The first semester of 2017 has started. Many changes have occurred already such as the admission of freshmen and the inauguration of a new school president. Therefore, the role of the Student Union is more important than in any other semesters. On behalf of college students, the new Student Union should prepare for the new year’s events according to the academic calendar and fulfill their pledges before the first semester of 2017 begins. However, the Student Union election, which was supposed to be held in 2016, did not end well. As a result, there is still no Student Union in Kyonggi University and an Emergency Planning Committee has been formed. Then, why is the Student Union still vacant? Moreover, what is going to happen if the semester begins with the absence of the Student Union?

 At the end of October 2016, the elections for the Student Union and each college’s student council were held. However, soon after the registration of candidates, Ullim’s campaign headquarters filed a complaint against Bombaram’s campaign headquarters to the Central Election Management Committee (hereinafter referred to as the CEMC). It accused some of Bombaram’s campaigners of violating bylaws. In response to this, the CEMC made a decision of disqualification and dissolution regarding Bombaram’s campaign. Bombaram raised an objection to this disciplinary action but the CEMC dismissed it; therefore, only Ullim’s campaign could proceed with its election schedule. However, Bombaram’s campaign headquarters applied for an injunction to the court and the court approved the injunction since there was no specific evidence to prove Bombaram’s campaigners violated bylaws and the disciplinary action of disqualification and dissolution was deemed to be an excessive judgement. Accordingly, Bombaram’s campaign regained the right to campaign for the Student Union and the CEMC members resigned leaving word that they would take the responsibility for the situation. Soon after, a new CEMC was convened, but the Student Union election could not be held before the end of the last semester because the CEMC could not reach a consensus between Bombaram and Ullim. At the moment, the new CEMC has temporarily suspended the qualification of both groups and handed over disciplinary actions and election proceedings to the next CEMC.

 With this current situation, the position of new college president is vacant too. The reason is that originally candidates for president had to get consent from college students and professors according to the regulations of presidential candidate registration; however, some people registered on their own, without consent. The Pharos interviewed students about what they think regarding the situation. 

Interview

Q. What do you think about the absences of the Student Union and university president?

A. I feel really sorry about the absence of the Student Union. The election was running well at first, but they slandered the opposing candidate and the election stopped eventually. Candidates are also students of school so they have to respect each other. I hope this kind of problem will not happen later on. (Youth, 2013, Park Hyeon-soo)

A. Honestly, I knew that the Student Union members had not been elected, but I did not expect this situation to continue for this long. I hope that this situation ends soon. Also, I think the absence of a president is a serious problem because the president of the school is equal to the leader of a group, and if the leader of a certain group is missing, followers will not know where to head. Therefore, in my opinion, the absence of the president should be solved first. (Sports Management, 2010, Hwang Jun-ha)

 Kyonggi University will receive its 2017 freshmen without a Student Union. Both enrolled students and freshmen will be confused. At the same time, the Student Union usually carries forward the undergraduate schedule through the year, but nobody can predict how this will go. Even though there is no Student Union, students have organized an emergency planning committee composed of major presidents and they will carry forward the undergraduate duties instead. Running an election again when the new semester starts might seem to be impossible so students should follow the lead of the Emergency Planning Committee well because all students in the school are owners of the school. Suppose the election is held in 2017; freshmen will have the right to vote, but they will not exactly understand what happened in 2016, and it might end up with a poor turnout. Also, enrolled students might think that it is not a big issue anymore to them. Kyonggi University in 2017 would be a confusing year because of the absences of both the Student Union and president.

 All students in the school hope that the Emergency Planning Committee will do its best for students as a temporary replacement for the Student Union. Plus, next year's Student Union should be clean and do its best for all students in the school. The absence of a president also has to be solved as soon as possible so that the new president and students can respect each other and make a better school together. A university in which students respect professors and in which professors love students is the kind of school everyone in Kyonggi University wants. Also, the current situation, in which both the Student Union and president are not fulfilling their responsibilities should never happen again.

Management Editor / Kim Ye-hee / marcia65@naver.com

68th Cub Reporter / Joo Ho-jun / jhj_0925@hanmail.net