I mentioned this story a few weeks back, about a special ceremony at the University of Washington to honor Japanese Americans who had to leave the university in 1942 to relocate to internment camps after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Over the weekend, more than sixty years later, those former students finally got to graduate: Former Japanese-American students graduate UW after a 66-year wait.
On Sunday, about 200 former UW students—most now in their 80s—or their family members accepted honorary diplomas. Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, a former internee himself, was on hand to deliver the keynote address. I'm sure for a lot of folks, it was about damn time. Congratulations to the class of 2008, finally.