Students hold a news conference demanding tuition refunds and the improvement of online classes at Yonsei University in Seoul on April 7, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Controversy has erupted after a college student wrote a letter in his own blood, asking his university to refund school tuition and hold final examinations online amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, a post with the title, “We need a letter written in blood to get our tuition back?” with a photo of a letter written in blood that said “refund school tuition”, “no offline exams” was posted on Hanyang University’s online school forum.
“The school should come up with a plan immediately. Face your irresponsibility and lack of dialogue, and compensate,” the student who wrote the post said.
On June 6, a verbal strife broke out among professors and students during a sit-in protest inside the campus.
“If you want an ‘untact’ exam, get me a letter written in blood,” one of the professors said, and the student actually took his words at face value.
This semester, Hanyang University has allowed professors to hold either in-person or online final examinations at their own discretion, many of whom chose to hold the tests offline.
Students weren’t satisfied with the decision, since many who returned to their hometowns outside Seoul to stay away from the coronavirus had to spend hours to return to school just to take a final exam.
In fact, Hanyang University had to send home three students suspected of coronavirus infection along with those who were contact with them during the final examination period.
The university reportedly failed to deliver the news to all students, notifying only those who took the final examination with the three suspected patients via a text message.
A photo of a letter written in blood that said “refund school tuition.” (image: Internet community board)
A letter written in blood also appeared on a Yonsei University online forum that said “Yonsei University 100,000 won (US$82.75)”.
The student who posted the letter was found to have cut his own finger with a knife to write the letter to protest the university’s failure to listen to students.
The school and the student council had met earlier to discuss tuition refunds, during which the head of student welfare caused a controversy by saying that “students should pay more if they want to be the real owners here. Calls for cutting down school tuition just don’t make sense.”
“Why can’t students each pay 100,000 won more for the school?” he said.
The letter written in blood was seen as a direct rebuttal of these remarks.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
