I Mua Mānoa 

News Release from Imua Manoa September 24, 2014

I Mua Mānoa will hold a press conference at 10am on September 25, 2014 at UH West Oahu, immediately following public testimony at the Board of Regents meeting

Unanswered Questions

Nearly two months after the abrupt firing of Chancellor Tom Apple, the Mānoa campus community remains outraged over the lack of transparency and respect for shared governance that this maneuver by President Lassner with the support of the Board of Regents displayed.

“We still don’t have any answers at all” said Graduate Student Bret Polopolus-Meredith.  The reasons given for the dismissal have been widely viewed as lacking in substance across campus.

The Mānoa Faculty Senate voted to censure President Lassner on Sept. 17 with a wide majority. “I was disturbed by BOR Chairman Randy Moore’s response stating that he didn’t see anything of concern in the MFS resolution” reacted Associate Professor Marguerite Butler.  Butler wondered how Moore could be unconcerned about violation of line of authority or lack of proper consultation and shared governance.  “It makes me wonder if the BOR shares the values and vision of the UH Mānoa community.”

The advocacy group I Mua Mānoa formed in the immediate aftermath of the Apple crisis, when concerned faculty, students, staff, and community members banded together to  demand answers. The group has pledged to continue to demand answers from the Regents, the President, and other power brokers until UH Mānoa is once again a pono place of learning.

I Mua Manoa is very concerned over the lack support for UH Mānoa in governing its own affairs, and for the blatant disregard for shared governance.

Members of I Mua Mānoa will be available to speak to the press immediately following public testimony (10am) at the Sept. 25 meeting of the UH Board of Regents and UH West Oahu. 

Mission Statement

I Mua Mānoa (IMM) is a collective of dedicated students, faculty, and staff determined to improve the quality of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa (UHM). We volunteer our skills, knowledge, and time to develop a shared campus government, which is transparent and ethical in its operations. We strive to develop a positive campus community where the concerns of the students, faculty, and administration are addressed equally and fairly.

Goals

1. Promote Integrity, Excellence, and Transparency in the UHM system.

2. Develop and recommend policy changes to create a system of Shared Governance in the University system.

3. Act as a voice for victims of corruption and administrative misconduct.

4. Restore the Pono to the University of Mānoa.

Objectives

• Achieve a functional system of shared governance between UH faculty, students, and administrators by the end of the 2014-2015 school year.

• By the end of the 2014-2015 academic year Chancellor Tom Apple will be reinstated as Chancellor of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa.

• Develop resources to help people with unfulfilled grievances find remedies within and without the university system, and make these resources available by the end of December 2014.