Ewha Univ. strife shows no ending

Ewha Womans University President Choi Kyung-hee waits for striking students to come for talks under a tent in front of the main campus building, Seoul, Monday. With the dispute between the students and the school continuing over a night school plan, the two sides have been unable to come up with a solution to the deadlock. / Yonhap

Students, president insist on own ways of communication

By Kim Bo-eun

Universities are set to begin the fall semester in September but the student sit-in on the campus of Ewha Womans University is showing no signs of breakthrough.

The sit-in has continued for about a month since July 28 when hundreds of students occupied the main building to protest the school’s arbitrary decision to set up a night school for workers.

A week into the protests, the school announced it would drop the night school plan, but students vowed to continue the sit-in until President Choi Kyung-hee steps down.

The president has been attempting to talk with the students, visiting the main building multiple times. But they have been refusing to see her, insisting they will only communicate in written correspondence.

On Monday, the university set up a tent at a different entrance of the main building, where the president and vice president stayed throughout the day, waiting for the students to approach them to discuss the issue. They will stay there every day for the time being, but it appears unlikely that the students will attempt to talk with them.

The Ewha protest initially gained a positive response as a new form of protest when they nullified the night school plan through rallies joined by thousands of students and graduates, unlike regular protests led by a small number of student council leaders.

However, some say the absence of leadership has resulted in the current deadlock, in which no student is taking the initiative to resolve the issue.

Choi said she will host an official discussion with students, Wednesday.

“The president has acknowledged that there was a lack of communication in making decisions on the school’s policies,” said Jin Young-ju, the university’s vice director of PR.

“She is pledging to improve the decision-making processes by sufficiently collecting opinions, and is currently reaching out to the students.”

But the students are reiterating their stance that they will not end their protest unless the president steps down. They refused to meet at the tent or attend Wednesday’s discussion as a means of communication, adding that Choi insists on face-to-face communication while they called for written communication.

Jin said that the school will host its summer graduation ceremony, Friday, and a large amount of administrative work needs to be completed before the start of the fall semester.

“The conflict must be patched up and the school and students must start afresh on the same boat,” Jin said. “What we are hoping for is the swift stabilization of Ewha.”

Students had opposed the night school plan, claiming it was devised mainly to generate revenue.

They are also taking issue against the school’s mobilization of some 16,000 police to break up the sit-in. Police forces were dispatched in order to let out professors and a staffer who were trapped in a meeting room when students began their sit-in.

Students say the president has consistently made arbitrary decisions since she began her term two years ago ― including scrapping GPA-based scholarships as well as pushing forward with a plan to merge colleges and scale down certain majors, despite their opposition.