UC Alumnae Award Five Scholarships and An Outstanding Alumna Award
OAKLAND—On April 24, the Japanese American Women Alumnae of UC Berkeley (JAWAUCB), a club of the California Alumni Association, reunited at Yoshi’s Jazz Club and Japanese Restaurant for their 20th annual luncheon. Eighty members and guests attended the annual event. Co-Chair Irene Tekawa was this year’s emcee.
Each year, the JAWAUCB, a club of the California Alumni Association, presents scholarships and honors an outstanding alumna. This year’s scholarship recipients consisted of three undergraduates and two graduate students, introduced by JAWAUCB Scholarship Chair Gloria Imagire.
Congratulations to:
Emily Ikuta, Political Science, College of Letters & Science;
Kathryn Nomura, Undeclared Engineering, College of Engineering;
Crystine Gill, Molecular & Cell Biology, College of Natural Resources;
Asako Miyakawa, PhD. Candidate in Neuroscience; Graduate School;
Terri-Lynn Tanaka, PhD. Candidate in Near Eastern Religions, Graduate School
This year, the JAWAUCB awarded $35,525 in scholarships. In previous years, they awarded $15,000 to $17,000 in scholarships. The Scholarship Committee was established in 1966 and since has distributed $483,589 in scholarship gifts.
2010 Outstanding Alumna Award
This year’s Outstanding Alumna Award was presented to Congresswoman Doris
Okada Matsui (D-Sacramento), who represents the 5th Congressional District. Trent Sunahara, field representative, accepted the award on behalf of Matsui because she was unable to attend the luncheon. “We selected Matsui as our 2010 Alumni of the year because of her dedication to public service and her many achievements of the United States House of Representatives,” says Vera Kawamura, who introduced Matsui.
Before coming to Congress, Representative Matsui served on numerous advisory boards, community organizations, and honorary committees in Sacramento and in Washington, DC. As a member of the influential Energy and Commerce Committee, she helps craft legislation to address the most critical challenges facing hard-working Americans today, ranging from health care coverage and clean energy, to commerce and consumer safety. Representative Matsui serves on the Smithsonian Institution’s Board of Regents overseeing the operation of the Institution and its world-renowned museums.
Representative Matsui grew up on a farm in the Central Valley of California. She met her late husband, Representative Robert Matsui, while receiving her Bachelor’s degree at the University of California.
Keynote Speaker: Honorable Judge Joni Hiramoto
“Nana korobi ya oki,” says the Honorable Judge Joni Hiramoto in Japanese as she opens her keynote speech. “Fall down seven times, get up eight,” she translates. “You may see my life as a series of successes, but actually my life has been a series of falling down and getting up. And if it’s been successful at all, it’s because I kept getting up,” she says.
The Honorable Judge Joni Hiramoto, gave a compelling and motivational presentation about her life journey on becoming a judge, titled, ‘Perspectives of an Asian American Woman Judge.’ “It’s quite an honor to have Judge Hiramoto with us today, especially since she married earlier this month and just returned from her honeymoon,” says Co-Chair May Hirose, who introduced Hiramoto.
Hiramoto emphasized to the scholarship awardees throughout her speech to “do what you love, because opportunities will arise and you’ll get to choose,” she says.
“The road to the bench was quite unexpected. I had never thought about becoming a judge,” Hiramoto confesses. It was through the encouragement of people who supported and believed in her, who helped her realize that becoming a judge would be her next career. “I spoke to a lot of people and investigated what it would be like to be in this role,” she says. “Every single Japanese American and Chinese American judge in the Bay Area met with her to coach and encourage me.” She advised the audience to not wait to be encouraged to do something but to seek it out and “just go for it.”
Judge Hiramoto received her J.D. in 1987 from Boalt Hall School of Law, at the University of California, Berkeley. Presently assigned to hear felony jury trials, she previously presided over the Drug, Behavioral Health, and Domestic Violence Courts. A faculty member of the Bernard E. Witkin Judicial College of California, Judge Hiramoto participates in the New Judges’ Orientation program in San Francisco and the committee on State Judges’ Qualifying Ethics. In March of 2004, Judge Hiramoto was named El Cerrito’s “Woman of the Year,” as part of West Contra Costa County’s “Women Inspiring Hope and Inspiration” Awards. On top of all of these great accomplishments, she’s a mother of three kids.
