In 1942, during World War II, Executive Order 9066 authorized the removal of Japanese Americans from the west coast. Students—most of whom were born in the United States—were forced to withdraw from high school and college and move into internment camps.
In response to what they perceived as an injustice, several individuals began
the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund in 1942. This Fund provided financial support for Japanese American students to leave the camps in which they were interned and allowed them to attend college.
In honor of those who assisted them in the 1940s, some of the Japanese Americans began the Nisei Student Relocation Commemorative Fund (NSRCF). Understanding how relocation and cultural differences can sometimes be barriers to education, the founding members decided that they wanted to provide scholarships to Southeast Asian American high school students to attend college. Each year the fund chooses a state for these one-time scholarships, and in 2003, they chose Arizona as the site for the 2006 scholarship program.
In Fall 2005, however, Hurricane Katrina devastated communities along the Gulf States, where several Southeast Asian American communities are located. This natural disaster forced those families in the path of the hurricane or flooding to evacuate their residences. The challenge these families now face in rebuilding their lives and their communities is enormous, similar to the challenge faced by Japanese American families when they exited the camps.
In the spirit of the original Student Relocation Fund, NSRCF provided scholarships in 2006 to Vietnamese, Lao, Khmer/Cambodian, or Hmong students in those areas of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi who were affected by Katrina and are entering college this year. In this way the national NSCRF committee, as well as the local Arizona NSRCF committee, seeks to provide hope to these students that they can continue their education.
For 2008, the NSRCF Scholarship is back in Arizona. Scholarships ranging from $500 to $2000 will be awarded to Southeast Asian Americans who live and attend school in Arizona. Students must be planning to enter a two-year or four-year accredited program (university, community college, cosmetology, mechanic, or vocational school) beginning in Summer or Fall 2008.
Eligible students may be American-born of Southeast Asian ancestry, immigrants from Southeast Asia, or children of refugees from Southeast Asia. Southeast Asian in our context are the people affected by the Vietnam War:
1) Historically (the so-called “Boat People” from Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos,
including Hmong, Mien),
2) Present day (people who continue to come from Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos),
3) American-born children (or adoptees) of the refugees who came to the U.S. in the 1970s and 1980s.
Application forms may be requested from: http://asu.edu/clas/apas/pdf/nsrcfscholarshippacket.pdf
Complete applications require completed application form, essay, trancript, and two letters of reference. The extended postmark deadline is May 1, 2008.
