Grassroots movements and peaceful protests have helped promote equality in Hawaiian higher education. In 1991, a fierce debate waged throughout the nation over the legitimacy of affirmative action programs. That debate helped to showcase the need to take action—affirmative action—to conscientiously and constructively solve the problem of institutionalized racism.

In a KFVE news show entitled “Island Issues,” two professors from the University of Hawaii talk about the need for affirmative action and how it can be put into practice at the senior levels of education. Professors Marion Kelly and Mimi Sharma focus on faculty diversity as opposed to student body diversity. The professors debate the host of “Island News” about some of the misconceptions about affirmative action. Those misconceptions include the “quality” question, a position that takes the short-range vision. The quality question is related to the perception that promoting minorities would mean promoting people who are less qualified...
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