|
 Fear
once dismantled George Azumano’s life, but it couldn’t
shake his spirit. Forced to live in a Japanese-American internment
camp during World War II, Azumano is now one of Oregon’s most
respected business leaders.
He is also a former Willamette trustee who has recently endowed
a scholarship fund for Japanese-American students. “I hope
that my contribution enables more Japanese-American students to
experience what Willamette has to offer,” says Azumano.
The gift is part of a life-long personal crusade to promote equality,
social justice and cultural understanding – values that he
was denied as a young Japanese-American in 1942. Despite citizenship
and a college degree, Azumano, like many Japanese-Americans at that
time, faced suspicion and discrimination. Employers refused to hire
him and even the Army didn’t know what to do with him.
The final blow came when Azumano and his parents were forced to
leave their home and enter Camp Minidoka, an internment facility
in Idaho for Japanese-Americans. The Azumanos gave away or sold
nearly all of their possessions, including a family grocery store
they had owned for 16 years. Azumano remembers his father’s
desperation to sell the business, “We ended up selling for
10 cents on the dollar. All of our efforts for those years were
gone.”
 Left
with nothing, Azumano could have easily despaired, but instead he
turned tragedy into triumph. He opened an insurance business after
the war, which grew to become a highly successful travel agency,
Azumano Travel. Azumano used his new found business clout to promote
the economic and cultural redevelopment of Oregon’s Japanese-American
community and to strengthen international relations between the
state and Japan. Today, Azumano Travel is Oregon’s largest
travel agency and it continues to prosper under the leadership of
Azumano’s son-in-law, Sho Dozono.
Azumano has been honored numerous times for his commitments to
humanitarianism and civic and social causes, but it’s not
something he likes to talk about. Instead, he prefers to keep the
conversation focused on his scholarship fund and what it will mean
for Willamette’s Japanese-American students. “I think
the small school atmosphere of Willamette provides an ideal environment
for learning,” says Azumano. “Willamette’s liberal
arts emphasis is particularly important for developing democratic
values and good citizenship.”
It’s comforting to know, however, that this native Oregonian
regularly practices the beliefs that he preaches. In 2001, Azumano
was one of nearly 1,000 civic and business leaders to participate
in the Flight for Freedom, a plane ride from Portland, Ore., to
New York, N.Y., organized to promote tourism and trade in New York
as the city recovered from the terrorist attacks of September 11,
2001.
Just as he has worked to strengthen ties between cities and nations,
Azumano hopes his gift will enable its students to discover the
joy that comes with meeting people of different cultures. “I
hope that my gift can help open students to new experiences and
perspectives.”
For Azumano, that would be a triumph worth celebrating.
To learn more about how you can establish or contribute to a scholarship
fund, contact Ron Korvas, vice president for university relations,
at 503-370-6397.
– Brad Millay ’97 |
