I just came back from a Moot Court on this issue.
http://starbulletin.com/2003/11/18/news/story1.html
Kathleen Sullivan was arguing the side of the schools, saying that a policy of admitting only students with verifiable Hawaiian ancestry was acceptable.
The argument is based on the fact that no other similar institution has ever been privately funded, so Title VI of the civil rights act may not apply, since they don’t get Federal money.
It was tough going for Kathleen, who argued, among other things, that a privately funded school in Harlem could refuse to admit any student who did not have black ancestry. The bench could be described as hostile.
A really interesting case involving the limits of civil rights law, and its legal rationale, and the purpose and effectiveness of racial preferences. I had no idea there was anything like this out there before I went, so I thought people might be interested.