Will We Really Become ‘Leaders’?
Will We Really Become ‘Leaders’?
  • Reporter Kim Seo-yeon
  • 승인 2019.02.11 22:47
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Reporter Kim Seo-yeon
Reporter Kim Seo-yeon

 

POSTECH’s vision is to “nurture creative global leaders with excellence and a sound personal value system”, and it is indeed one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea, providing the best environment for producing intellectual researchers. It is a world-leading research-oriented university, consisting of nearly 300 reputable professors and 76 research units with high-quality facilities; 2000 SCI papers and 500 patents are registered annually. It is unquestionable that POSTECH is an outstanding educational institution to produce excellent researchers, and, as a potential researcher, I could not ask for more. However, is POSTECH providing an environment to nurture a ‘global leader with a sound personal value system?’ As a person who believes that a true leader is one who takes care of all members of society, respecting all human rights, I would like to ask my fellow Postechians the same question in different words: ‘is POSTECH really providing an environment in which we can learn to respect every member of society and their human rights?’
If you have been to the Jigok Community Center between meal times, you have probably seen the cafeteria staff resting on sofas and chairs in the eating area. After preparing hundreds of meals for the hungry students, after enduring the hours-long physical labour, these middle-aged women have no place to rest that they are forced to relax in the common area; no privacy nor peace is provided so that the staff cannot rest and regain energy for the next wave of orders. The members of the school are not just students. They also include numerous staffs, like those who work to provide meals for the students and those who work hard for school safety. Providing welfare for all members of the university is to be a duty of POSTECH.
In 2009, a disabled student on a wheelchair matriculated into POSTECH, and the university promised to install a wheelchair lift along the 78 stairs. However, for some reason, the institution repeal the plan, and only recently started to construct a lift next to the infamous 78 stairs. For the 32 years, those who were physically uncomfortable with stairs were forced to climb up the seven-floor-equivalent steps or go around the 15-minute uphill route. Furthermore, there is no shower room for disabled women in RC (Residential College); there is just one disabled bathroom in the whole building which holds up to 740 students, and, even worse, the shower room is only accessible from the men’s floor. It is inevitably clear that POSTECH is not providing the most fundamental facilities for the disabled, disrespecting the minority.
Unlike POSTECH’s reputation as one of the best universities in Korea, the reality is that the university has a very poor environment regarding human rights. It is true that POSTECH has renown professors, numerous research institutes, and prosperous research results, but, as a world-leading educational institution, POSTECH is obliged not only to foster academic literacy but also to nurture leaders who have the humanity to respect the human rights of all people. I hope that one day, POSTECH will construct a true environment in which we, Postechians, can become real leaders - people who are not only academically bright but also people who care for everyone’s human rights, even those of the minorities.