UH scheduling The University of Hawaii at Manoa will hold a public hearing next Thursday on proposals to name campus facilities in honor of Gladys K. Brandt, Marion and Allan Saunders and Les Murakami.
hearing on
renaming
3 buildings
A plan would honor former
administrators and a former coachStar-Bulletin staff
Only the Saunderses -- both former administrators who played key roles in building the university -- fit all the criteria for having a building named for them.
The UH Board of Regents policies state that "buildings, other facilities, roads and programs will not be named for living individuals and ordinarily not within five years of the person's death, except as specifically provided by law."
At its July meeting, UH President Evan Dobelle asked the regents to consider setting aside the five-year rule when they meet again in September.
Dobelle suggested that the Center for Hawaiian Studies be renamed the Gladys Kamakakualani Ainoa Brandt Center for Hawaiian Studies, after the former Board of Regents chairwoman and respected educator, administrator and advocate for native Hawaiian issues.
Under Dobelle's proposal, Rainbow Stadium would be named after recently retired UH baseball coach Les Murakami, while the Social Sciences Building, the Student Services Center or Hawaii Hall would bear the Saunderses' names.
Dobelle's request side-stepped the Manoa campus procedures for giving a building anything other than a functional name.
The Manoa policy would have the chancellor or designee solicit documentation and conduct a review of the proposal by an ad hoc committee of faculty, staff, students and, when appropriate, alumni and community representatives.
Part of the review process is to hold a hearing to accept public comment.
Interim Manoa Chancellor Deane Neubauer is sponsoring the public hearing. The ad hoc committee is still being named.
Ka Leo O Hawaii
University of Hawaii
