Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/decades-later-japanese-american-students-graduate Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript More than 60 years since they were forced to leave their university during World War II, Japanese-Americans have received their honorary diplomas and an official apology from Oregon State University. Lee Hochberg reports on their long-awaited graduation. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JIM LEHRER: Next, an apology and belated degrees. They're for Japanese-Americans who were forced out of their university during World War II.NewsHour correspondent Lee Hochberg of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports. LEE HOCHBERG, NewsHour Correspondent: It was a day more than six decades in coming on the campus of Oregon State University, as 4,500 young men and women ready to receive their diplomas, 23 much older Japanese-American former students were finally about to receive theirs.Sixty-six years ago, the Japanese honorees were themselves kids on this Oregon campus. But the U.S. government took them out of the university and sent them, along with 120,000 other Japanese-Americans, to internment camps.University President Edward Ray. EDWARD RAY, President, Oregon State University: This is the commencement ceremony that you should have had so many years ago. And this is the opportunity for all of us to tell you publicly how sorry we are for your pain.