Donation establishes new chair
By Jennifer Case
Feb. 17, 2004 9:00 p.m.
A Japanese American who had been forced to enter an internment
camp in the 1940s has donated $500,000 to UCLA’s Asian
American Studies Center. The center will establish the
nation’s first endowed academic chair to focus on the World
War II internment of Japanese Americans.
The establishment of the chair, announced this week, is named
after donors George Aratani and his wife Sakaye. The chair will
focus on Japanese American internment and the campaign to gain
compensation and a national apology, and will support research on
the historical and contemporary trends facing Japanese Americans
today.
“The purpose of this chair is to ensure the World War II
incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, as well as their
subsequent efforts, will always be remembered, taught and written
about for generations,” Aratani said in a statement from the
Asian American Studies Center.
Center Director Don Nakanishi said the center will appoint a
committee to select someone for the position within the next few
months.
“We may hire someone new, based on a national list of
candidates, or limit the position to our own faculty. The decision
will be decided by the committee,” Nakanishi said.
The Aratanis have supported UCLA’s Asian American Studies
Center for many years. Some of their previous endowments have been
for scholarships, graduate fellowships and internships.
“We are greatly honored that the Aratanis have endowed
this academic chair. It will ensure that the unjust removal and
incarceration of thousands of Japanese Americans during World War
II, as well as their extraordinary campaign to gain redress, will
be taught to future generations of students at UCLA,”
Nakanishi said.
UCLA typically offers one class each year on Japanese Americans.
On occasion, a course on the internment and some classes on the
redress process have been offered. But Nakanishi said the endowment
will allow this area of study at UCLA to expand.
Once the faculty member for the chair is selected, Nakanishi
said the Asian American Studies Center will decide which courses to
make available to students.
Aratani has said he believes the subject matter is significant
for students to learn.
“There are many important lessons that Americans and other
peoples can learn so that similar tragedies never happen
again,” Aratani said.
While a young man, Aratani and his mother were forced to leave
their family farm in central California and enter an internment
camp. His family lost their assets ““ consisting largely of
farm equipment, shipping and packing businesses ““ which
Aratani estimates at around $20 million. He later turned his
fortune around when he founded the companies Mikasa Dinnerware and
Kenwood Electronics.
This week marks the 62nd anniversary of the issuance of
Executive Order 9066 by President Franklin Roosevelt, which led to
the forced removal and detention of 120,000 Japanese Americans.
There were 175 Japanese American students at UCLA at the time,
who were forced to leave campus and enter camps.
“Japanese Americans suffered terribly with the forced
evacuation. And a guy like me, fortunate enough to have succeeded
in business, should help keep the memories alive,” Aratani
said.
With reports from Bruin wire services.
