Posted on: Monday, March 8, 2004

EDITORIAL
Change in regent selection sensible

A legislative effort to change the way University of Hawai'i regents are appointed will surely be seen as an effort by legislative Democrats to wrest political power from Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.

And that's the problem.

For far too long the university and the regents have been seen as overly politicized. This has damaged the university in recruiting, in fund-raising and in many other ways.

National publications often cite political meddling in university affairs as one of the major failings of our system. Part of this is heritage: As Hawai'i was building itself after statehood, the political system was dominated by Democrats who were determined to create a substantial higher education opportunity for Island kids who could not afford to go to the Mainland.

They succeeded, but the legacy of that effort was a pattern of unhealthy interference from the state Capitol in the affairs of the campus. Some of that has changed in recent years as the university won a certain degree of autonomy.

But the break between town and gown was never complete.

Now, Lingle has appointed a number of regents who are close to her politically and presumably would be in general agreement with her political agenda.

She is hardly unique. This was a pattern seen in previous administrations and will undoubtedly be seen future administrations, unless a change is made.

The legislative proposal would set up a non-partisan nominating committee that would recruit and recommend regents. The governor would still have the final nominating say and the Legislature would still have to confirm.

The idea has received strong approval from national authorities on higher education. Similar systems are already in place in many states on the Mainland.

If such a plan is adopted here, we would urge also that the size of the board be expanded, to make room for regents with more diverse points of view including Asian scholars, Mainland fund-raising experts and others.