The extensive search that brought Dobelle to Manoa three years ago was criticized for its length and secrecy, and several people interviewed yesterday suggested that the university look inward or at least in Hawai'i.

"I think we're beyond the point now where we always have to go to the Mainland," said Ted Hong, the state's chief labor negotiator, who has served on the Board of Regents.

Gov. Linda Lingle and Hong praised the regents' choice of David McClain as acting president, and both indicated that McClain has the talent and experience necessary for the permanent job. McClain was UH vice president for academic affairs.

Lingle said she has "the highest respect" for McClain. "I think he will do an outstanding job," the governor said.

McClain, describing yesterday as a "difficult day," said he would move forward with the motto: Strive for the highest. "That will be the motto of our team," he said.

Deane Neubauer, who spent more than three decades at UH, his last position as interim vice president for academic affairs, said the issue of local leadership almost always comes up during the search for a president. He said the talk yesterday might reflect the impression among some that Dobelle's Mainland attitude never quite adjusted to Hawai'i.

"We've realized how easy it is to embrace the notion of change and how difficult it is to operationalize it," Neubauer said.

Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris said he warned Dobelle the first time he paid a courtesy call to City Hall.

"I told him it was called the 'Captain Cook effect,' that he would come into this community, be welcomed with open arms, people would all praise him and he would feel like he had the full support of the community and the leaders to accomplish great visions," Harris said.

"And in a couple of years, he would turn around and find a big knife in his back, and a boot to the back to get out of town. At the time, he laughed. But unfortunately, just as I predicted, that's exactly how he's been treated."

J.N. Musto, the executive director of the UH Professional Assembly, the faculty union, said that while the president is important to the university's direction, leadership is drawn from throughout the ranks.

"We don't give ourselves enough credit," Musto said. "We are doing a very good job."

Randy Hitz, dean of the UH-Manoa College of Education, said that it's a setback any time there is a failure of leadership, but that he is confident the university is strong. "We'll recover," Hitz said. "The university is greater than any one individual."