As the official representatives of Ewha students, Start launched their first semester in 2024.
On Jan. 1, Start campaign headquarters, with its president Park Seo Lim and vice president Bahn Ji Min, officially opened to the public as the 56th General Student Council of Ewha. Before the upcoming spring semester, Start has already proceeded with school management businesses and shared their plans with the student body.
Two days after the beginning of their tenure, Start attended the Tuition Inquiry Committee to participate in the review and deliberation of tuition usage. Bahn mentioned they actively came up with opinions that reflect those of Ewha students, including assigning the budget to proper places such as resting places for students. She added that Start is taking part in various committees and councils to deliver students’ voices to the school.
Start has put effort in to accommodating students’ biggest demands, which were to reopen the sleeping rooms and to reform resting areas of the Ewha Centennial Library. They are also planning to organize more committees working for solutions of the other continuous complaints raised throughout the years due to the absence of the General Student Council.
Start highlighted their devotion to gather the students through the event since it is the first face-toface Welch-Ryang Auditorium Freshmen Orientation in four years.
“We are focusing on interactive events to promote engagement within the student body,” Bahn said. “Besides the two freshmen get-together events held during the winter break, we are looking forward to the 2024 Welch-Ryang Auditorium Freshmen Orientation planned for Feb. 29.”
A junior from the College of Education who wished to remain anonymous shared her concerns and advice for Start as a student who has spent three quarters of her university life in the absence of a General Student Council.
“I believe it would be difficult to launch large-scale projects this year since Start might need to reconstruct an entire system with little base,” she said. “However, I hope the General Student Council will be attentive to everyday complaints that might seem minor, because those inconveniences are what need to be addressed right now.”
Park indicated that the General Student Council is aware of these concerns, explaining how it has been at the top of their agenda for the past two months.
“We will try our best to interact with as many students as possible during our term,” Park said. “We believe students need to be the leading role of school management. Our duty is to simply collect the public opinion of Ewha students and deliver it to the school.”
A senior from the College of Business Administration who wished to stay anonymous agreed to this perspective.
“In my opinion, the biggest significance of the General Student Council’s presence is that Ewha now has an official representative for the public,” she said. “To reflect Ewha’s message to the public audience outside of school is an important role of the General Student Council, sometimes even more so than simply launching projects within the school.”
Park and Bahn defined communication as the core of the 56th General Student Council. To make up for the information gap that occurred during the last three years, they directly reached out to the students who had questions about the school.
“We are determined to always transparently notify the students of the progress of our projects,” Park said. “Start will try our best to let students feel comfortable in the school, improving the cultural and welfare services on campus.”
Park and Bahn demonstrated another function they wanted to implement. As well as the freshmen orientation planned in late February, they encouraged the students to voice their opinions for Joint Action in Ewha Education. Bahn especially emphasized this project as it is crucial to set in and carry out the educational demand from all the Ewha students.
Preparing for the upcoming semester, Start is arranging events, especially for freshmen, to help them easily engage in a new environment at Ewha. They are also planning to develop various routes to directly listen to the students’ voices to recover the foundation of the General Student Council’s systems. Start confidently stated that they are always open to students’ opinions and feedback, suggesting that it is the students who govern the school through their active participation.