Alumni of the Kamehameha Schools and other Native Hawaiians and their supporters plan to rally in San Francisco today to support their alma mater and protest a federal appeals court ruling that struck down its admissions policy as unlawful racial discrimination.

Organizer Noelani Jai said Hawaiians from throughout California and elsewhere on the Mainland will gather at the city's United Nations Plaza at noon and march to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A three-judge panel of that court, in a 2-1 ruling issued Aug. 2, found that the school's Hawaiians-only admissions policy violates federal anti-discrimination laws.

The court has given the schools until Tuesday to file a request for a rehearing by the full court. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed on behalf of a boy identified only as John Doe.

"This is not racial discrimination but restoring an indigenous people back to health, " said Dee Jay Mailer, chief executive officer of the school and the $6.2 billion trust that funds it.

Mailer and trustee Nainoa Thompson are scheduled to speak at a rally at the plaza after the march. Jai, an inactive attorney who is training to be a pastor, said she will offer a pule, or prayer, before and after the rally.

"When I first started planning this in my living room, I was hoping maybe 30 or 40 people would join me," said Jai, a resident of Huntington Beach, Calif. "But it quickly grew, and now we are expecting well over 1,000 people."

A candlelight vigil was scheduled for last night in San Francisco, with similar vigils planned in other Mainland cities, Mailer said.

The ruling has brought national attention to issues of Native Hawaiians, Jai said. "This rally will allow us to demonstrate our unity and concern that the kanaka maoli (native people) survive as a people."

Jai said her efforts are on behalf of her daughter and son, and she hopes that her children will go to Kamehameha, where she graduated in 1983.

The march and rally are not aimed at the court, she said, but the court is a rallying point because "it represents another geographical place, like 'Iolani Palace, where Native Hawaiians had something illegally taken."

"This rally will allow Hawaiians who are expats to express their emotions in support of the schools and educate people on the Mainland on what the Kamehameha Schools stand for," Mailer said.

Hawaiian sovereignty activist Vicky Holt Takamine said she believes the demonstrations can influence the court.

"Many people say demonstrations have no impact on the courts. I disagree," she said. "With African-Americans and women, nothing happened until they took to the streets.

"You don't affect social change until people get behind the movement," she said. "This (court) decision doesn't just affect John Doe, but Native Hawaiians wherever they live."

"This issue has struck with Hawaiians living away from home," said Takamine, noting that many Hawaiians can no longer afford to live in their ancestral homeland. "This decision has had a big impact on them even though they no longer live in Hawai'i.

"This will be a strengthening event," Takamine said. "Sometimes Hawaiians feel defeated, but this adds fire. We will fight this to the end."

Mailer said there has been overwhelming response from all over the world, including alumni now serving in Iraq who have written to her.

"What they are saying is that they are there to defend their country but also need to defend their school," Mailer said. "Even alumni serving their country want to express themselves."

LEARN MORE

Kamehameha Schools: www.ksbe.edu
Alumni march site: www.justiceforhawaiians.net/home .html
9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals: www.ca9.uscourts.gov