Author: Marleen Wallingford

The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) announced that the 2023 National Scholarship and Awards Program is now underway. The JACL annually offers approximately 30 college scholarships for students who are incoming college freshmen, undergraduates and graduates, and those specializing in law and the creative/performing arts. There are also financial aid scholarships for those demonstrating a need for financial assistance.  

Scholarship Program guidelines, instructions, and applications have been posted on the JACL website, www.jacl.org, and can be accessed by clicking the “Youth” tab on the menu bar. You may also click the button below “To Learn More or Apply Click Here.”

Following previous years, the application forms for the scholarship program will be completely online. Freshman applications must be submitted directly by the applicant to National JACL through the online form no later than March 6, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (HST).  

These freshman applications will then be disseminated to their respective chapters for review. Chapters will have one month to evaluate their applications and forward the names of the most outstanding applicants to National JACL. It is these applications that shall be forwarded to the National Freshman Scholarship Committee for final selection.

Applications for the non-freshman scholarship categories (undergraduate, graduate, law, creative/performing arts, and financial aid) are also to be sent directly by the applicant to National JACL through the online form no later than April 3, 2023, 11:59 p.m. Hawaiian Standard Time (HST).  

All those applying to the National JACL Scholarship Program must be a youth/student or individual member of the JACL; a couple/family membership held by a parent does NOT meet this requirement. Applicants must be enrolled in school in Fall 2023 in order to be eligible for a scholarship. If a student has received two National scholarship awards previously, they are no longer eligible to apply as the limit is two national awards per person.

For more information on the National JACL Scholarship Program, contact Scholarship Program Manager, Matthew Weisbly at scholarships@jacl.org

On October 31st, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two current affirmative action cases: Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and SFFA v. Harvard University. JACL has joined 36 other AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) civil rights organizations and advocates in signing onto Asian American Advancing Justice (AAJC)’s amicus brief in support of race-conscious admissions. The amicus brief details the harms and addresses misconceptions of race-neutral admission practices. As we get closer to a decision by the courts in these cases, we must stay committed to preventing any potential action that can impede our ability to express our identities and lived experiences.

SFFA?s representation of the Asian American community as victims of Affirmative Action is a subtle example of how Asian Americans historically have been and continue to be leveraged toward dividing communities of color. As noted in the amicus brief, there is no evidence of the exclusion of Asian Americans by race-conscious admissions in higher education. Furthermore, Harvard, and UNC, among many other institutions that have implemented a race-conscious admissions system have only granted more opportunities for AANHPI identifying students to pursue higher education. It is our responsibility, as a community, to challenge these false notions perpetuated by the SFFA and the Project on Fair Representation, and unify our voice in cohesion with the 69% of Asian American voters that support Affirmative Action, and the millions that benefit from it nationwide.

Earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the controversial ?Don?t Say Gay? bill into law for his state. Also this week, in Utah, a bill that would bar transgender youth from participating in girls’ sports was vetoed by the governor, only to be overturned by the state legislature. These bills come following a string of similar anti-LGBTQIA+ laws that have been introduced across the country and in several instances, already becoming law. As staunch supporters of the LGBTQIA+ community, JACL condemns the actions of Governor DeSantis and many others who have sought to attack the LGBTQIA+ community through these legislative efforts.

The LGBTQIA+ community, and especially LGBTQIA+ youth, have long faced discrimination and violence, which has caused higher rates of health risks and suicide. JACL has been an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community for many years, passing our first national resolution in support of same-sex marriage in 1994. We have seen so much change in our society in amazing ways to support the LGBTQIA+ community over the past 30 years. To see these new laws taking the nation a step backward is not only disheartening but also extremely dangerous.

We join the hundreds of other organizations and community groups nationwide standing with the LGBTQIA+ community in Florida and across the country who are fighting these bills. We hope that politicians listen to all their constituents, especially those who are directly impacted by these laws, instead of the disinformation and vitriol supporting such discriminatory legislation. The JACL demands inclusion and acceptance for members of the LGBTQIA+ community in order to help nurture our youth and future generations.

The JACL applauds the unanimous passage of the Japanese American Confinement Education (JACE) Act in the House of Representatives on March 15, 2022.

In 2006, the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) Program was established for the preservation and interpretation of U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II. This original legislation was introduced by then-Representative Bill Thomas, Doris Matsui, and Mike Honda. Since the first year of funding in Fiscal Year 2009, $36 million has been provided to 268 projects in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Funding has ranged from as little as $5,000 to over $800 thousand for a single project.

The JACE act provides an additional $42 million dollars in funding for a total of $80 million. Of that total, $10 million in funding may be used by Japanese American organizations to implement education programs to ensure that present and future generations of Americans will learn from the experience of Japanese American confinement and our country?s subsequent commitment to equal justice under law. This funding will be used for research and education relating to Japanese American incarceration, and the creation and disbursement of educational materials to promote a national understanding of how and why Japanese Americans were incarcerated during WWII.

JACL is thankful to Representative Doris Matsui for her leadership in authoring and championing the JACE Act. We are also grateful to Chairman Neguse, Ranking Member Fulcher, and the rest of the members of the National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands subcommittee for shepherding the JACE act to passage. We would also like to thank the 67 bi-partisan co-sponsors for their support.

We call upon the Senate to swiftly pass the JACE act (S.988) to ensure continued funding to the JACS grant program.

On February 27th, Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) went on CNN and suggested that Russian students should be expelled from the country as a potential pressure point against Russia. Swalwell said, ?Frankly, I think closing their embassy in the United States, kicking every Russian student out of the United States, those should all be on the table.?

The JACL would like to remind the Congressman that his district encompasses an area from where many Japanese Americans were forcibly removed during WWII, leading to the disruption and end of college careers. The disruption of promising college careers was one of many traumas inflicted upon incarcerated Japanese Americans that would have lifelong implications. Only in the last few years have universities begun to take responsibility for the role they played in discriminating against Japanese American students during the war whether through expulsion.

Recent years have seen similar attacks and calls against Chinese students and scientists. Actions against students, targeted only on the basis of their nationality, is discriminatory. Where there is reasonable suspicion of nefarious activity, law enforcement should of course take action, but national origin should not serve as the basis for making these decisions.

JACL supports the Neighbors Not Enemies Act to repeal the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 that gives the President the power to detain, relocate, or deport immigrants from hostile countries in a time of war. This law has been invoked to justify the mass incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans during WWII and could be used to justify Congressman Swalwell?s misguided calls for expulsion of Russian students.

Despite multiple efforts to engage, Representative Swalwell has refused JACL?s request to meet regarding his statement.

Atsuhiko Tateuchi Memorial Scholarship
? $5,000 scholarship, renewable annually.
? This scholarship is offered to the following types of students:
o Graduating High School Seniors planning to attend an accredited vocational school, college, or university (2-year or 4-year degrees).
o Students returning to school or currently enrolled in an accredited college or university seeking support to continue their degree.
o Students entering or enrolled in graduate or professional degree programs (MA, PhD, MD, JD, etc.).
? Preference will be given to students of Japanese ancestry or other Asian ancestry.
? Students must be a resident of Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon, or Washington State.
? Must demonstrate financial need.
? Application available on Survey Monkey Apply:
o Students pursing undergraduate or graduate degrees: https://seattlefoundation.smapply.org/prog/tateuchi/
? Deadline to apply: March 1, 2022.