Hawaii’s Board of Regents are about to start the process to select a new president. This is an open letter to those candidates, the regents and even the Legislature.

There is a movement, a narrative in the U.S. these days that argues the reason to go to college is not to become educated but to only get a higher paying job.

It’s not about knowledge, or critical thinking, or meeting different people with different ideas. It’s just economics. (You can look it up on the internet!) Oh, and whether it is mainly entertainment or to meet a mate. Some argue it is not worth the cost.

If you embrace these narrow views, you can stop reading right now. This short essay is about the life of the mind that may affect what people do, or think, or enjoy, or contribute for the rest of a lifetime.

Many years ago, I was admitted to a well-known 4-year university as a music education major. That meant I had yearly requirements just in the school of music, including music history.

But on top of that, I was required to take a foreign language, English literature, history, etc. I even had classes with football players who later had NFL careers. There was attention to and pride in what a graduate should know and who they might know.

Years later I entered the University of Hawaii as a graduate student in Korean history, and as a teaching assistant for “World Civilizations,” which was a requirement for freshmen at Manoa. Generations remember lectures at the Varsity Theatre.

Because of this course, UH had made a commitment to its students to ensure they know something about the history of the world: Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific — not just current events, but for centuries.

It was unacceptable to be ignorant of the human experience. The UH Manoa history department was highly regarded, and the requirement meant it supported a full complement of faculty in that department.

Don’t Know Much About History

I was recently surprised to learn that history and “world civ” are no longer valued at UH Manoa. Oh, if you are interested in history as electives, maybe. But it’s not part of the meaning of a proud graduate of a first-class institution.

And if I should want to transfer to another school, will the UH experience travel well?

Here are the current general education requirements of Manoa. To be fair, they are all worthy categories.

In general, however, they are short on history of the world, the U.S. and Hawaii. They ignore any focus on civics, citizenship education and democracy.

Why is this important?

We have a major political movement that believes a U.S. president “controls” the courts in most states, or controls state or local prosecutors. The a president can “rig” an election or embrace lie after lie about how constitutions, or laws or the three branches of government work.

Regarding required higher education courses: It’s hard to say you were educated on a topic, such as world, American or Hawaiian history, unless you were 1) taught it, 2) understood it, 3) remember it and 4) can apply it.

A senior UH Manoa administrator recently pushed back on the very idea of a required course. It would be so difficult to have any required courses, I heard.

But if you never were taught world geography and how it shaped history, how can you hope to understand climate change? Environmental literacy is apparently not considered important!

What about American democracy? Is a UH grad expected to know about the U.S. Bill of Rights? Expected to understand how it applies to their lives, and can actually remember some of them? What about the Civil War? Slavery? The Great Depression? World War II? The Vietnam War? Nixon? 9/11? Japan, China and Korea? Obama? The Hawaii ’78 ConCon?

Is it OK for a UH grad to be ignorant of all these, especially at a four-year campus such as UH Manoa or West Oahu? Is it OK to have no clue how the Legislature works? Or what a grand jury does? Never required to read a Supreme Court case? Never even read a law?

We seem to often have tepid standards when it comes to boasting “I am a College Graduate!” Not all good education is entertaining. We want choice!

Some quality education stretches us to learn about or do things that are new and even boring. Many remember poorly taught, poorly evaluated courses.

It is true that college profs are not required to be skilled teachers. Too many courses are taught by non-professors. Maybe UH needs more funding to afford higher quality teachers.

Yet, even with a mission statement referencing the UH support of Hawaiian-related culture and courses, it is still possible to never know about so many social, economic, political, religious and Hawaiian events. Kamehameha? The missionaries? Asian immigration? Industrial agriculture? The 442? Unions? John Burns? Ariyoshi? Fasi? Matsunaga? Mink? Inouye? Gill?

All these are part of our story and must be understood to understand today’s issues. Maybe some will attain this knowledge on their own, but most may not. Is it true we don’t care?

Today so many Americans and Hawaii residents so distrust most institutions that they believe the system is “rigged.” So much national TV news is about opinion and quoting a small number of politicians. We don’t ask What or Why as often as we ask Who.

Many may have different views as to what courses and experiences might be requirements at UH. Yet if we dismiss the story of the human race, its many cultures, philosophies, government systems, languages, conflicts, technological successes, the growth of science, the journey and constant struggle for women’s rights over time — are we just living in our own bubbles?

History matters. Knowledge matters. Let’s make UH matter.

You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.