WWII-era students receiving degrees

Honorary degrees will be given to Japanese American students sent to internment camps

By: Regi Seitz

Posted: 6/4/08

At the commencement ceremony on June 15, OSU will recognize the 42 Japanese American students who were removed from OSU's campus after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.

For many of these Americans with Japanese heritage, it was a simple letter that changed the courses of their lives.

The U.S. government sent out a letter informing citizens that they only had a few days to leave their lives and board a bus for an internment camp.

Honorary degrees will be given to 22 individuals and family members representing those who were evacuated from the campus in 1941.

It has been more than 65 years since 3,500 Japanese Americans living in Oregon were forced to relocate to internment camps.

Unfortunately, more than half of those who would receive degrees have died, according to an article in the Gazette Times.

According to Gale Thomas, a professor of multicultural studies, the U.S. government ordered its military to evacuate both citizens and noncitizens with Japanese ancestry from 1942 to 1944.

"Those who were evacuated suffered tremendous losses," Thomas said. "They were forced to sell their homes and belongings on very short notice and live in crowded and unsanitary conditions."

Noboru Endow was a sophomore studying chemistry when he received his letter and was forced to leave OSU.

"[The honorary degrees] are an opportunity for people to recognize the gravity of the situation then and the gravity of the situation now for civil right infringements that take place when we're at war," Endow said.

"The government shouldn't have the power they do to imprison people without due process."

"It is especially important to highlight these past injustices that revoked the rights of, and imprisoned, people because of fear and racism," said Joel Fischer, a senior in ethnic studies.

To quote one son of an internee, "We have a lot in common with Arab Americans."

"The healing of racial tensions, past and present, can happen when people from different races and ethnicities decide to stop treating each other as 'others' but as their fellow human with as much intrinsic value as themselves," Fischer said.

Fischer and Andrew Kiyuna, a senior in ethnic studies, were a major force in pushing the idea. Kiyuna and Fischer pressed legislators to sponsor a related bill signed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

The idea for the honorary degrees was initiated in a philosophy class, according to Fischer.

"[Kiyuna] pursued the idea as an intern in the ASOSU and [he] made good progress; but ultimately, the voice of one student didn't quite reach the administration," Fischer said.

Eight months later, when Fischer was working as a legislative assistant to Rep. Tina Kotek, he inquired about introducing a bill that would create a law making it the policy of the state to honor such students.

"She agreed and had the bill drafted, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive," Fischer said.

Other private schools in Oregon have followed OSU's lead, including Willamette and Pacific University.

Some of the students who were evacuated have been difficult to find, according to Sandy Tsuneyoshi, director of Intercultural Student Services and coordinator of the Asian/Pacific American education office.

"We are still looking for many of them," Kiyuna said.

Three of the living former students and family members of 13 others are expected to attend the event, according to the Gazette Times article.

Endow will join former students and family members in receiving an honorary degree during OSU's commencement ceremony.

Regi Seitz, staff writer

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