The regents’ presidential selection committee, according to the students, wasn’t transparent, didn’t engage with the community and didn’t involve students throughout the process as originally promised, the students wrote in a resolution passed on Tuesday.

The group resolved to “enter a vote of no confidence in the University of Hawaii Regents’ Committee on Presidential Selection” and request that the committee restart its selection process and adhere to its original rules.

The resolution includes several complaints, including the last-minute scheduling of public forums during the end of the semester, which the group says precluded “optimal student involvement,” and the nomination of UH Interim President David Lassner, which the students say indicates partiality and might have dissuaded other applicants. 

Both Lassner and the other finalist — retired general Frank Wiercinski — fail to “elicit faith and optimism among the University of Hawaii student body,” the resolution says.