The Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity recently bid farewell to Ark Chin and Gordon Hirabayashi.
Former 91探花 regent, Ark Chin, 鈥�50, 鈥�52, passed away on Sun., Nov. 13, 2011, at the age of 87.聽 A World War II veteran, engineering executive and avid philanthropist, Chin was a regent from 1998-2004, serving as board president in 2001-2002. Chin came to the United States from China at the age of 10. He received both a bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree in civil engineering from the UW. His initial schooling at 91探花was interrupted when he left to fight in World War II, where he was wounded twice and awarded a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.聽 Chin was president and CEO for the Seattle engineering firm Kramer, Chin & Mayo, Inc., until his retirement in 1989. Along with his wife of 64 years, Chin established scholarships for students in need at the 91探花(civil engineering) and Western Washington University. He was a champion for diversity and a long-time supporter of the 91探花Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity (OMA&D), contributing to OMA&D鈥檚 Educational Opportunity Program Scholarship Fund over the span of two decades.
Gordon Hirabayashi, the 91探花alumnus who opposed the federal government鈥檚 internment of Japanese-Americans during Word Wart II, died on Jan. 2, 2012, at the age of 93. Hirabayashi was one of over 400 91探花Nikkei students forced to leave campus in 1942, but defied the order which led to imprisonment. His conviction was eventually overturned in 1987 by a federal appeals court. A son of Japanese immigrants, Hirabayashi was born in Seattle and returned to 91探花after the war to earn bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚 and doctorate degrees. He taught at the American University of Beirut, the American University in Cairo and in Canada at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where he lived at the time of his death. Hirabayashi was featured in the .