Form Letter from Dillon S. Myer to College and University Presidents dated August 7, 1942

Form Letter from Dillon S. Myer, Director of the War Relocation Authority to College and University Presidents dated August 7, 1942. American Friends Service Committee, Acc. 4791, Box 1, Folder 1-20. UW Libraries Special Collections.

WAR RELOCATION AUTHORITY
Washington

August 7, 1942

To College and University Presidents:

A number of inquiries have come to use asking whether it is permissible to enroll in colleges and universities American citizens of Japanese origin who are not now living at assembly centers operated by the War Department, or at relocation centers operated by the War Relocation Authority.

Neither the War Department nor the War Relocation Authority wishes to interpose any objection to the attendance of these students in colleges or universities and it is hoped that their applications will be considered on their individual merits exactly as applications from other American citizens.

Until the recent mass of evacuation of all Japanese from western military areas, a large portion of students of Japanese origin was enrolled in West Coast universities. Most of these students are now living in assembly centers and relocation centers. The National Student Relocation Council, 20 South Twelfth Street, Philadelphia, was established at the specific request of this authority to assist in arranging for the placement of American-born Japanese students in colleges and universities outside military areas. The Council is, therefore, a quasi-official agency, and we bespeak your full cooperation in its program.

You may be confident that any student relocated at your university through the efforts of the Council will have undergone a thorough investigation as to his loyalty to the United States. The Kibei groups who have been partially educated in Japan will not be granted leave either from assembly centers or relocation centers to attend colleges.

Sincerely yours,
DILLION S. MEYER (sic)
Director