By Seo Dong-shin
Staff Reporter
Dongguk University's disciplinary board Friday made official discharge of Shin Jeong-ah, an art curator and the university's former assistant professor.
Shin created a sensation earlier this month when, upon her being tapped as co-director of Gwangju Biennale, it was revealed that she had fabricated her academic records, which stated that she had graduated from top U.S. universities, including Yale. She did not own up to her forgery, but fled to New York on July16 where he has since been hiding.
``As you know, we held the first disciplinary meeting on July 27 to give her a chance to vindicate herself, but she did not turn up. So we held a second disciplinary meeting today, but she did not show up then either,'' Rev. Youngdam, chief of the disciplinary board meeting, told reporters after the meeting. ``Five out of seven disciplinary board members who were present at today's meeting made the decision to dismiss her.''
The Buddhist university has quickly responded to the scandal involving Shin, feeling the continuous media reports about the case marred its reputation. The executive board decided to fire her on July 20 and referred the case to the disciplinary meeting. But critics point out that the private university still needs to clarify how it came to employ Shin in the first place without checking into her academic credentials, a basic step in hiring faculty members.