Breaking News: UH Student Regent Resigns
Dec 13th, 2008 by Capsun
I’m an hour late, but I finally have a news scoop…
Regent Emeritus Dahilig (Photo: UH)
Doing what is right, even when it hurts, yesterday afternoon, my friend, University of Hawaii Student Regent Michael Dahilig submitted his resignation to Governor Linda Lingle, effective immediately. You can see the actual letter at the bottom of this post.
First appointed to the Board of Regents in 2005, his term would have expired in June 2007, but he has been kept as a “holdover” regent since that time as the law concerning appointments to the BOR was changed. Dahilig is one of the six regents affected by the recent Supreme Court of Hawaii decision. You can get background information here.
Since that Supreme Court decision, Dahilig and the other five regents have been in a state of legal limbo. Saying it was “in the best interest of the institution,” his resignation yesterday, while it may have been difficult, was the right thing to do and will allow him to take the high road in a highly political and politicized situation.
As only the fifth person to serve as Student Regent, Dahilig really only has four other people who know how demanding it can be to serve as the student member of the BOR. After all, he is not without his critics. In that regard, as the third Student Regent, I’m proud of the high caliber of character he demonstrated yesterday.
While his move may be symbolic as Gov. Lingle has said she “accepts” the Supreme Court decision, it is the right kind of symbolism the State and University need so that the BOR can get back to the business of guiding the University – and not have questions of legitimacy hanging over their heads. He may very well go down as the Oz Stender of this bunch for his actions.
So, welcome to your new membership in the Association of Emeritus Regents, Regent Emeritus Dahilig!
Mahalo!
Does anyone know WHY Lingle chose to leave the seated regents seated?
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Quilly: Sorry for the long delay. The first extension, in 2007, I believe was because the law was changed and they didn’t know how they were going to figure it all out. That was in good faith and no one was complaining then. But in 2008, when she extended everyone after one was rejected, she created an uproar about it. It comes down to different interpretations between Gov and Leg, but SCOHI disagreed with Gov.
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