Under a mix of hot sun and passing rain, hundreds of students, alumni, lawmakers and community members gathered Tuesday morning on the grounds of Iolani Palace — a site steeped in Hawaiian history — to show solidarity with Kamehameha Schools and its long-standing admissions policy favoring Native Hawaiian students.

Most in the crowd wore blue, the color associated with the schools’ founder, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. They carried Hawaiian flags, along with banners and posters decorated with messages such as “Ku i ka pono” and “Ola Pauahi, Ola Hawai‘i,” forming a sea of support less than 24 hours after the school called for the rally.

The event came on the heels of a new lawsuit filed Monday by Students for Fair Admissions — the same nonprofit that successfully challenged affirmative

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