HONOLULU — An online petition is questioning the qualifications of one of the finalists to become the next University of Hawaii president.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports more than 350 people had signed the petition against retired Lt. Gen. Frank Wiercinski.
English professor Cynthia Franklin says the petition will be presented to the Board of Regents when they meet Thursday.
She and others argue that Wiercinski isn’t qualified to lead the 10-campus university system since his background is exclusively military.
Wiercinski told the newspaper that he spent a lifetime defending the right to freedom of speech and he won’t be a hypocrite of that oath now just because it may be directed at him.
The other finalist for the job is interim President David Lassner.