The University of Hawaii Manoa Faculty Senate has postponed a no-confidence vote on embattled UH President M.R.C. Greenwood.

The senate had scheduled a possible vote for its meeting this afternoon. But the group, made up of representatives from UH-Manoa departments, decided to postpone the vote indefinitely after hearing from Greenwood and a senate committee, which recommended taking up the issue at another time.

Greenwood defended her actions after finding out about the Athletic Department’s loss of $200,000 in an apparent scam involving a bogus Stevie Wonder concert and she pointed the finger at lawmakers, who she said put “improper” political pressure on her to reverse the decision to transfer former Athletic Director Jim Donovan to a new job in the UH Manoa Chancellor’s Office.

“For me, the most important issue here is not the so-called ‘Wonder blunder,'” Greenwood said. “It is a much more fundamental concern for the independence of this fine institution.”

Greenwood said she was threatened with hearings and cuts to the UH budget if Donovan was not returned as athletic director.

“The reason I did not (keep Donovan as athletic director) was to protect the university and its independence,” she said.

Doug Vincent, the chairman of the Faculty Senate Committee on Administration and Budget, said committee members are still “deeply troubled” by Greenwood’s lack of consultation with the faculty and “patterns of behaviors.” But “there’s a lot that we don’t know yet,” and the committee would like to discuss the motion further and see if Greenwood makes progress.

“If things don’t change favorably, we would certainly consider it (taking up the motion again),” he said.