UC awards honorary degrees to WWII-era Japanese Americans

The University of California system announced on July 16 that it would bestow honorary degrees to about 400 former UC students of Japanese descent who were interned during World War II. The Board of Regents is trying to make amends to aging Japanese Americans whose educations were cut short decades ago. UC President Mark G. Yudof said in a statement that the the step was “long overdue” and described the incident as a “historical tragedy.” “To the surviving students themselves, and to their families, I want to say, ‘This is one way to apologize to you. It will never be possible to erase what happened, but we hope we can provide you a small measure of justice,’ ” Yudof said. The diplomas will bear the inscription Inter Silvas Academi Restituere Iustitiam—or “to restore justice among the groves of the academe.”

KJ