Students for Fair Admissions Sues Kamehameha Schools to End Race-Based Admissions

Federal complaint filed in the United States District Court for District of Hawaii seeks injunction under 42 U.S.C. § 1981

ARLINGTON, Va., Oct. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a federal lawsuit against the Trustees of the Estate of Bernice Pauahi Bishop d/b/a Kamehameha Schools, alleging that the schools' race-based admissions policy violates 42 U.S.C. § 1981, which guarantees all persons the same right to make and enforce contracts without regard to race.

The complaint is attached.

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The complaint details how Kamehameha's admissions system functions as a categorical racial bar because applicants with Native Hawaiian ancestry are admitted first, and only if seats remain available will the school consider any other children. And Kamehameha strives to ensure those leftover seats never exist. SFFA asserts that this practice purposefully excludes non-Native Hawaiian students.

SFFA's pleading draws on settled Supreme Court precedent which holds that private schools may not deny admission on the basis of race and that § 1981 protects every race equally. The suit also cites Rice v. Cayetano (2000) for the principle that classifications based on Native Hawaiian ancestry are racial in nature. Because admission to Kamehameha involves application agreements, enrollment contracts, and tuition obligations, the complaint alleges race-based discrimination in contracting in violation of § 1981.

SFFA ardently emphasizes that it supports Kamehameha's educational mission to serve the children of Hawaii, including those from modest financial backgrounds. The complaint argues that Kamehameha can preserve and strengthen its Hawaiian-language and culture-based curriculum while adopting lawful, race-neutral admissions criteria.

Edward Blum, president of SFFA, said, "Kamehameha can keep its mission, its culture, and its curriculum but it cannot bar children because of their race. Native Hawaiian culture can be celebrated without imposing ancestry-based barriers that exclude white, black, Hispanic and Asian children."

Blum concluded, "America's civil rights laws and Constitution do not permit any public or private school to operate a system in which race or bloodline determines who may be admitted."

Contact:
Edward Blum
[email protected]
202-422-9588

SOURCE Students for Fair Admissions