Following a flurry of eleventh-­hour meetings and negotiations Monday at the state Capitol, state senators are set to vote today on whether to confirm embattled University of Hawaii Board of Regents Chair Alapaki Nahale-a for a second term as a regent.

A grassroots group backing Nahale-a has organized an 8 a.m. rally today at the Capitol, as well as an online petition, with some supporters framing the Senate vote as a de facto referendum on local and Native Hawaiian values and/or control of UH. The petition topped 14,000 signatures by Monday evening.

The 25-member Senate is expected to vote on Nahale-a’s nomination after 9 a.m. A majority of 13 or more votes would decide whether he is rejected or confirmed for a second five-year term on the board, which sets UH policies, approves budgets and selects the university president, among its duties.

Nahale-a was unusually candid in a Honolulu Star-Advertiser interview Monday about the political wrangling over his nomination for a second five-year term on the board.

He said he remained “all in” even after his confirmation was unanimously rejected last week by the five-member Senate Higher Education Committee, led by Chair Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D, Kalihi-Fort Shafter-Red Hill).

But Nahale-a, who has spent the days since meeting with individual senators to make his case for a more collaborative approach to managing the university grounded in a spirit of aloha, said Monday that “it’s shocking, on the face of it, that so much energy is being put into keeping someone from being a regent,” and that he and supporters would have to campaign so hard for him to continue to serve on the unpaid volunteer board.

“It is my experience and my belief that certain members of the Senate would like more control over the university than is appropriate,” Nahale-a said. “I have felt pressured to act in the interest of Sen. Kim, and I have felt threatened to not act that way. … It is my belief that one of the motivations for going to such lengths and not confirm me is because I make it much harder to control the university.”

Some senators have pinned responsibility on Nahale-a for numerous problems UH faces, including some crumbling student housing projects, and a need that the legislators see for stronger involvement and direction by the regents in setting the university’s priorities and budgeting. He has served as chair since July, and previously served as second and first vice chair. A request for comment from Kim on Monday was not immediately granted.

Organizers of the “Rally for Aloha” today asked demonstrators to wear red “in honor of Hawaii Island,” which Nahale-a represents on the board. The event flyer does not name him, but features a photo of him fronted by images of fists thrust skyward.

Cyrus Johnasen, a Hawaii County employee who said he is serving as an organizer in his personal capacity, said the rally is meant to “make a statement to the Legislature that not only do we support Alapaki Nahale-a, but we support his leadership style, and we support the current direction of the Board of Regents” as it selects a successor to retiring UH President David Lassner.

A Hilo-based grassroots group called Hu‘i Kako‘o, which includes Johnasen, launched the petition, which reads in part, “Alapaki Nahale-a is more than just an educator. He is an ‘oiwi (native son) leader, advocate, and community builder whose dedication and commitment to our community are unparalleled.”

Nahale-a, and first-time regents Lauren Akitake and former Gov. Neil Abercrombie, have been serving on the board on an interim basis since Gov. Josh Green nominated them in May. The 11-member board elected Nahale-a as chair in July.

Nahale-a said he and Green conversed Monday. “He said he’s hopeful that I get confirmed and that we can get on with the business of university,” Nahale-a said.

Green’s office issued a statement Friday morning saying, “Governor Green nominated Alapaki Nahale-a because of his service, experience and commitment to higher education and to ensuring access to the University of Hawaii system. While we are disappointed with the committee vote, we understand Alapaki will be talking with other senators to see if he can persuade them to support him. The governor will continue conversations with Alapaki on next steps.”

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly, the union representing 13,000 UH faculty, has backed Nahale-a and published an essay on its website saying Kim and some other senators seek to control the university.

The essay, written by Executive Director Christian Fern and other UHPA leaders, said the Senate vote “will be close for sure because there are still some senators who believe in an honest, open, and collaborative process of government that does not succumb under political pressure or performance politics. This vote is not about Alapaki Nahale-a. This vote is about abuse of power.”

When Nahale-a was asked Monday whether the senators’ objection to him stems from differences in leadership style or a desire for control of UH, he said he thinks it’s both. He has said he has tried to convey that he draws from his Native Hawaiian and Hilo cultures and communities in his belief that the university should be managed collaboratively with aloha.

“Being a senator is a incredibly challenging job,” Nahale-a said. “They take a lot of heat and criticism. Our senators deserve aloha, too. I don’t think they always get it. … We’re in a space now where we’re just quick to criticize. We say terrible things to each other.”

Issues such as the student housing crisis therefore end up “weaponized,” he said, “because it’s easier to make someone else wrong than (to say), ‘How are we all responsible?’”