The CA Nisei College Diploma Project provides critical outreach to aid in the process of obtaining an honorary degree while also educating college students and surrounding communities about the historical context and consequences of the Japanese American imprisonment caused by Executive Order 9066. Working in collaboration with California college systems, numerous community organizations and Union
Bank, the CA Nisei Project will maximize the scope of the community outreach to identify and locate those eligible to benefit from the legislation. Over 2,500 students of Japanese ancestry are estimated to have been in school at the time with the Nisei or second generation Japanese Americans comprising the largest number affected. Assembly Member Warren Furutani asserts, “AB 37 seeks to complete the unfinished business of properly honoring those individuals whose lives were unjustly interrupted because of our country’s misguided wartime policy.” In support of efforts to both honor the individuals and educate the public, he continues, “This was a time of considerable discrimination, and while the acts may be in the past, they should not be forgotten.”
Effective October 11, 2009, AB 37 requires that the Trustees of the California State University and the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges grant honorary degrees to all people whose education was interrupted because of their incarceration during World War II. On July 16, 2009, the Regents of the University of California unanimously agreed to suspend the University’s moratorium on granting honorary degrees, thereby allowing all students whose education was interrupted by being sent to concentration camps to have the honor bestowed upon them. As a result of Assembly Bill 781, authored by former Assembly member Sally Lieber, over 415 honorary high school diplomas were disseminated from over 80 schools throughout California, between 2004 and 2005, in recognition of Japanese Americans whose high school years were interrupted due to the forced removal and incarceration during World War II. Important connections between the schools, district and county offices and the Japanese American communities have been forged through the California Nisei High School Diploma Project and many people were inspired by the participants’ courage and resilience, touching them by sharing the experience.
“We are honored to have this opportunity to witness the reclaiming of one’s youth and the restoring of hope in the nation’s future that history does not repeat its past injustices,” quotes Paul Osaki, the Executive Director of the JCCCNC. The project is made possible with funding from the California State Library through the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP) and Union Bank. Application forms will soon be available at selected Union Bank branches and community organizations in the State of California, including the JCCCNC.
