THROUGH THE FIRE: Defending DEI at Lincoln High School: The May Kishiyama Scholarship – Rafu Shimpo
Rafu Shimpo
By Mary Uyematsu Kao
One of the things I’ve been donating to for quite a few years is the May Kishiyama Memorial Scholarship.
I became aware of it because my long-time friend Buck Wong helped found the scholarship. He retired from a teaching career at Lincoln High School, but he still volunteers his time to the Lincoln High Educational Project (LHEP), which coordinates the Kishiyama Scholarship and the Lincoln High Mentoring Program. Buck is also the president of LHEP, a 501(c)(3) program.
So who was May Kishiyama and how did her memorial scholarship come about?
Eleven years after the establishment of the Kishiyama Memorial Scholarship, Rosa Delgadillo wrote an article for Lincoln High’s student newspaper, The Railsplitter, in 2019. She explains why the Kishiyama Scholarship “has students scrambling for acceptance.” She writes:
“May Kishiyama was a Japanese American who grew up in Long Beach and attended high school there. She was the second-youngest of five children. Her parents were Japanese immigrants. Her father was a fisherman and her mother was a housewife.
“She and three friends went to college at San Jose State University. Returning to Los Angeles, she worked briefly on a health education project at UCLA before coming to Lincoln High School. She taught health for over ten years, took a sabbatical, and earned a counseling credential. She spent her remaining time at Lincoln as a counselor.
“May Kishiyama earned a reputation as a counselor who went the extra mile to help students. She was dedicated, highly organized, and stayed extra hours to meet with students and teachers. She was a beacon for students and a role model for teachers and staff. She retired from Lincoln in 2006.
“Because she was young in years and in spirit, it was a great shock to family and friends when she became sick with cancer and passed away in 2007.”
(“Legacy and Memory: The May Kishiyama Story” https://lheduproject.wordpress.com/may-kishiyama/):
Buck explains what followed after May passed:
“When May Kishiyama passed away, there was a memorial on the Lincoln High School campus. Some teachers got together and decided to set up a scholarship for Lincoln High graduates in May’s name. We didn’t know what it would lead to. We just wanted to honor our friend who was so nice, caring, intelligent, and dedicated to the students in our working-class, immigrant community.
“Over time, we see that the May Kishiyama Memorial Scholarship is about May — and more. The scholarship honors May, gives significant financial aid, and pays tribute to the community that Lincoln High School in LAUSD serves.”
As Buck and other Scholarship Committee members retired, they have kept the work going, and the Kishiyama Scholarship has grown. It was formed in 2008 with three scholarships totaling $1,500; 17 years later, in June of 2025, 36 scholarships were granted, totaling $41,500.
The scholarship program has expanded to include two-year renewable scholarships, awards promoting community service, awards honoring athletes, immigrant students, undocumented, and special education students. Scholarships help students going to community college, Cal State colleges, UCs, Ivy League schools, and other top-ranked U.S. colleges.
The majority of financial contributions have come from Lincoln High graduates, present and past Lincoln High faculty, and the Kishiyama family. Fundraising is a constant activity because the need is great. All donations go directly into scholarships because it is administered by a volunteer committee of current and former teachers at Lincoln High.
A newsletter is sent out twice a year, updating scholarship news, and includes a donation envelope. In the first issue, which came out three years after the scholarship was started, there is an article titled “Remembering May Kishiyama,” written by her husband, Eric Austin, who was also a teacher at Lincoln High. He ends with:
“Had she known in advance of the illness awaiting her, she would have lived her life with very few changes. She tried every day to make a difference and, in the end, she did.”
Buck wrote in the most recent newsletter:
“We announce these scholarship winners while the Trump Administration attacks diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). It has threatened and also cut funds for DEI. Unlike the U.S. government leadership … We say DEI is good.
“DIVERSITY. Lincoln High is mostly a working-class, minority, immigrant school, but it’s still diverse, and the Kishiyama Scholarship reaches out in person and with announcements to 100% of the seniors.
“EQUITY. We fundraise so we can give out many scholarships. Thanks to our donors, we gave scholarships (almost all $1,000 or more) this year to 37 graduates.
“INCLUSION. We give grants to all sectors of the student body.
“That’s what DEI means.”
And a note on Lincoln High’s demographics: 79% Hispanic, 17% Asian, 1.6% Black, and 1.4% white; 17.9% special education students; 31% gifted; 9% English learners; and 86% economically disadvantaged. (AI Overview 2023)
The May Kishiyama Memorial Scholarship gives testament to how a Japanese American high school counselor can have a lasting effect on students’ future lives, and it shows how its growing and lasting effects concretely defend “diversity, equity, and inclusion” for Lincoln High.
For more information:
The Lincoln Heights Education Project (LHEP) website (https://lheduproject.wordpress.com)
Mailing address:
Lincoln Heights Education Project, Inc.
May Kishiyama Memorial Scholarship
P.O. Box 65712
Los Angeles, CA 90065
Email: kishiyamascholarship@gmail.com
For tax-deductible donations: https://lheduproject.wordpress.com/donate/
Mary Uyematsu Kao is the author/photographer of “Rockin’ the Boat: Flashbacks of the 1970s Asian Movement” and formerly the publications coordinator of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center (1987-2018). She received her MA from UCLA Asian American Studies in 2007. She welcomes comments, questions, and/or criticisms at uyematsu72@gmail.com.Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.
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The Rafu Shimpo is a bilingual Japanese-English language newspaper based in Los Angeles, California. Established in 1903, the Rafu Shimpo has survived two world wars, a depression, and the forced evacuation of our entire community.
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