News Briefs | November 2025

Celebrating Excellence at the ʻŌʻō Awards

Mainland Group Sues Kamehameha

On October 20, a conservative organization from Virginia calling itself “Students for Fair Admissions” filed a lawsuit challenging Kamehameha Schools’ admissions policy which gives enrollment preference to students of Native Hawaiian ancestry.

In response, Kamehameha Schools’ Board of Trustees emailed a statement to parents and alumni that evening saying, “We are ready for this challenge. We are resolved to vigorously defend our admissions policy and will engage every legal and operational resource to protect Ke Aliʻi Pauahi’s kauoha (will).

“The facts and the law are on our side, and we are confident that we will prevail. In kapu aloha, we will stand strong together.”

The lawsuit announcement generated a quick community response. On the morning of October 21, hundreds of Native Hawaiians and supporters converged on ʻIolani Palace for a rally and show of support for the schools while another 20,000 tuned into the event’s livestream.

And later that day, the Hawaiʻi State House of Representatives issued their own statement in support of Kamehameha which read, in part, “We stand in support of Kamehameha Schools’ mission and its unwavering commitment to the Native Hawaiian people. When Hawaiʻi’s Indigenous community thrives, all of Hawaiʻi thrives.”

“Students for Fair Admissions” is headed by Republican activist Edward Blum who has made it his mission to dismantle school admissions policies he perceives as “race conscious.” He normally targets colleges and universities (e.g., Harvard), but in September turned his attention to Kamehameha.

Blum’s organization solicits individuals who claim to have been rejected by university admissions departments because of race, and then files lawsuits on their behalf. With assembly-line speed and precision, on September 4 the organization launched a website seeking plaintiffs for the lawsuit against Kamehameha – just two weeks after concluding a lawsuit against West Point and the Air Force Academy in mid-August.

In a press release announcing the lawsuit Blum writes, “Kamehameha can keep its mission, its culture and its curriculum but it cannot bar children because of their race,” adding “America’s civil rights laws and Constitution do not permit any public or private school to operate a system in which race or bloodline determines who may be admitted.”

The Indigeneity of Native Hawaiians, Hawaiʻi’s history of Native dispossession, and Native Hawaiian political status are not considerations in the lawsuit.

Kamehameha’s admission policy was last challenged in 2006, at which time the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted to uphold the preference policy, ruling that it did not violate federal law and that the admissions policy was part of a unique remedial mission.

“Let us draw strength from our faith in Ke Akua, our ancestors, and in one another,” Kamehameha’s statement read. “Together, we have the collective resolve to defend Ke Aliʻi Pauahi, her kauoha and Hawaiʻi. E ola koa, e ola ke ea!”

Hawaiian Midwifery Practices Protected

In October, the State of Hawaiʻi agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation (NHLC), and the law firm Perkins Coie. The case challenged the Midwifery Restriction Law, which effectively limited midwifery in the state and threatened Native Hawaiian cultural practitioners of traditional Hawaiian birthing practices with criminal liability.

The law, which was effective July 2023, prevented anyone from providing advice, information, or care during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum without a specific state license. However, there were no such licensing programs available in Hawaiʻi, meaning that Native Hawaiian midwives already trained in traditional practices would need to travel to the continent at their own expense to be re-trained in western midwifery practices.

With the case now settled, Native Hawaiian midwives can continue providing culturally informed care without being threatened with prison. The agreement also ensures that prospective midwives can train locally through traditional pathways without having to travel to the continent for western training programs.

While this protects Native Hawaiian traditional birthing practices, financial penalties remain for midwives who practice in Hawaiʻi without a license.

“We finally have a way forward to protect and pass down our sacred practices. I can continue to serve my community with the compassionate, culturally informed care they deserve,” said Kiʻinaniokalani Kahoʻohanohano of Maui a practicing midwife for more than 20 years.

Gabriel Named NFL Starting Quarterback

ʻŌiwi professional football player Dillon Gabriel became the second Native Hawaiian and the first Hawaiʻi public high school graduate to become a starting quarterback in the National Football League (NFL).

As a freshman player at Mililani High School in 2015, Gabriel took over for an injured Mc- Kenzie Milton and went on to set the Hawaiʻi high school passing yardage record with 9,948 yards, according to Hawaiʻi Prep World. He held that record until 2024 when Campbell High School’s Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, finished with 10,653 yards following his senior season.

Gabriel attended the University of Central Florida in 2019 before transferring to Oklahoma. He finished his college football career at Oregon in 2024, where he broke the NCAA Division 1 Football Bowl Subdivision record with 155 touchdown passes and became a Heisman Trophy finalist.

