Sookmyung professors to be punished
Yoon Young-sook, right, and Hong Sue-youn, second from right, music professors at Sookmyung Women’s University, speak to reporters about students’ demands for their dismissal, at the university, Tuesday. / Yonhap
Students up in arms over their verbal abuse
By Lee Kyung-min
Sookmyung Women’s University will punish two music professors who have been criticized by their students for their alleged verbal abuse during lectures.
A university official said Wednesday that the school will hold a disciplinary committee meeting in a few weeks to decide on the levels of punishment for the professors.
The move came as a group of composition majors are holding rallies in and around the school demanding the dismissal of the professors ― Hong Sue-youn and Yoon Young-sook ― and refusing to take their classes.
During a press conference Monday, the students claimed that they have long suffered from the professors’ verbal abuse and negligence during lectures.
The following day, the professors denied the allegations and struck back at the students, charging that they are being influenced by school officials who hated them.
However, students are now up in arms.
They said they can no longer take the ridicule and verbal abuse from the teachers.
Joo Se-hwa, a student, said the professors were not qualified to teach.
“Implying prostitution, they said ‘Why can’t you write the song at night? Do you go somewhere to make money at night?’ ‘You are worthless. Just jump out the window.’ ‘You girls shouldn’t have children,’” Joo quoted them as saying.
“They also forced us to buy manuscript paper at 15,000 won ($14) … because that is the only acceptable paper on which we can submit our assignments. Also, we had to pay 20,000 won ($19) to buy the portfolio from previous years, which we already paid through tuition.”
She went on: “Professor Yoon gave a group lesson instead of a one-on-one lesson. She was supposed to teach one student for 50 minutes, but she gathered 10 students at once. We had to wait at least one hour to four or five hours maximum, and she never took more than five minutes with any of us.”
On Tuesday, the two professors said in a press conference that their remarks were provided without context, and they were made in jest.
Professor Hong said, “Those words sound harsh, but I wasn’t too serious when I said those things. And as for the students’ buying the manuscripts, it has been so since 1993. All that money was spent on the students.”
The professors said that they suspect the university to be behind the situation.
“The president of the university tried to sway his power over reappointment of two committee members, which we protested. Then we were asked about the expenditure of university money. We have been at odds with the university since, and we are now being audited,” said Professor Yoon.
The students first put up a handwritten poster on Sept. 1 on a notice board in the hallway of the university’s music college.
They have been refusing to attend lectures since the beginning of this month.