Every baby tiger entering Korea University (KU) goes through several steps to become a full-grown tiger— Sabalsik, 4.18 Marathon, Ipselenti “Jiya Hamsung,” and the annual Ko-Yon games. “Libertas, Justice, Veritas,” they shout out in every festival week. Now, Star:zari, the 48th KU student council throws a basic question— “Are we really succeeding the true spirit of KU? Does our education have Libertas, Justice and Veritas?” 

"Why not?” asks Star:Zari.“What is a real education?” it further asks. Why Not? is a brand new project of Star:Zari, which aims to hear students’ voices on campus—for now they are not heard. They aim to rewrite the definition of education, all by the very hands of KU students. Despite of differences in language, nationality, knowledge, gender or economic situation, all members of KU can now participate in the Why Not? project to freely sketch out the dream university in their minds. 

Throughout the history of the KU student council, the project of bringing students’ education rights back has been executed every year. However, it is true that they have also faced continuous criticisms about its practicality. This year, the movement is named Why Not? with three more specific, realizable themes—education rights, tuition and dormitory.  

To begin with the education rights team, they ask for each student’s right to have control over their own education. For example, the school is now unilaterally in charge of all school systems and the academic calendar. Under these conditions, Star:Zari is now working on allowing students to participate in deciding the school system. Furthermore, by constantly meeting with students and school council members, they make sure they are well representing the voice of all students. 

Through the “Tuition Cutback” movement, they first ask the school to make tuition usage public. More specifically, one of the cases they are constantly working on is the entrance fee of 103 million won that freshmen have to pay apart from tuition. Although KU has the highest entrance fee among Korean universities, the school does not make clear where the money is used. Therefore, Star:Zari will attempt to find out the usage now, and eventually aims to eliminate the entrance fee altogether.

On dormitory issues, there are basically two problems that Star:Zari is working on. First, there is the low capacity of KU dormitories. Compared to the 30 percent capacity rate of Yonsei Univeristy, KU has a comparatively low rate of 11.35 percent. This puts a heavy burden on students who cannot get in the dorm and have to find a place to live by themselves. Furthermore, they are worried about undemocratic management in the dormitory. For instance, the student guardians enter students’ rooms without permission under the pretense of supervision. 

In March, Star:Zari successfully finished their first survey. They surveyed more than 2000 students, collecting data that can be usefully examined in their future projects. They also succeeded on delivering this result to KU President Yeom Jae Ho. Furthermore, Star:Zari is planning of several further projects such as a student participation booth in People’s Square and to buckle down on dormitory and entrance fee issues with newly packed task forces. 

“It will be best when students actively participate and become members of the project team,” says Yu Jong Heon (’13, Media and Communication), the leader of the Why Not? project. “However, knowing about their rights and paying attention to what the student council is doing are also equally important,” he adds. By the hands of Star:Zari and all KU students, KU education is now about to be re-written, and certainly in a brighter way.

▲ Why Not? banner on Student Union Building. Photographed by Lee Yun Mi.