Japanese Americans Interned during WWII to be Honored at SF State's Commencement 2010

This blog entry is dear to my heart and my cultural heritage. Japanese Americans who were forcefully sent to the internment camps during World War II and had their higher education disrupted, are eligible for an honorary degree from the University of California, California State University, or the Community College systems. If the person has passed away, a family representative is able to accept the honorary diploma on their behalf.

My alma mater and employer, SF State will be one of the select CSU campus honoring those students who had their lives disrupted by one of the most disturbing civil rights violations in modern United States history. Other CSU campuses holding ceremonies: Dominguez Hills, Fresno, San Diego, San Jose, and Cal Poly SLO.

Each campus honors those who currently live within their region or the closest to their current home; for SF State, they will honor those currently living in the Bay Area, even if the person attended a different CSU campus.

For more information, please visit: SF State's Commencement page dedicated to the Nisei project - http://www.sfsu.edu/commencement/nisei.htm

If the student attended any CSU campus, please contact (562) 951-4723 or e-mail: nisei@calstate.edu

If the student attended a California Community College, or University of California campus, please review this info sheet (PDF) and contact the representative of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California.

My wish came true, SF State President Robert Corrigan and other CSU campuses will give the honorary degrees at their commencement ceremonies. SF State will host their 109th Commencement on May 22, 2010.

BREAKING: Cal State University to Issue Bachelor Degrees to Japanese Americans Interned in WWII

This is truly a bittersweet moment to hear:

The Trustees of the California State University system will issue honorary bachelor degrees to any CSU student who was forcefully sent to internment camps during World War II (1941 to 1943).

The SF State Golden Gate [X]Press reports that all trustees voted in favor bill AB 37.

There are many Japanese American CSU students who were in college at the time of the war and had no choice but to leave when President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 that forced all Japanese Americans on the west coast to evacuate to assembly enters, and eventually internment camps.

Executive Order 9066 is considered one of the worst modern day violations of civil liberties and human rights in the United States. It always puts tears in my eyes when the U.S. government finally said they are so sorry for committing such an atrocity and hardship on the interned Japanese Americans, and compensated them with $20,000.

It took the efforts of the JACL, NCRR, and advocates like my late grandmother, Tsukayo "Sox" Kitashima to campaign the government to issue a formal apology and designate funds to compensate the survivors, and that dream came true in 1989.

Today, in 2009, we can proudly say that the CSU system can now issue bachelor degrees to any surviving and posthumously students who had their lives shattered with the stroke of a President's pen.

It would truly be an honor to witness a commencement ceremony this year at SF State to have President Robert Corrigan issue that degree.

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If you know any individuals that should be issued their bachelor's degree, or need to inquire about the passage AB 37, please contact: (562) 951-4723.

Please make sure to advocate to the appropriate CSU campus President to also hold a ceremony at their commencement ceremony in May.