UC Berkeley awards honorary degrees to former students sent to WWII internment campus

UC Berkeley awards degrees to WWII internees

BERKELEY, Calif. — Forty-two former University of California, Berkeley students have received their diplomas nearly seven decades after their studies were disrupted when they were sent to internment camps during World War II.

The Japanese Americans, now in their 80s, were awarded honorary degrees at a special ceremony Sunday at UC Berkeley. Also attending were family members of 78 other former students who had died or were too infirm to attend.

In 1942, the U.S. government sent about 120,000 people of Japanese descent to internment camps throughout the West, including more than 2,500 students enrolled in California public colleges and universities.

UC and California State University campuses are honoring them with honorary degrees over the next several months.