In April, Gabriel was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the third round of the 2025 NFL Draft – the 94th overall selection. He was originally named backup quarterback and played in only two games this season prior to his first start on October 5.

The late Joe Naekauna Francis, Jr., a 1954 Kamehameha Schools graduate, was the Native Hawaiian to start an NFL game as quarterback, doing so for the Green Bay Packers in 1958. Saint Louis graduates Marcus Mariota and Tua Tagovailoa are also NFL starting quarterbacks.

Sonoda-Pale Receives Catalyst Award

Activist, educator, and community leader Healani Sonoda-Pale has been selected as one of six recipients of a 2025 Rachel’s Network Catalyst Award. Now in its seventh year, the Catalyst Award honors women leaders of color for their commitment to a healthy planet, and provides them with financial and leadership support, and public recognition.

Named after Rachel Carson, an ecologist and advocate whose work led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and modern environmental movement, Rachel’s Network is a nationwide community of women environmental funders.

For years, Sonoda-Pale has been an outspoken advocate for issues affecting Hawaiʻi’s Indigenous people. She is a spokesperson for Ka Lāhui Hawaiʻi and a lead organizer for Oʻahu Water Protectors which successfully called for the shutdown and defueling of the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage facility. Her advocacy has covered women’s safety, intellectual property rights, iwi kūpuna, climate change, environmental justice, and militarism.

Women of color are leading the environmental movement. Despite this, most do not receive adequate funding, support, or recognition; less than 1% of foundation giving goes to women of color and organizations led by people of color receive less than 1% of multiyear operational budget grants. Rachel’s Network aims to address this disparity.

The Catalyst Award was launched in 2019 to spotlight and honor women of color working in the environmental movement. Each year, for three years, awardees receive a personal prize ($10,000); a wellbeing stipend ($5,000); and an organizational grant ($10,000).

Soon Honored by JABSOM

The John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) celebrated its 60th anniversary on October 11 and more than 500 guests packed the Royal Hawaiian Hotel ballroom for the occasion. As part of the celebration, JABSOM unveiled its first-ever Distinguished Alumni Awards.

Dr. Reni Aukai Soon, MD, an obstetrician, gynecologist, and 2001 JABSOM graduate was the inaugural recipient of the Hōkūhoʻokelewaʻa Distinguished Alumni Award, for being “a fierce warrior for reproductive rights” and a leading advocate in Hawaiʻi for women’s health. Only JABSOM MD alumni from the 2000 graduating class and forward are eligible for this prestigious honor. Soon was selected for her research and innovation in family planning, reproductive justice, Native Hawaiian health, and clinical excellence at The Queen’s Medical Center.

Soon, a Kamehameha Schools Kapālama graduate, completed her undergraduate training at Stanford University before attending JABSOM, where she currently serves as a professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health, as associate chair of Native Hawaiian Health, and as the Complex Family Planning Fellowship Program director. For more than a decade, Soon provided women’s health services at the Waiʻanae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.

Also honored was Dr. Neal Palafox (JABSOM 1980) with a Hie Distinguished Alumni Award. Palafox was selected for his innovation in improving health capacity and reducing health disparities in the Pacific region, and in particular for his work in cancer research and the consequences of nuclear testing in the Pacific.

Alvarez Wins Emmy for Work on PBS Documentary

Wright Recognized as a “Pillar of the Profession”

Dr. Erin Kahunawaikaʻala Wright joins a distinguished line of leaders from the University of Hawaiʻi Mānoa who have been recognized nationally as “Pillars of the Profession” by the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA).

Wright, who serves as interim associate vice provost for Student Success and as dean of students, was honored this year for her sustained contributions to service, teaching, leadership and mentoring. She says the recognition is not just her own, but a reflection of the collective work of the UH community toward student success, especially those leaders also recognized as Pillars of the Profession.

“It’s a kind recognition of the work I’ve invested in student affairs and higher education…I’m proud, and honestly, very surprised to get it. It’s humbling to be recognized,” Wright said.

Wright began her career at UH Mānoa in 2008 as the founding director of Native Hawaiian Student Services and later served as an associate professor of educational administration in the College of Education. There, she taught courses and published on research design, research methodologies and Indigeneity in higher education.

Individuals selected as Pillars of the Profession are nominated for designation by colleagues and students for creating a lasting impact and a legacy of extraordinary service at the institutions at which they work.

Rock Wall Constructed to Secure Burial Vault at Pearl Harbor

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500 Show for Alakoko Workday