The New Residence Hall is located in the middle of campus. The building is fitted with double and triple rooms with attached bathrooms. (Molly McPherson/Emerald)
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that Building C is currently referred to as the New Residence Hall. The article has been updated with the correct information.
Building C, currently referred to as New Apartment-Style Residence Hall, has been renamed to “Yasui Hall” following the University of Oregon’s Board of Trustees meeting on June 4.
A selective committee, co-chaired by Associate Vice President & Chief of Staff of Student Services and Enrollment Management Anna Schmidt-MacKenzie, held the responsibility to deliver recommendations for both halls.
According to the meeting materials, Co-chairs Schmidt-MacKenzie and Kevin Hatfield consulted with members of the Yasui family in January regarding the recommendation.
Yasui Hall is named after members of the Yasui family, a family known for its civil rights activism and its legacy at UO: Minoru, Michi, Shu and Yuka.
Minoru Yasui was a political activist who fought for the rights of Japanese Americans. Minoru is most famously known for his involvement in Korematsu v. United States, a Supreme Court case regarding mandatory curfews and internment camps for Japanese Americans during World War 2.
The landmark decision resulted in upholding the curfew, stating that it was a “militant necessity.”
In 2002, UO Law school honored Minoru with a Meritorious Service Award, and established the Minoru Yasui Chair.
Michi Yasui Ando was a senior at UO when the U.S. government imposed travel and curfew restrictions. She was unable to attend her graduation ceremony and was denied a petition from UO officials to grant her access.
In 1986, 44 years after she was unable to graduate with her class, the university esteemed her as an honored guest at the UO graduation ceremony.
Robert Shu Yasui was enrolled at UO in pre-medicine. Following the notice that his mother and younger siblings were being sent to internment camps, he left the university for Colorado, where he was later joined by his sister Michi. He later graduated from medical school in 1947 and opened his own surgical practice.
Yuka Yasui Fujikura was a freshman in highschool with her mother and siblings when she was sent to Tule Lake internment camp. After 10 months of internment she relocated to Colorado, graduating from high school there in 1944.
She petitioned to attend UO when the West Coast was still deemed “forbidden territory” for Japanese and was the first Japanese American to return to UO. She later received two master degrees in public health.
The process to name both Building B and Building C started in 2023, but the presidential transition from former president Michael Schill to current president John Karl Scholz backtracked the process.
Following the approval of the name, Building B is the only building left to be named under the Hamilton Walton Transformation project. Building A, DeNorval Unthank Jr. Hall, was named in 2021.
