said Lagareta at that time.
A buyout would have included paying him an annual salary for the remaining four years of his contract, plus three years of accrued incentive payments. The total would be more than $2 million.
Dobelle came to UH in 2001 after serving as president of Trinity College and the former leader of City College of San Francisco. He succeeded President Kenneth Mortimer, who left the university after eight often tumultuous years.
Dobelle arrived in Hawai'i with great promise, an unconventional leader who described himself as someone who could make things happen.
Comfortable in both academic and political circles — he was the one-time treasurer of the Democratic National Committee and chief of protocol at the White House under President Carter — Dobelle was seen as the right man to bring the university out of years of crisis mode.
Hired at an annual salary of $442,000 and given a home at the president's residence at College Hill in Manoa, Dobelle became the most richly compensated UH president in history, and among the highest paid in the nation.
As regents gathered yesterday for a closed-door meeting on the president's current evaluation, they were met by a contingent of faculty and students from the Kuali'i Native Hawaiian Advisory Council showing support for the president and asking the regents to be fair in their evaluation.
"We believe as Native Hawaiians that President Dobelle is the only university president who has supported us in the history of the University of Hawai'i," said Lilikala Kame'eleihiwa, director of the University of Hawai'i-Manoa Center for Hawaiian Studies.
"We don't want him fired. We don't think you're going to find a better man to do the job."
Board Chairwoman Lee said the board is "about fairness and openness" and she said that under the law the regents are allowed "to consider dismissal."
Former Gov. Ben Cayetano said he was surprised that the regents acted to fire Dobelle when he was away on a family trip. "No class. That is absolutely no class," he said. "That kind of tells you what the regents are all about."
Cayetano said it may be difficult for the university to recruit a top-notch replacement given the manner in which they dismissed Dobelle, who had a good reputation nationally before coming to Hawai'i.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
"The problem with this town is that people have a difficult time dealing with change," Cayetano said.
The University of Hawai'i Board of Regents met for nearly 12 hours yesterday before deciding to fire university president Evan Dobelle, who is traveling and was not immediately told of the decision. David McClain, center, has been named acting president.
State Rep. K. Mark Takai, D-34th (Pearl City, Newtown, Royal Summit), the chairman of the House Higher Education Committee, who has been critical of Dobelle over administrative salaries and other issues, said he would not second-guess the regents' decision.
"For the sake of the university, we need to put this behind us and move forward," Takai said.
Surprisingly, it might be a lack of political instinct that got Dobelle into trouble and contributed to the partisan climate that led to his undoing.
Dobelle's decision to publicly endorse Democrat Mazie Hirono over Lingle soured his relationship with the future Republican governor, who later said that she hung up on Dobelle when he told her the news.
Lingle eventually ended a past practice of inviting the university president — or the state school superintendent — to Cabinet meetings, a signal that Dobelle was not in step with the Lingle administration's agenda. Lingle's appointments to the Board of Regents have been among those most critical of Dobelle.
"He made a terrible political mistake," said Daniel Boylan, a history professor at UH-West O'ahu who was on the search committee that recommended Dobelle. "He had absolutely no right as president of the university to do that.
"It didn't make sense."
In a statement last night Lingle said, "The Board of Regents' decision reflects what it believes is in the best interest of the University of Hawai'i system and its students," said Gov. Linda Lingle in a statement. "As additional information is made available by the board in the coming days, we will have a clearer understanding of the reasons for president Dobelle's dismissal and what the university's next steps will be."
Advertiser Staff Writer Curtis Lum contributed to this report.
