The establishment of the Hawai'inuiakea School of Hawaiian Knowledge at the UH Manoa campus, was approved last week at the month UH Board of Regents meeting.

"As the sole public university in our state, the University of Hawai'i has a special responsibility to perpetuate the history and cultural heritage of Native Hawaiians," UH Board of Regents Chair Kitty Lagareta stated in a UH news release. "... The school will play a critical role in strengthening opportunities for students and faculty engaged in these areas of study and research, and in fostering the dissemination of Hawaiian knowledge throughout the university, the state and beyond."

According to the UH news release, the school will consist of three units reporting to a new dean: Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies, which is currently in the School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies; Kawaihuelani Hawaiian Language Program, currently in the Department of Hawaiian and Indo-Pacific Languages and Literature in the College of Languages, Linguistics and Literature; and Ka Papa Lo'i o Kanewai, which is currently located administratively within the Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies.