SUPPORTING THE REQUEST BY THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA FACULTY SENATE FOR A COMMITMENT FROM UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII LEADERS TO REMAIN STEADFAST IN VIGOROUSLY DEFENDING ANY AND ALL STUDENTS, FACULTY, OR STAFF WHO MAY BE ATTACKED FOR EXERCISING THEIR RIGHTS TO ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND FREE SPEECH.

HCR97

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

97

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

supporting the request by the University of Hawaii at
Manoa Faculty Senate for a commitment from University of Hawaii leaders to
remain steadfast in vigorously defending any and all students, faculty, or
staff who may be attacked for exercising their rights to academic freedom and
free speech
.

����
WHEREAS, the
University of Hawaii community has historically played critical roles in moral
leadership through peaceful protests during controversial times: from opposing
the Vietnam War, opposing the naming of the Social Sciences building after
eugenicist Stanley Porteus, opposing South African Apartheid, preventing kalo
from being genetically altered and patented, and protecting Mauna Kea; and

����
WHEREAS, the
political and artistic expressions of these past protests would all be in
violation of the currently proposed "Time, Place, and Manner"
restrictions contained in the University of Hawaii's revisions to its "Executive
Policy 10.206 Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions on Expressive Activities";
and

����
WHEREAS, in
2024 and 2025, many universities began implementing similarly restrictive "Time,
Place and Manner" policies, under which lecturers, graduate assistants,
students, and faculty from these same schools have since been reprimanded,
disciplined, or terminated for exercising their rights to academic freedom and
free speech; and

����
WHEREAS, the
University of Hawaii's proposed revised policies would deter students, faculty,
and staff from exercising their rights to academic freedom and free speech and
create an unnecessarily antagonistic relationship between the University of
Hawaii administration and the broader university community; and

����
WHEREAS, many
students, faculty, and staff feel afraid and vulnerable, and collective action
makes the university community more likely to exercise their rights to academic
freedom and free speech; and

����
WHEREAS, during
a period in history in which civil rights, civil liberties, and the freedom and
autonomy of institutions of higher education are under sustained attack, the
University of Hawaii should strengthen, not restrict, the rights to academic
freedom and free speech and should empower the community to exercise those
rights; now, therefore,

����
BE IT
RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the
State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the Senate concurring, that this body
supports the request by the University of Hawaii at Manoa Faculty Senate for a
commitment from University of Hawaii leaders to remain steadfast in vigorously
defending any and all students, faculty, or staff who may be attacked for
exercising their rights to academic freedom and free speech; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this
body supports the University of Hawaii at Manoa Faculty Senate's Resolution to
Oppose Time, Place, and Manner Restrictions and Rectify Academic Freedom
Policy, which was adopted on February 18, 2026; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the
Chairperson of the Board of Regents of the University of Hawaii; President of
the University of Hawaii; and Administrative Officer of the Manoa Faculty
Senate of the University of Hawaii.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
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University
of Hawaii; Assembly and Student Protest