Most students have noticed the signs in front of the cherry trees that line the walk to Wheelock Student Center, but not everyone knows why they are there. As Puget Sound student Zeb Howell put it, “nobody knows what the names are for unless they know what they are for.”
The names are part of a tradition that the school has in place to honor the 36 Japanese American students who were forced to leave campus and spend the next year and a half of their life in an internment camp. These students left one final gift to our campus: 16 Japanese cherry trees that were planted in what they called a “friendship circle.”
Unfortunately, the original trees no longer exist, reportedly being damaged at some point. The signs in front of the replacement cherry trees are up now because Feb. 19 marked the day when FDR signed the executive order that relocated Japanese Americans, including legal citizens, to internment camps.
In hindsight, Puget Sound students recognize the injustice of what happened. “You can’t treat people with inhumanity. Each person is a human being and you can’t just deface or devalue someone just because you are scared or because you are afraid of what they might do or what they might say,” Puget Sound student Ariana Lim said.
Long after the war had ended, the American government began to come to the same conclusion as Lim. In 1988, Congress gave the surviving interns $20,000 in apology. Puget Sound has also done many things to honor the students whose rights and education were cut short by the executive order. In 1989, the school planted the new cherry trees to replace the originals, which had been damaged, and began the tradition of commemorating the names of the students who were forced to leave the school.
“It is just one simple way of remembering, and for me that’s important. And in this case, about our Japanese American students, but we need to find all kinds of ways to do that in terms of our history and our roots, our culture,” Dean of Students Mike Segawa said.
While the plaques are certainly noticeable, they generate mixed feelings in the community. Students and faculty alike agree that recognizing and honoring those students who were forced to leave is important, and though the plaques certainly accomplish that, there are some who feel it is not enough.
“There are, I think, some points of looking at this. One being that, the past is in the past and the University is a more inclusive place now. At the same time, how do you make up for completely classifying an entire race as traitors to the place that they call home now?” Polliwog Park said.
Several interviewed students shared the sentiment that the showing of the names without also explaining their meaning defeats the purpose. There is a permanent plaque in front of one of the trees that explains their purpose and significance, but it could easily be missed.
“I think the signs are a great thing, but I also think we can do more to make students aware of what they’re for, because in the past I know lots of new students would be questioning why they were there,” junior Brenda Miller said.
In addition to the plaques, the Asian Pacific Alliance Student Union, or APASU, also hangs origami cranes each year in the piano lounge to further recognize the interned students. “The way that I had always come to understand it is that it comes down to awareness. You don’t need to go so far as to be describing the situation exactly, but you know, this happened and we are not going to forget that it happened,” Howell said.
In 2009, Puget Sound invited the remaining students and their families back to the campus to receive honorary diplomas. Of the original 36 students, only 13 were able to attend the ceremony in person; five were represented by their families, and 18 students could not be located.
“The families were very, very appreciative, even though for many of us the refrain was it’s been much too long, and so it was a little bittersweet in that regard in that we were able to have a handful of the students come back,” Segawa said.
All students and faculty agreed that something is better than nothing, and just so long as the campus continues to honor these students, we are moving in the right direction.
“It’s becoming increasingly important because we don’t have the first person voices to remind and share,” Segawa said.
“There are lessons to be taken from this and there are things that should not be forgotten,” added Park.