With graduation approaching, all students that have filed for graduation will celebrate their commencement on May 14 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. This will be Bakersfield College’s 96th Commencement ceremony. Also this commencement will have added honors to those students who attended BC before 1945 and were of Japanese descent and sent to the camps when World War II took place.
Sue Vaughn, director of admissions and records, was the person put in charge of finding these individuals or their relatives, since most of them are deceased. Through looking at the BC archives and sorting out old transcripts prior to 1945, some of the students were successfully contacted.
The majority of the students that were asked to relocate are not in the United States and in response to that fact, Vaughn added, “If they cannot come to the commencement, we are sending their honorary diplomas to them.”
When the Japanese students were forced to relocate, “Bakersfield College was good to these students,” said Vaughn. “Not only did BC mail them their diploma but also their yearbook.”
There are three kinds of people who will be eligible to receive this diploma: those who were supposed to graduate in 1941, those who were going to continue and those who did not finish because of the relocation camps.
Those who will attend commencement and are able to participate will wear red cap and gowns to be distinguished among the rest.
“When diplomas are presented, they will go first and we will reserve seats for their families,” she added.
Relatives of those who are deceased will still be awarded with the same honorary diplomas, but they will not wear cap and gowns.
“This is important to recognize, because those people had something taken away from them,” added Vaughn. “I feel good that we can give a little something back.”
BC student Shawn Newsom’s mother, Virginia Salazar, is of Japanese descent and she will be part of the descendants present. “I am very thankful to the college for recognizing these people who were taken away from their home and school,” Newsom said. “My mother will be waving her Japanese flag and it will make graduation day so much more special,” he said.