CRAIG T. KOJIMA / CKOJIMA@STARBULLETIN.COM
Former UH baseball coach Les Murakami, center,
joined his wife, Dot, and UH President Evan Dobelle
yesterday at a Board of Regents meeting. The renaming
of Rainbow Stadium after Murakami was one of four
building name changes approved yesterday by the regents.

His house,
his name

The UH Board of Regents
votes to rename Rainbow
Stadium after former
coach Les Murakami

---

By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

The ballpark informally known as "the house that Les built" now will officially bear the name of former University of Hawaii baseball coach Les Murakami, perhaps in time for the opening game on Jan. 30.

The UH Board of Regents voted yesterday in favor of renaming Rainbow Stadium the "Les Murakami Stadium," waiving a policy to wait until a person has been deceased for five years before naming a building after him.

Murakami, who spent 30 years as a Rainbows coach, led the baseball program to more than 1,000 victories and six Western Athletic Conference championships. He retired last year after suffering a stroke.

The five-year policy also was waived for Gladys Brandt so that the Center for Hawaiian Studies could be renamed "Kamakauokalani -- The Gladys K. Ainoa Brandt Center for Hawaiian Studies."

Murakami and his wife, Dot, were present for a ceremony following the regents meeting yesterday.

"When the stadium was built, I think it was the furthest thing from my mind that it would be named after me," Murakami said. "I went out and hustled to get the money for the stadium, primarily because I felt we needed a venue to play in here. I felt sorry for all our noble kids because they had no place to play."

Getting the stadium built took many sleepless nights and the help of a lot of people, including Gov. George Ariyoshi and the Legislature, he said.

Murakami said having the building named after him was just "icing on the cake."

Brandt was ill and could not attend the ceremony.

A well-known advocate for Hawaiian rights, Brandt has been an educator and administrator for more than 40 years. For 17 years she was the only female principal of a high school.

She served on the UH Board of Regents from 1983 to 1989 and is credited with creating the center.

"Mrs. Brandt is the person who's responsible for our center, inclusive of the building being built," said Lilikala Kameeleihiwa, director of the Center for Hawaiian Studies.

The regents made it clear that the naming was "mobile and eternal," and Brandt's name will be attached to the Hawaiian studies program wherever it is housed.

Regents also approved renaming the Social Sciences building, formerly Porteus Hall, the "Saunders Hall in honor of Allan and Marion Saunders" and the Student Services Center the "Queen Liliuokalani Center for Student Services."