Chapel, which had been held online for two years due to COVID-19, finally resumed in person starting on Oct. 24. Although it has been a long time since the school held an in-person chapel, the Office of the Chaplain is fully prepared for the resumption. The office gave out Ewha Green masks and stickers to students in celebration of the resumption during the first week. They also prepared eco-bags to encourage students to have perfect attendance. However, opinions vary as to whether students are pleased with the return of the face-to-face chapel.
Although all students attending Ewha must take eight semesters of chapel to graduate, there is no separate credit given to for it. Since it has been conducted online over the past two years, students were required to watch a 30-minute video within a set time to take attendance. Now the chapel is held in the Welch-Ryang Auditorium during the second or third period in the morning.
Discussions regarding chapel are a common topic among Ewha students, as they regularly appear in the school community even back when the chapel was conducted online. Students have been actively expressing their opinions about chapel, with more than a hundred 1-star-rated lecture evaluations newly posted on Everytime since the return of the in- person chapel.
Ewha Voice took a survey from Nov. 8 to Nov. 13 to find out more about the students’ opinions on in- person chapels.
Out of the 105 respondents, 84 students shared that they prefer online chapel due its convenience. Back when chapel was conducted online, students did not have to go to school early in the morning for attending chapel. Also, they were able to stream the video without actually paying attention to it.
On the other hand, 21 students preferred in-person chapels. Most of them focused on the meaning and symbolism of chapel, which is related to the school’s founding ideology. Some said since the purpose of chapel is to raise a sense of community as a student of Ewha, chapel is better conducted in person because most of the students do not watch online chapel videos properly.
The majority of students who preferred it face-to-face said they can experience a sense of belonging compared to the online chapel, which was difficult to concentrate on. One student responded that she was not in favor of chapel, but she liked it after the in-person chapel resumed because it allowed her to feel that she belongs to the Ewha community. Another student expressed that the chapel is enjoyable to listen to.
Of the respondents, 32 students said chapel should be abolished. For the reason for abolishment, more than 70 percent of them pointed out that the chapel does not give out any credits and infringes religious freedom. Many students working without being paid for the performance chapel is also why nearly half of them said it should be abolished. One student, who claimed to be a member of the performance club, revealed that she did perform at the chapel several times, but was unpaid.
“More than half of the students are either bowing their heads to use their phones or sleeping,” said the student who replied that chapel should be abolished. “We need to rethink who the chapel is for. I hope that only those who want to participate in the chapel can choose to attend.”
73 students of the respondents said the chapel should be maintained but specific changes are necessary. One student said that abolition should not be mentioned recklessly as the chapel is a school tradition. Many students wanted to reduce the number of required semesters from eight semesters to four or two semesters or give the students one credit. Some students hoped the chapel would switch online or be supplementary, pointing out that they cannot understand the meaning of the current in-person chapel, where most students merely fill up their time to take attendance.
Meanwhile, 75 students preferred in-person chapels because they can watch the performance in person. In fact, some students said that the Ewha students’ performances were the most impressive among in-person chapels in the past three weeks.
The students who prepared for the performance felt the same. Pyrus, the cheerleading team of Ewha, performed on Nov. 10 as a part of the Ewha Thanks Festival. They said they were happy to perform while communicating with many students. It was particularly exciting for the current members of Pyrus because it was the first in-person chapel and the first auditorium stage performance for them. They hoped to perform on more in-person school stages in the future, mentioning that they feel prouder when they receive cheers and applause from Ewha students especially.
Lim Young-seo, the vice-captain of Pyrus, believed that the audience is another element that completes the stage. Back when everything was online, they could only communicate through Instagram and YouTube comments. Without promotion, only a few people had access to Pyrus’s performance, so the audience could not feel the energy of the cheerleading team–cheering and being cheered at the same time through the stage. Therefore, they were truly cheerful to guide the audience and watch them react in person.
“When we presented the stage through video, we tried to smile consciously while imagining the viewers,” Lim said. “However, when we stood on the stage and saw the audience–our schoolmates–we could naturally smile and perform. Even though everyone was wearing masks, we were able to receive energy through eye contact and see them enjoy the performance together. We’d like to say thank you again to the audience who prepared an amazing performance together.”