Reactions yesterday by the Kamehameha 'ohana — parents, alumni and families who have attended Kamehameha Schools for generations — ranged from outrage over what many see as a further loss of their heritage to quiet optimism the school can still maintain its mission to educate Hawaiian children.

"This will enrage people," said Hawaiian businessman Joseph Pickard, whose daughter, Pua'ena, is in the sixth grade at Kamehameha Schools' Kapalama campus. "And I hope they start recognizing that these folks that take from us, they're not good people. And they shouldn't be treated with aloha.

"My daughter will survive," he continued. "I'm a business person. I can send her to Iolani or Punahou. But imagine the children who come from families with fewer resources and this is their only opportunity to improve their lot. What happens to them?"

As news of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision spread, many in the Hawaiian community were vocally upset.

"My wife called me this morning crying," said Mark Yim, a 1978 graduate whose wife graduated a year later and also worked at the school until her retirement last year.

"I'm certain the impact will be far-reaching," Yim said. "There will be an open playing field ethnically-wise so I'm afraid they'll be leaving Hawaiian children behind. The ones that need it the most will not get the opportunity to take advantage of the programs and education offered at Kamehameha."

But Kapono Dowson Ryan, whose son, Joshua Andermann, is in fifth grade, had hope the Kamehameha education will continue to be imbued with Hawaiian culture.

"Right now my son gets to learn Hawaiian at an early age. ... Wouldn't it be an irony of sorts if this was a possible way for Hawai'i to become more Hawaiian because the doors are opened to more people and Kamehameha can share that value system and culture?" she said.

Kawika Trask, a 1976 graduate who now has nieces at the school, called the court decision "absolutely horrifying."

"This is going to go down in history as one of the black days for the Hawaiians," said Trask, the son of former HGEA union leader David Trask.

Trask said it's particularly troubling that a court decision can change something at a private institution, where private funds are used "that belong to the Hawaiian people in trust."

"When people can put their last wishes on paper and then someone can come 100 years hence and say that's wrong now, what kind of a system do we have?" he said.

Pilialoha Teves, of Wailuku, Maui, said she wasn't surprised by the ruling.

"I don't think the justice system looks at anything fairly when it comes to Hawaiian issues," she said.

Teves' son, Michael "Kaikaika" Nance, will be a senior when the Maui campus resumes classes Aug. 11. The class of 2006 will be the school's first graduating class.

"Who's the government to say anything about which kids should be able to go to Kamehameha?" Teves said. "Who are they to decide the will of an ali'i from another country?"

Margie Kawaiaea, whose 14-year-old daughter is a sophomore at Kamehameha-Maui, also was disappointed by the court's ruling.

"The school was set up for a reason. I'm a true believer in the wishes of the princess. I just think they should abide by those wishes," she said.

Kawaiaea, who is Caucasian, said that if the school is open to everyone, a lot of Hawaiians will be shut out.

"That's not fair," she said. "They should be reaching out to even more Hawaiians."

Adrian Kamali'i, a 2000 graduate of the O'ahu school who is part owner of his own business, was among those who said he needed the outreach.

"My mother was a single mother struggling to take care of my brother and me and when I went to Kamehameha so many doors opened for me," he said. "To see there were other Hawaiians in the same institution being empowered by education was empowering for me."

Kamali'i said even without the latest ruling, the campus has racial diversity.

"If you walked on campus you wouldn't be able to tell it was a Hawaiian school," he said. "I had classmates that looked like they just walked off the plane or looked Japanese or Filipino. But to know we shared that common thread of ancestry, that made a difference."