Civil rights leader, two philanthropists to be honored at CSUEB commencements
From left, Jack Acosta, Sil Garaventa Jr. and Yuri Kochiyama
- May 4, 2010
A leader in civil rights and two East Bay philanthropists, each of whom have made contributions to education, will be presented with honorary doctorate degrees during commencement ceremonies for California State University, East Bay in mid-June.
Yuri Kochiyama, a Japanese American human rights activist who has dedicated her life to social change through her participation in social justice and human rights movements, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters at ceremonies for Cal State East Bay’s College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 12.
On the same day at 3 p.m., Jack Acosta, a long time resident of Danville and an alumnus of Cal State East Bay, will be presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters at ceremonies for the university’s College of Business and Economics.
Sil Garaventa Jr., chief executive officer of Garaventa Enterprises in Concord, will be presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. It has not yet been determined whether the honoree will be recognized at ceremonies for Cal State East Bay’s campus in Concord Sunday, June 13, or at a later date.
“We are honoring three outstanding individuals who have been very generous with their time and resources in making major contributions to their communities and to education,” said Mo Qayoumi, president of California State University, East Bay. “They’ve displayed the highest ideals by always taking the time to help others, and are deserving of our appreciation.”
Born in San Pedro, Calif., Kochiyama spent two years in an internment camp camp in Arkansas during World War II. Following the war, she moved to New York and married Bill Kochiyama, a veteran of the famous all-Japanese American 442nd combat unit of the U.S. Army. Her activism began in Harlem, NY, in the early 1960s, when she participated in the Asian American, Black and Third World movements promoting civil and human rights and ethnic studies while protesting the war in Vietnam.
In addition to joining the Organization for Afro-American Unity to work for racial justice and human rights after meeting Malcolm X, she also served as a member of Asian Americans for Action and the Harlem Parents’ Committee. She has been involved in anti-apartheid organizing, support of Puerto Rican independence, and other international liberation struggles. In the 1980s Kochiyama worked in the redress and reparations movement for Japanese Americans along with her husband. She also has taught English to immigrant students and volunteered at soup kitchens and homeless shelters. She is the mother of six children, grandmother to nine, and great-grandmother to four.
Acosta, who earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial relations in 1975 and an MBA in management science in 1978 – both from Cal State East Bay – has served on the boards of numerous companies, most recently as chairman and director at Sum Total Systems Inc. He also has been vice president and chief financial officer at Portal Software, executive vice president and CFO at Sybase Inc., and president and chief operating officer at Tanon Manufacturing.
Acosta, with his wife Susan, made the largest individual private gift by an alumnus in the history of Cal State East Bay in 2003.
Garaventa has been involved in all phases of Garaventa Enterprises, which includes Concord Disposal Service, becoming CEO in 1998. He is on the board of directors of the Napa Recycling & Garbage Service and the Silvio and Mary Garaventa Family Foundation. Garaventa also is secretary of the California Refuse Recycling Council and founder and president of Concord Youth Sport Foundation, a venture between the city of Concord and the Concord campus of Cal State East Bay.
He graduated from the University of Portland in 1971 and has been a major supporter of that institution and an advocate for higher education. Garaventa serves on the Concord Campus Advisory Board of CSUEB.