A circle finally closes

The University of Washington Board of Regents rightly has approved awarding honorary baccalaureate degrees to Japanese American students incarcerated in relocation camps during World War II. It is a welcome redress of one of the nation's darkest moments.

More than 400 undergraduates were uprooted from their studies after President Franklin Roosevelt in 1942 signed an executive order sending some 120,000 West Coast residents of Japanese ancestry to internment camps.The regents' decision last week capped an extraordinary, collective endeavor on the part of a university librarian, an alumni-magazine editor, UW faculty and administration, and the Japanese American and UW alumni communities, among others.

"It's a fantastic effort, from many areas," says Tetsuden Kashima, professor of American ethnic studies who, along with associate professor Gail Nomura, presented the resolution to the regents.

Kashima said the UW so far knows of about 90 former students still living, from the 440 or so who left the university without finishing their degrees. UW officials continue to search; Kashima said others may contact him or Nomura through the Department of American Ethnic Studies.

Nomura became interested in the fate of World War II-era Japanese American students at the UW after one of them, following a telecast of former UW student Gordon Hirabayashi's "Day of Remembrance" speech in 2000, mentioned to her that he was forced to leave campus one course short of graduating, according to UW officials.

Kashima and Nomura realized individual graduation appeals would be difficult to mount at this point. The idea of "honorary" degrees developed and was aided by research from Theresa Mudrock, a UW history librarian who had examined the fate of area Japanese Americans during World War II.

In fact, it was Mudrock's research into the UW's response to Roosevelt's executive order — a public expression of support for the students — that led to a two-part series in Columns, the UW alumni magazine, by its editor, Tom Griffin. The series was called "The Stolen Years," an examination of the Japanese American students' plight.

Kashima calls the UW act a "completion and closure." At long last.