MEDIA RELEASE

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA), representing more than 4,000 UH faculty members at 10 campuses statewide, has endorsed former Congressman Ed Case (D ’02-’07) for the U.S. Senate.

UHPA’s board acted on the recommendation of its political endorsement committee, who interviewed Case and Mazie Hirono extensively.

UHPA said its decision was “based on who could best represent the interests of the University of Hawaii faculty, the students, and the role of public higher education in Congress, now and into the future.”

“I’m deeply grateful to UHPA for its thorough endorsement process and its support,” said Case. “I believe deeply in the role of higher education in growing our economy and bettering our country, and am all in to further the accomplishments and fulfill the promise of the University of Hawaii not only here in Hawaii but nationally, throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. I truly look forward to a great partnership with UH and its faculty and entire ohana over as critical a generation as any we’ve all faced.”

The full text of UHPA’s endorsement:

The University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA) board of directors has voted to endorse Ed Case for the U.S. Senate. UHPA represents nearly 4,000 faculty members at 10 campuses in the University of Hawaii system statewide.

The UHPA Political Endorsement Committee, composed of UH faculty members, spent considerable time interviewing Democratic candidates running for congressional seats over the past few weeks. The committee presented its recommendations to the board of directors this morning at a regularly scheduled monthly board meeting.

UHPA takes its political endorsements seriously and designed a process that would be a fair, effective assessment tool. The committee’s questions focused on funding for public higher education and the challenges facing faculty and students locally and across the nation.

The endorsement decision was based on who could best represent the interests of the University of Hawaii faculty, the students, and the role of public higher education in Congress, now and into the future.

“We believe Ed Case showed a seasoned perspective of the role of public higher education, and presented comprehensive solutions to challenges facing faculty that clearly showed his ability to draw connections,” said Adrienne Valdez, UHPA board president, who also served on the Political Endorsement Committee. “We believe he will earnestly reach out to faculty to explore possible solutions to issues if he is elected to the U.S. Senate.”

Case is running against Congresswoman Mazie Hirono in the primary for the U.S. Senate. They will be vying for the seat that will be vacated as a result of the retirement of veteran Senator Daniel Akaka and the winner of the general election will serve with senior Senator Daniel Inouye.

UHPA is sponsoring a new public website called facultyvotes.org that is being created specifically to provide a forum for discussion on the 2012 elections. It will include candidate endorsements and election issues important to faculty.

— Find out more:
www.edcase.com