School’s reaction toward sit-in protest and demanding agendas
While the SGA rationalizes its protest as a response to the school’s unwillingness to accept demands, the school insists that it has tried to reach an agreement and provide for the welfare of Ewha students by holding agenda meetings. It had planned five meetings to negotiate with the SGA, however the SGA started the sit-in protest a day before the third meeting.
“We were a bit perplexed to see the SGA setting up the tent in the midst of negotiation, even before giving us a full explanation of its agenda at the meeting,” an official of the Office of Student Affairs (OSA) said.
Throughout the last two years, the school and former SGAs continuously discussed ways to better the welfare of Ewha students. As a result, this year the school increased scholarships to 4.6 billion won and hired 73 more professors, providing 116 more courses. Unlike last year, the school has had a hard time communicating with the SGA.
“The school and the SGA together scheduled agenda meetings, however, many members of the SGA were absent, which is quite frustrating,” the OSA official said.
Also, the school has requested the SGA to remove the tent and the movable board four times since April via official letters to the SGA, naming concerns about damages to the ECC building and students’ safety because of the tent.
According to school, in order to set up the tent, the SGA drove nails into the marble surface of the ECC. Also, wires used to power electronic apparatus inside the tent can lead to accidents, and the movable board may hurt pedestrians if it is blown over by the wind.
In response to the SGA’s protest, the school officially announced its position and answers to four demands on May 5. However, according to the SGA, they decided to continue the sit-in protest since the answers were “not sufficient.”
* Reporter: Jang Youn-hee & Moon Bo-ra & Chung Che-yoon & Oh Seo-jin
* E-mail: janet9106@ewhain.net & boramoon@ewhain.net & thfl353@ewhain.net & seojinoh@ewhain.net