The University of Hawaii will be looking for a new president and chief executive officer for its struggling athletic fundraising arm, ‘Ahahui Koa Anuenue, following Friday’s announcement that Jon Kobayashi has resigned.
Kobayashi, who began the job Jan. 3, 2014, will leave effective Jan. 13, 2017, as the organization prepares to mark its 50th anniversary.
A UH spokesman said, “The plan is to reevaluate the structure of the organization before moving forward with any staffing decisions. All of our stakeholders will all be involved in this conversation.”
In an email to the organization’s board of directors, Kobayashi said “…I have decided to leave next month and will pursue an opportunity to resume my legal career in Honolulu.”
Kobayashi previously was general manager for a hotel in Washington state for seven years and was a partner in a Honolulu law firm for 13 years.
His departure from AKA comes in the wake of a critical independent audit presented to the school’s Board of Regents this month.
In 2014 a realigned AKA moved into the athletic department after operating out of the UH Foundation and was tasked with adding revenue streams for athletics.
But a statement released by the athletic department this month read, “The reality of achieving the financial improvements as quickly as anticipated have been challenging for a variety of reasons. As a result, while there have been successes in certain areas, overall fundraising has not achieved the levels originally anticipated.”
Athletic director David Matlin told regents athletic fundraising was lagging $1.4 million behind the average of its peers.
In a statement released by UH on Friday, Kobayashi said, “The decision to leave AKA was difficult but ultimately the right one for me and my family at this juncture.”
Matlin said in a statement, “We appreciate Jon’s efforts and commitment to UH Athletics and AKA. We wish him well as he pursues his legal career and thank him for making a difference for our student-athletes.”
