P.E.O. Record
Long Time Coming:
Grace Amemiya Receives UCSF Honorary Degree
Grace Amemiya on graduation day
Readers of The P.E.O. Record may recall an interview in the January-February 2009 issue (page 48) with “A P.E.O. You Should Know” named Grace Amemiya, KC, Ames, Iowa. Grace was a nursing student at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), in 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Her education was interrupted when she and her family, along with 120,000 other Americans of Japanese heritage, were detained in internment camps.
Over 40 years later an investigation into the executive order mandating the incarceration of these Japanese Americans found that it was based on prejudice and war hysteria. Redress payments and official apology letters were sent to surviving internees.
While this was a small step toward righting the wrong against them, the time and experiences lost during encampment left a gaping hole in the lives of many Japanese Americans.
For Grace and nearly 700 other students, their time in the camps meant an interruption in their studies at UC San Francisco. While some students did return to UCSF to complete their education, approximately 400 of them did not, either discontinuing their higher education or attending school elsewhere.
Grace went on to continue her nursing studies at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, where she earned her degree, but she always regretted having to leave UC San Francisco.
In 2008 a task force was formed to bring justice to the students who were prevented from completing their degrees due to wartime incarceration. Grace spoke before the University of California Board Grace Amemiya on graduation day of Regents in San Francisco in July, 2009, when the board voted to issue a one-time suspension of a moratorium on honorary degrees and grant honorary degrees to UC students who could not complete their degrees because of the executive order that sent them to internment camps. Grace said, “Today’s vote for honorary degrees fills my heart with joy. I’m glad the university is recognizing that what the government did was wrong and now my classmates and I can finally take our place as full-fledged UC alumni.”
All former students who were kept from completing their UC educations, living and deceased, will receive the honorary degrees, which bear the inscription “Inter Silvas Acedemi Restituere Lustitiam”— “to restore justice among the groves of the academe.” On December 4, 2009, a graduation ceremony was held, complete with caps and gowns, pomp and circumstance, to honor the students. Most of the internees have passed away—their families accepted degrees on their behalf—but in attendance to receive her UCSF degree was Grace. Beaming from ear-to-ear, Grace accepted the diploma she waited more than 60 years to receive. “I felt so honored,” she said. “I’ve been floating…and my two feet have not come down yet.”
The University of California is still trying to locate former students who should receive the honorary degrees. Alumni and family members with information can call 510-987-0239 or email honorarydegree@ucop.edu