As the University of Hawaii is at a critical crossroads as an “indigenous serving institution” — co-manager of the cultural flashpoint that is Mauna Kea, keeper of a long-beleaguered athletics program, political victim of severe budget cuts and a governance tug of war and more — revving at its center is Alapaki Nahale-a, the newly elected chair of the UH Board of Regents.

But while Nahale-a’s work at the top levels of several Hawaii nonprofit organizations and agencies has prepared him for this latest role, he says he still tends to think of himself as “the Hawaiian homestead kid who went to school with no shoes.”

Pressed to explain, the Hilo native says, “Well, I was born in Keaukaha, Hawaiian homesteads. … My dad got a lot in Panaewa homestead, so our elementary school was Waiakea Elementary. And I didn’t like shoes.” He adds with a chuckle, “I could run faster without shoes.”

It’s a fitting metaphor for a role and key moment in UH history that will require both agility as well as deep wisdom in Hawaiian and kamaaina issues and ways.

Nahale-a, 55, who spoke with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser in a wide-ranging interview Friday, is one of a few people of Native Hawaiian ancestry ever to lead the board that sets policy and oversees the administration for the now 10-campus UH system, Hawaii’s only public university.

The only other Native Hawaiians in recent memory to serve in that position were Gladys A. Brandt, who served four one-year terms in the 1980s, and Eric Martinson, who served from 2011 to 2013, a UH spokesperson said.

With Nahale-a’s reputation as a vocal advocate for Native Hawaiian issues, he is expected to help usher in more vigorous discourse among board members, especially on the topic of UH’s role in Native Hawaiian education and self-determination.

His candor on all issues, he thinks, is one reason Gov. Josh Green asked him back for another term as a regent, even though he was originally a Gov. David Ige appointee, in 2019.

“I don’t want to pretend like I know all of the governor’s rationale,” Nahale-a said of his board reappointment by Green. “But one of the things he did say to me is that he appreciated that I am not afraid to voice sometimes controversial opinions and that … he wanted there to be rich debate and open conversation, even about things that were uncomfortable, which I really respected. He never once said to me what my position should be. He just said, you know, ‘I see that you do that, and I appreciate that.’”

Also expected to amplify board conversations is outspoken former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, who, along with attorney Lauren Akitake and Nahale-a, was selected by Green in June as interim BOR appointees, serving five-year terms beginning this month, subject to state Senate confirmation. Abercrombie was the governor who appointed Nahale-a to be director of the Hawaiian Homes Commission in 2011.

On Thursday, Nahale-a was elected 7-4 by the regents as chair of the unpaid volunteer board, and Gabriel Lee and Ernest Wilson were elected first and second vice chairs, respectively.

Nahale-a — he goes by Alapaki, Hawaiian for Albert, his legal name — although “they (my family) only called me Alapaki — I didn’t even know my name was Albert until I was in high school,” he said — believes he is also the first chair from a neighbor island since Robert M. Fujimoto of Hawaii island served as chair for two terms in the early 1980s.

Nahale-a said he hopes to encourage the regents to continue to see UH as a system, far beyond the three biggest campuses, at Manoa, Hilo and West Oahu.

“As Hawaii’s university we serve the entire aina of Hawaii,” he said.

While the university does not keep track of the ethnicities of the regents, the 11-member board at least appears to be among the most diverse in history, racially diverse and with six men and five women. “It looks like Hawaii,” Nahale-a said. “It’s going to mean a more diverse range of opinions, experiences, viewpoints.”

Among community observers feeling that Nahale-a seems a fortuitous fit for UH’s needs and challenges of the moment is Christian Fern, executive director of the University of Hawaii Professional Assembly. Although the faculty union has not yet worked with Nahale-a, Fern said he has observed Nahale-a’s calming and compassionate influence at regents meetings. His leadership “is critically important as UH navigates the future and continues to operate autonomously to uphold its reputation for groundbreaking research and quality instruction for Hawaii’s students,” Fern said.

