In Nov. 20, 2014, Park Yu-jin (Composition, 3) was elected as president of SGA, expected to start her term in 2015. However, the issue of Park’s qualification as an SGA president was first brought up during the election campaign, and controversy on her qualification continued even after the election. In fact, after Park was elected, the school did not acknowledge the legitimacy of Together Ewha, as Park violated one of the election rules which states that candidates who run for SGA election should have average grades higher than 2.00. Despite the issue of qualification, Park and vice president Son Sol (Psychology, 3) proceeded with SGA’s activities until Jan. 22.
Park insisted that the Election Management Committee (EMC) considers the rules of SGA and the school’s regulations as separate matters, and should not accept the rule of average grade on the election of SGA. Furthermore, EMC and Together Ewha viewed that the result of SGA election should only be based on the choice of Ewha students.
As a result, the school responded strongly against Together Ewha. On Jan. 12, Student Services sent an official statement entitled “School’s stance on improper functioning of SGA” to student councils of each college and major, and the Ewha Media Center. Within the statement, Student Services stated that there is no room for negotiation on the election rules, and Together Ewha is no longer valid.
The heightened tension between the school and SGA persisted until Jan. 23 when Together Ewha officially ended its activities. According to a statement of apology Park uploaded on Ewha’s online community (http://ewhaian.com/), Park was dismayed to learn that she had been expelled from school when her student ID card did not work.
Due to Park having been expelled from school, SGA could no longer proceed its activities. In response, Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) for reconstructing SGA was formed on Jan. 24. The EPC soon turned into Election Management Committee (EMC) for re-election.
According to EMC, after the registration of presidential and vice-presidential candidates by March 10, the official campaign will start from March 16. Public hearing on the candidates’ policies will take place on March 19. Students will then vote for the next SGA on March 24 and 25.
Many students call for re-election and settlement of SGA in March.
“Starting a new semester without SGA is a problem as SGA is the centeral organization of Ewha students,” Ha Ji-hee (Journalism, 3) said. “I hope re-election takes place in no time and everything gets settled with a new SGA.”
Some students are concerned about the current absence of SGA.
“I worry that the absence of SGA will lead to lack of communication between the school and students,“ Nam Jeong-min (French, 3) said.
Lee Yoon-soo
yoonpamom@ewhain.net