USC to Apologize to Japanese American Students

The University of Southern California will apologize for its treatment of Japanese American students whose educations were disrupted during World War II, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Unlike many other West Coast institutions, USC refused to release transcripts of Japanese American students so they could study elsewhere after a 1942 presidential executive order forced the removal of all people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast. Family members said USC refused to honor previously completed coursework of Japanese American students who attempted to disenroll after the war. Now, 15 years after Japanese American alumni first demanded the university make amends, USC president Carol Folt plans to apologize to the Japanese American former students and award them honorary degrees posthumously.