Dear LMU—Letters From Our Readers, Summer 2026
JAPANESE AMERICAN INCARCERATION
Recently, a graduate of LMU Loyola Law School gave me her copy of your summer 2025 edition featuring your article on the World War II incarceration of loyal Japanese American citizens (“Japanese American Incarceration: How It Happened Here,” Summer 2025). I was an innocent 12-year-old (Mata Hari?) suddenly disrupted from my classroom in Seattle, Washington, and then sent to spend four years behind barbed wire, with armed soldiers with bayonets gleaming patrolling the perimeter of our enclosed campus, first in Puyallup, Washington, and later in Minidoka, Idaho. Being 12 years old, I did not understand what was happening, but I felt a deep sense of abandonment by George Washington, the founding father of our country and to whom we would pledge our allegiance every morning at school. This sadness I have never talked about. As I’ve aged, I have realized the two most powerful incentives of man are the quest for power and basic greed. These two incentives are never mentioned as reasons for the incarceration, but rather masked under the euphemistic phrase “national security.” As I see the turmoil that is now brewing in this country over the immigration problem, I hope that history does not repeat itself. Thank you for your informative article. It is much appreciated.
Yuri Kanegaye
Costa Mesa, California
I wanted to tell you how much I appreciated the recent LMU magazine and especially the cover story about the Japanese American incarceration camps. It was beautifully written and informative, and I happened to read it the day Florida officials were crowing about their new “Alligator Alcatraz.” The parallels were sickening.
I was enormously proud to see my alma mater and the magazine write about these topics. At a moment when so many higher ed institutions are being cowed into silence, LMU is speaking up and boldly living its Ignatian values. That’s not “wading into politics,” that’s simply being true to the ideals that the university holds most dear. It’s refreshing to see that LMU knows who it is and isn’t shrinking from its duty to speak truth at a time when speaking truth is not without risk.
Not long ago, I happened to be on campus — I took the official campus tour with my teenage daughter! (Nine campuses in five days … I’m not sure I’d recommend that schedule!) The campus has changed a lot in the 33 years since I graduated, but I was happy that its most important qualities are still alive and well. As part of that visit, we got a chance to say hello to my friend Lisa Farland, who was the admissions counselor who first recruited me to LMU waaaayyyyy back in 1988! We stopped by the alumni office to catch up, and it was wonderful to see her. Best wishes to you and the team who do such great work on the magazine. (I was the editor of the Santa Clara University alumni magazine for a few issues many years ago, and I know how much work it is!) I look forward to each issue. Thank you for your leadership and for your clear vision for its editorial direction.
John Kovacevich ’92
San Francisco
THE JESUITS’ PATH TO LOS ANGELES
A factoid to share about “Know Your Place,” the Letter From L.A. in your winter 2026 issue: The Jesuits came into L.A. due to the persistent invitation of the then-bishop, Thomas James Conaty. He was a graduate of College of the Holy Cross, so he knew Jesuit education firsthand. He was also a university man, having been president of The Catholic University in Washington, D.C. (1896-1903). He had to press the Jesuit provincial to get a Jesuit school in Los Angeles because the province was already stretched thin to staff all Jesuit ministries from Alaska to San Diego. Keep up the good work!
Michael Engh, S.J.
Los Angeles