University of Hawaiʻi President Wendy Hensel addressed the rapid pace of federal policy changes and their growing impact on the 10-campus UH System at a public forum on April 21 at UH Mānoa. More than 120 attended in person and more than 1,000 joined via livestream.
Hensel held her first open forum on March 13, and held a second forum in response to a recommendation from the Presidential Advisory Council on Federal Policy.
Hensel opened the event with a 30-minute presentation detailing recent federal actions affecting international student visas, research funding and university operations. She emphasized UH’s core values at the start and conclusion of her remarks.
“When we say that these are the values and core mission that we stand for, let me say unequivocally, we are defending them, and we will continue to defend them,” said Hensel, who thanked the administration of Gov. Josh Green for its ongoing support. She noted that UH is participating in five lawsuits with the Hawaiʻi Attorney General.
Hensel described significant and ongoing impacts to UH research, reporting that as of the morning of April 21, 48 federally funded programs had been terminated, paused or phased out, affecting 82 employees and $36 million in awards. She spoke about the university’s financial stability, which she characterized as strong, and detailed recently implemented hiring and travel limitations.
Hensel also discussed the federal demand letter recently sent to Harvard University that included sweeping conditions on governance and campus expression, which Harvard is challenging in court.
“We absolutely stand with Harvard in this, and we absolutely would not submit to these types of conditions,” said Hensel. “It is fundamental to academic freedom and it’s fundamental to our core mission as a university. We are working with our sister and brother institutions in higher education to stand firmly together as a collective voice.”
- More: UH joins national call to protect higher education from government overreach, April 22, 2025
Questions from the UH community
The presentation was followed by a 40-minute Q&A session with Hensel and members of the UH leadership team, Vice President for Budget and Finance/Chief Financial Officer Kalbert Young, Vice President for Legal Affairs/University General Counsel Carrie Okinaga, Vice President for Research and Innovation Vassilis Syrmos, Vice President for Administration Jan Gouveia and UH Mānoa Chief Global Officer Brent White.
More than 160 questions were submitted online and in person, with 18 addressed during the session. Topics included the new hiring restrictions, immigration enforcement (Immigration FAQs) and visa revocations (International Students FAQs).
“We check the Student and Exchange Visitor Program records every morning to see if there are any terminations,” said White. “In the very few cases where it has happened, we have reached out to the student by email and by phone, and where possible, have an in-person conversation to connect them to available resources, including pro bono counsel where necessary.”
Hensel was asked whether UH plans to raise tuition to offset anticipated federal funding losses.
“We have not discussed increasing tuition,” said Hensel. “That will be a last resort.”
A number of questions submitted were about the new travel restrictions (Travel FAQs) and what “essential travel” means.
“There are exceptions that play into the definition of essential, including advancement toward promotion and tenure, including, are you delivering science or a research presentation at a conference?” said Hensel.
Congressional support
Near the end of the forum, U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who was in attendance, offered remarks affirming her support for UH and the broader academic community.
“I just wanted to be here to listen to the questions and the responses, and to assure all of you that you’ve got an ally in Congress fighting for these basic things, fighting for the rights of our students, our faculty of our community, to be able to gather, to question, to challenge, to think freely all parts of a very open democracy,” said Tokuda.
More information
More information—including leadership memos, messages from Hensel, executive orders from the new administration, and FAQs—is available on the UH New Federal Policy Updates and Resources webpage.
