STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1894-26

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2026

 

RE:   H.C.R. No. 54

      H.D. 1

 

 

 

 

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

 

Madame:

 

     Your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 54 entitled:

 

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAIʻI BOARD OF REGENTS TO CONSIDER RENAMING LEEWARD COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO PUʻULOA COMMUNITY COLLEGE,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to request the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents to consider renaming Leeward Community College to Puʻuloa Community College.

 

     Your committee has received testimony in opposition from one individual.

 

     Your committee finds that renaming Leeward Community College may better reflect the campus’s location within the culturally and historically significant region of Puʻuloa in ʻEwa, Oʻahu, known for its traditional fishponds, moʻolelo, and values of longevity, abundance, and resilience. It asserts that a strengthened campus identity can enhance student pride, recruitment, alumni engagement, and community connection, and notes the college’s aspiration to be a leading indigenous-serving institution grounded in a Hawaiian sense of place.

 

     Your committee has amended this measure by:

 

1. Replacing language on Page 1, Lines 9-13 with: "WHEREAS, Puʻuloa holds deep cultural and historical significance within the moku of ʻEwa on the island of Oʻahu and is historically known for its abundance of traditional loko iʻa, which sustained thriving communities through established systems of food production and resource management; and"

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 54, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 54, H.D. 1.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs,

 

 

 

 

____________________________

DAVID A. TARNAS, Chair