Below are excerpts from the interview on Nahale-a’s philosophies and on challenges that UH and its board face. Comments have been edited for clarity and length.

Question: Where and what are you from? What is important for people to know?

Answer. I think I am from — I’m not from, I’m of Hawaii. I think that a person’s connection to their place provides a routine and a foundation that grows into all other aspects of life. … I’m primarily a Hawaii island boy, born and raised. Hilo, yeah, but I’ve worked all over and love all of our islands. …

I think the other thing about me is, I’ve spent my career in government and nonprofit administrative- type spaces. … Our government entities and agencies and our nonprofit organizations are essential to the well-being (of community), and none more so than the University of Hawaii. I don’t think there’s any institution that has more impact on the future of what we’re doing. Given this opportunity to serve, I thought it was important to take it.

Q: Do you feel that eyes are on you as a part- Native Hawaiian? Will it influence the way that you lead the board?

A: Especially if you were born and raised here in Hawaii, I think the places that raised you, your family, your friends, your high school, those things matter. … I feel accountable to them. I don’t want to embarrass them. I want to have integrity.

I think from the Native Hawaiian perspective, my desire for us to reconcile and to get on the path of healing that’s required — I care about that for Native Hawaiians, but I also care about that for all of my other ohana that are not Hawaiian. … It is a burden that I carry, wanting desperately to find a way forward. And it is not just a Hawaii issue. I mean, these kinds of conflicts are tearing the world apart. … Our ability to find resolution could be a model for the world, how to come together.

Q: What should be the university’s role in its five-year handover of the management of Mauna Kea to the new Mauna Kea Stewardship Oversight authority? Were you opposed to the Thirty-Meter Telescope?

A: I never opposed the TMT. What I said was that I thought that the people who drew a line on the road, that their perspective deserved to be honored as well and the things that they were asking for had merit as well. … I think the university worked very hard to improve stewardship. But that time has passed — too little, too late, I don’t know — and that responsibility is moving to the authority, and the university and the regents’ job is to make sure that we we hand things over to them in as good a shape as possible, while also protecting the interest of the University of Hawaii.

Q: How do you feel about UH athletics, and what should be the priorities?

A: I think that we as a university need to answer that question as a collective. Why do we have athletics, what’s the purpose? … I think that every activity at the university needs to be a reflection of who we are as Hawaii and our values, and it has to contribute to the strategic objectives that we have. … I love that we have Timmy Chang as our (football) coach and he’s from Hawaii. He’s one of us, and we want him to do well, and there’s a lot of interest from local athletes. Athletic director Craig Angelos is out and about and meeting folks and reflecting on the values we want.

Q: Any final message?

A: For Hawaii to remain the Hawaii we want it to be, we need the university to be great. I don’t mind saying that I don’t think we’re there yet. I think being great is a mindset: We want to serve more kids. We want to do more cutting-edge research. We want to find more solutions to a healthy island economy. … For the university to be great, which it can be, Hawaii needs to invest in it. I don’t just mean money. We’ve got to believe in it, and we have to bring our best to it.

ALAPAKI NAHALE-A

Newly elected chair of the University of Hawaii Board of Regents

>> First appointed to BOR in 2019; past vice chair and second vice chair

>> Past roles include: CEO of Global Resiliency Hub at ‘Iole; director and chairman, state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands; senior director of community engagement and resources for Hawaii island, Kamehameha Schools; president and executive director, Hawai‘i Charter School Network; appointee, Presidential Scholars Commission; various community boards and commissions

>> Education: Kamehameha Schools; bachelor’s degree in political science from University of Pennsylvania

>> Hilo native and resident; 55 years old; four children, one grandchild

UH STRATEGIC PLAN 2023-2029

Approved by the University of Hawaii Board of Regents in November

FOUR “IMPERATIVES”:

>> Fulfill kuleana to Native Hawaiians and Hawaii.

>> Develop successful students for a better future.

>> Meet Hawaii’s workforce needs of today and tomorrow.

>> Diversify Hawai‘i’s economy through UH innovation and research.

>> More information: hawaii.edu/strategic-plan.