Total Rejection: Dongduk Women’s Students Slam New Engineering Plans with 99.9% Opposition!"

On April 20th at 2 p.m., the student council of Dongduk Women’s University held a big student meeting at the Wolgok Campus playground in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. This wasn’t just a regular meeting—it was an official student-wide vote, the highest decision-making event run by students. For this kind of meeting to happen, at least 650 students (10% of the school’s 6,500 students) need to show up.

But this time, over 2,000 students came—showing just how serious and emotional this issue was.

The two main topics they voted on were:

1. Whether to allow engineering majors that could bring in male students

2. Changing how the school president is chosen

When the students voted on the engineering issue, 1,973 people voted. Out of those:

• 1,971 were against making the school co-ed through engineering programs

• 2 abstained

• 0 were in favor

This means 99.9% of students voted against the change.

The student council strongly criticized the school after the vote. They said they would clearly deliver the overwhelming student opposition to the administration again. They also accused the school of ignoring students’ voices and making decisions without proper communication, which they say violates students’ rights to be involved in their education.

So how did all of this start?

It began earlier this month when rumors spread that the school was considering turning the engineering department into a co-ed program, which would allow male students to enroll. The student council officially asked the school about this on April 7. The school responded vaguely, saying that while there had been “internal conversations,” nothing was officially decided.

Still, this vague answer upset many students. In response, the student council publicly declared their opposition, which started a larger protest movement.

Since then, students have been strongly protesting:

• Some occupied the school’s main building

• Others refused to attend classes

• A few even went further, with actions like vandalizing a statue of the school's founder, damaging fair booths, and protesting by blocking lockers.

These extreme actions created some controversy, and the school claimed that the total damage could cost up to 5.4 billion KRW (about 4 million USD).

Meanwhile, students are also unhappy with how the school president is chosen. Right now, the board of directors appoints the president, but students want to elect the president directly. The student council is pushing for a change in this system too, saying that student opinions are being ignored because they don’t have a say in choosing their own school leader.

Date: 2025-01-31

Reporter: 정호연