The University of Hawaii at Hilo soon will fly the U.S. and Hawaii state flags at equal heights following protests late last year from students and community members.
On Dec. 1, Hawaiian sovereignty activists lowered the American flag on the single pole at the front entrance to the UH-Hilo campus and hoisted the Hawaii state flag that had previously flown beneath it. They folded the U.S. flag and delivered it to administrators, along with demands that the Hawaii flag be shown preference when the flags are raised.
The flagpole now will be replaced by two new flagpoles featuring lockable, internal halyard systems, which will prevent unauthorized people from lowering and raising flags, according to UH-Hilo Director of University Relations Jerry Chang.
Project manager Lo-Li Chih said the total price tag for the work stands at $33,333.
“There is some delay on the project due to manufacturer shipping problems, so I don’t know the exact date yet (for the arrival of the poles),” Chih said last week.
He said the plan is to have the installation of the new poles complete by the middle of August.
On Tuesday, the existing flagpole was bare, with the base blocked off by stakes surrounded by a tarp.
Gail Makuakane-Lundin, UH-Hilo interim vice chancellor for student affairs, said Tuesday she met with the concerned students after receiving letters from them explaining their position, and together they worked to find a compromise.
“We actually did a survey at various state buildings to find out what they were doing (with their flags),” she said. “And we found that most newer state buildings all had two flagpoles. And all the newer campuses did as well.”
UH’s newest campus in West Oahu has three flagpoles, all at equal heights, bearing the federal, state and university flags, according to UH system spokesman Dan Meisenzahl.
Administrators ultimately decided to approve replacing the single flagpole in Hilo in an effort to address the students’ concerns and to fall in line with other state buildings’ handling of the two flags, Makuakane-Lundin said.
Joseph Kaolulo, one of the Hawaiian students involved in the effort to take down the U.S. flag in December, said Tuesday he viewed the decision by UH-Hilo to place the flags on equal footing as an admission of guilt over what he called the United States’ “illegal occupation” of Hawaii.
“By putting two separate poles up, they (UH-Hilo) have recognized us as a nation not conquered,” he said. “There is no flag flying right now at UHH and Hawaii Community College. So the only flag now flying is the one around our ahu (stone altar). We are the only ones in power right now.”
Kaolulo claims that the university has committed “educational malpractice” in support of the alleged occupation, “brainwashing our society and our kids,” he said.
He added that, in light of the recent national debate that led to several state and private entities deciding to stop flying the Confederate flag, now is a good time to raise questions.
UHH’s move to change the flagpole comes at a particularly delicate point in relations between the university and Hawaiian sovereignty activists, who have succeeded in halting construction of the $1.4 billion Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, which was supposed to begin in March. The mostly Hawaiian protesters, who refer to themselves as protectors, say the massive construction project will desecrate the mountain they consider Hawaii’s most sacred.
Kaolulo added that the effort to raise the Hawaiian flag is just one part of a larger goal.
“The flag is just the beginning,” Kaolulo said. “Without a flag you have no jurisdiction. … No annexation plus no American flag equals no TMT.”
Students on campus Tuesday largely appeared to be unaware of the flag kerfuffle.
Senior M.J. Garcia said she had never heard about the debate, but the compromise to place both flags on equal standing sounded like the right way to handle the situation.
“Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be?” she asked. “Especially since we have such a big Hawaiian program here.”
Senior Donald Jobe agreed, albeit with a hint of sarcasm.
“I think it’s ironic, considering that that is how the state buildings already do it,” he said. “If that’s what (the university) wants to do, then do it. … They’ve wasted money on other things before.”
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.