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Yonsei University's 127th Anniversary Speech 2012.05.12

May 12, 2012
 
  Greetings to the Honorable Chairman Woo Young Bang of the Board of Directors, Yonsei alumni from both home and abroad, beloved faculty members and students, and distinguished guests!
 
  Today we are here to celebrate Yonsei University’s 127th birthday, a joyful occasion for all Yonsei family members. I especially wish to welcome those alumni, who have returned to our campus to commemorate their 25th-year and 50th-year graduation anniversaries. May you relive your memories by experiencing the joy and happiness of celebrating the 127th anniversary and sharing the passion of our current students on campus! I would also like to congratulate all professors, alumni, and faculty members who will be receiving awards for their academic accomplishments, service, and dedication today.
 
  Respected Yonsei colleagues, 
  For a very long period, Yonsei has been a place of promise, where God's visions have unfolded. Our great teachers and seniors have established and protected Yonsei with much sacrifice and dedication, based on the spirit of Christianity. Yonsei's history first began with Jejungwon, an outpost of the medical missionary work established to cure diseases with God's love. The Underwood School, founded in the following year, was a place of learning for underprivileged orphans. Through such efforts, our seniors have sown the early seeds of modernization in Korea, while giving the hope of national independence during Japan's colonization.
 
  Yonsei has also been a place of integration and harmonious living. Central to Yonsei's teaching and medical services was the spirit of integration beyond the barriers of denominational differences. Based on the same spirit, Dr. Oliver R. Avison, Principal of Yonhi College and Severance Medical School, merged the two schools to establish one university under the name of Yonsei in 1957. Since then, our seniors have held fast to our founding spirit to enable the making of Yonsei University as it exists today.
 
  Beloved Yonseians, 
  Today we are faced with a rapidly changing environment and new challenges on higher education. Currently, universities pursue global competitiveness, and society demands innovative leaders who can embrace interdisciplinarity in academic fields. The number of students nation-wide enrolling in universities is rapidly dropping and is expected to decrease by more than 30% in the next ten years.
 
  In response to these new challenges, I announced Yonsei University's "Third Founding" at the time of my inauguration in February as the seventeenth President of the university. After the "First Founding", represented by the establishment of Jejungwon in 1885, the "Second Founding" came with the merger of Yonhi College and Severance Medical School into Yonsei University. The Third Founding envisions development of a new Yonsei in the midst of the rapid changes and challenges of the twenty-first century. Through the Third Founding, I aim to strengthen the fundamentals of Yonsei by intensifying education and research, while establishing a community where people can exercise leadership through communicating with and serving others. Our mission is also to nurture global leaders who can bring light to the darkest corners of our society. With the motto Excellentia cum dignitatis, or “excellence with dignity” in mind, we must strive towards excellence in research and education while always maintaining dignity.
 
  Through our Third Founding efforts, Yonsei will continue to improve itself to exceed today's standards of a world-class university. In particular, we will introduce a Residential College system, a central component of world-class universities, at Yonsei International Campus next year. The Residential College will integrate living and learning, where faculty and students can interact at a deeper level, students of all social and cultural backgrounds learn to appreciate diversity, and communication and cooperation are fostered. The Residential College will become a pioneering model of university education in Korea.
 
  In 1917, Yonsei bought 163 acres of land near Changcheon-ri in Yeonhi-myen, Goyang-gun, with $50,000 donation made by John T. Underwood. The land was used to set up a base for the great beginning of Yonsei's beautiful Sinchon campus. Since then, Yonsei played a vital role in fostering outstanding individuals who acted as pioneers of the Korean society throughout hardships and ordeals of the modernization era.
 
  Today, we plan to implement the Residential College at Yonsei International Campus. The establishment of the campus in Incheon will fulfill the purpose of the Memorandum of Understanding for the Songdo Global Academic Complex signed between the university and the City of Incheon in 2006 and further enable Yonsei to foster global talents and holistic leaders.
 
  I would like to express my deep gratitude to all Yonseians who have contributed to implementing the Residential College system at the Songdo Campus. Over the past several months, I have been able to truly experience the power of hope and trust. With your support, the Residential College will be a new turning point in the history of Yonsei and higher education in Korea.
 
  The inception of the Third Founding placed Yonsei as the first Korean university to operate a multi-campus system. Yonsei's newest stage at Incheon will have completed 60 acres of buildings by the end of this year. By next year, its library and second residence building will be in place to complete the first phase of construction of a total of 76 acres. Yonsei’s competitiveness will depend on how effectively the campuses at Sinchon, Wonju and Incheon, as well as the Yonsei University Health System, will operate under a multi-campus system. I will seek to enhance the distinctive characteristics of each campus whilst generating cross-campus synergies in education and research. I believe that Yonsei’s principle of autonomy as well as integration for our multiple campuses will set a model example for other universities.
 
  I will also pursue innovation in the development of our campus infrastructure. We will develop a sustainable financial structure and promote professionalization of the administrative system while creating an eco-friendly campus. In particular, the Baekyang-ro Reconstruction Project will soon begin at Sinchon to restore the historic beauty of our campus landscape. The technical details have already been reviewed. We will actively reflect your opinions and insights to incorporate the founding spirit and school traditions in the project, and it is our plan to celebrate the university's 130th anniversary on a renewed green campus.
 
  Beloved Yonseians, 
  It has been a little more than three months since I was called to become the President of this vast institution. During this short period, my belief in Yonsei was reaffirmed, as I became more certain of Yonsei's potential and ability to make history. I could sense the seeds of hope for Yonsei's future from all Yonseians; from professors who stay late in their office to teach and research, to administrative members who faithfully undertake their duties, as well as our students who are ambitious to learn more and our alumni, who have always fully supported their alma mater. Your dedication encourages me to look forward to the future with confidence.
 
  As we celebrate the 127th anniversary of our university, I encourage everyone to join hands to make Yonsei's new history together. I request again that you share the weight of responsibility that I have taken on as President. One individual alone cannot accomplish the Third Founding. We need the passion and dedication of the entire Yonsei community in continuing the Yonsei spirit. Preparing for a new chapter in our history is a calling for all Yonseians. With your help, I aim to bring forth the next prominent period of history-making. This is an attainable goal, because, after all, this institution, where we make history, is Yonsei University!
 
  On this beautiful campus, I wish that all Yonseians can celebrate the university's anniversary together today. May God bless Yonsei University. Thank you.