A petition aims to change the way the University of Hawaii chooses the next head of its athletics department.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- A petition is going around to change and/or add more members to the committee board to find a new athletics director at the University of Hawaii.
The current board sparked controversy in the community due to lack of diversity.
Some UH alumni told KITV4 this is not a good look for the university and they hope they can make adjustments to the committee before a final decision is made.
UH student Aldan Sampson agreed that there needs to be diversity on the board.
"You have a whole bunch of ethnicities here and you can even see on the football team a lot of our players are Hawaiian, Samoan not just people from the mainland," said Sampson.
Former UH football player Kent Untermann urges the community to not lose sight of the goal which is to find the best candidate to be the athletic director. He said we need to focus on the outcome, not the makeup.
"People that are on that committee are the right people who care, who know the university, and who know what we need. I think if we held them accountable, that would be more productive," said Untermann.
Joe Nickerson, a University of Hawaii senior, said he does not believe there should be any controversy with this decision, as long as the members are qualified to be on the board.
“I don’t think diversity or lack of diversity matters because it should be based off job experience and whoever is most qualified for that position," said Nickerson.
The chosen candidate will replace David Matlin who retires in June 2023.
Those interested in applying for the job should submit their applications by Mar. 10.
