May is generally considered a festival period at universities. During this month, we see various one-day pub houses set up by student clubs and on campus booths selling finger food to raise funds or putting on performances to advertise their clubs. Also, universities invite many celebrities to campus to unite and delight their students. One thing none of theses celebrations goes without is alcohol consumption. Thus, drinking problems on campus also reaches their peak in May.
However,
“As long as I remember, Ewha never formally allowed selling alcohol inside the campus” says a student government association. It is, in fact, and official policy at Ewha to strictly prohibit access to alcohol inside the campus. In 2005, the school sent an official notice to the student government association, prohibiting the sale of alcohol during the festival period. This year, Ewha is taking part in a new campaign to promote moderate drinking among college students hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
“Even though other universities spend thousands of dollars to bring in alcohol during festival period, Ewha was always an exception. Usually students would bring in small amount of beer or makgeolly(raw rice wine) unofficially, but nowadays, even that is strictly restrained,” say a student government association.
These regulations, however, do evoke some disappointment among students. “Just prohibiting alcohol on campus doesn’t promote a more moderate drinking culture. Students will drink immoderately no matter how strictly they ban alcohol consumption,” said Choi Yun-jin (Molecular Biology & Life Science, 1).
For clubs who are hosting pub houses, Ewha’s restrictions on liquor can also be inconvenient. “No one really expects Daedong festival to be fun. We sometimes want to launch one-day