It is no secret that Ewha students have a huge affection for the school’s official color, Ewha Green. However, last October, the cover page of the regular admissions guide book was found to be purple instead of Ewha Green. Many students complained about using an unofficial color for the official guideline book since developing a consistent school’s image is a vital issue, especially during the admission season.
M o r e o v e r , m a l i c i o u s a n d unprovoked postings disparaging Ewha and denigrating the school’s ideology have been consistently reported, leading many students to insist on the need to protect the school’s reputation. Despite the official efforts to address these issues, several students were dissatisfied with the lack of improvement.
As university entrance exam season kicks off, the school’s promotional activities has become more important than ever. In addition to the issue of Ewha Green, students continuously complain about the school’s promotion strategy, arguing that Ewha lacks the drive in both promoting and protecting the school. According to a survey of 74 Ewha students conducted by Ewha Voice from Nov. 5 to Nov. 12, only 18 percent of respondents were satisfied with the school’s current promotional efforts.
Respondents who answered that the school’s efforts at promotion have been insufficient pointed out that Ewha’s image is not being properly conveyed to people outside Ewha. Moreover, some respondents answered that changing the school’s slogan every year makes it difficult to maintain the school's external identity.
Offering solutions for the problem, 48.6 percent of respondents answered that the achievements of notable alumnae should be emphasized. Moreover, 33.4 percent answered that the official color, Ewha Green should be promoted more, while 7.7 percent answered that Ewha’s uniquely warm student culture needs to be highlighted in promotional activities.
Ewha Voice reached out to the Office of Communications for comments on the students’ concerns. An official stated that efforts are being made to build Ewha’s own brand so as to emphasize the future social value of the school. The official thanked students for suggesting various ideas of promotion and again stressed that the office is trying its best to promote the school and will work harder.
Regarding the constant problem of malicious postings and disparaging remarks about the school made in online communities, the official explained that the office is continuously monitoring them and is requesting deletion and in some cases considering legal action against them.
Apart from the administration’s promotion efforts, unsatisfied Ewha students have taken steps of their own, even going so far as to create a Task Force (TF) team and start projects to deal with the situation.
The Ewha Green Day TF team has been holding events on the 29th of every month to publicize Ewha Green and build students’ affection for the school’s color.
Ewha Green Day TF team was formed from the idea that it would be helpful if the school held events to display the school community’s affection for Ewha Green. Previously, events were held online due to pandemic restrictions. As the team planned to expand to in-person events, they faced difficulties in making this happen. Thus, the official of Ewha Green TF Team explained that promoting Ewha Green would will be more effective if the school supported the event as part of the celebration of the school’s anniversary.
The official also shared that holding the events was quite enjoyable as many students participated with enthusiasm. The team is anticipating students celebrating Ewha Green Day through both large and small scale events, with the aim that Ewha Green becomes a well-known part of the school’s external identity. The official asked students to do their part in promoting Ewha Green and remember to take part in activities on the 29th of every month.
Beyond the efforts to bring attention to the school’s official color, other TF teams have sought to promote the school through other means. With many high school students coming to take entrance exams in October and November, a group of students formed a TF team for posting promotional banners on campus.
Park Seo-hee, a sophomore who participated in the promotional banner TF team explained how she formed the team and busily worked with her teammates to successfully post banners all over the school.
According to Park, the team was newly formed in October with 12 members recruited from the school’s online community. The team has received ideas for slogans on banners from students online, and among the collected phrases, the members selected the ones which were thought to be the most effective to promote the school’s character. Later, online voting was held to select the best slogans. After the selection process, they designed the banners, which were ordered through online fundraising and finally posted banners all around the campus.
Park admitted that the process was not easy, but after hanging them in various places on campus, she learned that not only high school students and undergraduate students but also graduates were taking pictures of the banners, which filled her with pride.
“By designing and making the promotional banners, I came to know about so many amazing accomplishments of graduates, and I found myself loving our school more than before the project,” Park said. “I hope the school will more actively promote Ewha’s value along with Ewha Green.”