Yonsei News

A Personal Touch on Campus October 25, 2018

Yonsei community engraves campus benches as part of donation project

Benches near The Commons in front of Baekyangro

The benches surrounding Baekyangro, the main campus street of Yonsei University located in Seoul, South Korea, now hold special meaning that conveys personal stories of various members of the Yonsei community, especially the alumni.

“Share Your Story: Benches of Baekyangro” donation project started last June and was received with great warmth and enthusiasm. As part of the project, donors who contributed to installing the 100 benches were able to share their stories by engraving their names and personalized messages on their assigned bench. With the support of donors, who were mostly alumni, Yonsei University raised a total of 77 million KRW (approximately 68,000 USD) during the two-month project, and many of the donors’ touching stories left a lasting impression throughout Baekyangro.

“May this place be filled with creativity and dreams — Team SUNG”

The Word “Memory” Warms My Heart

Alumnus Jeong-sook Park (entering class of ’49, English Literature), the oldest participant of the donation project, still vividly remembers her school days at Yonsei University. Her engraved message states, "To my alma mater Yonsei University and Baekygangro, where I cherish so many memories - may you live on forever!"

Park first heard about the bench donation project during a senior alumni event and was immediately excited to participate. “After deciding to become a bench donor, I took the opportunity to return to campus for a visit. The word ‘memory’ itself warms my heart so much,” she said.

Benches in front of the Central Library

Commemorating My Grandfather, A Yonhi College* Alumnus

Hyang-sook Lee (entering class of ’80, History) shares a fond memory of her late grandfather with a phrase engraved on her bench, “In remembrance of my grandfather Bong-woon Lee (entering class of ’26, Business).” Lee reflects on a vivid memory when she first entered Yonsei University in the spring of 1980 as a freshman student. Her grandfather had suggested accompanying her when she planned to go to campus to pay her tuition fee, but she was embarrassed to be seen at school with a guardian and had declined, leaving the house on her own.

*Yonhi College: One of the two historical colleges that eventually merged to become Yonsei University in 1957

Alumnus Hyang-sook Lee’s bench message

“Looking back, my grandfather probably just wanted to stroll the campus grounds together with his granddaughter,” she reflected. Lee often finds herself thinking about her grandfather after his passing. “I regret that I never asked him about his college days at Yonhi College. I wished to honor his memory, so I engraved this phrase on the bench.”

Capturing the Spirit and Dreams of My Past College Years

Baekyangro is a place of great significance for Min-joon Choi (entering class of ’06, Library and Information Science), who had worked as a student ambassador (I.N.Yeon: Informer & Navigator of Yonsei) during his college years. Choi remembers Baekyangro not only because of his countless campus tours but also because it holds memories of his youth and innocence during his twenties.

“I will always be thankful to my alma mater for the unforgettable memories,” commented Choi. “After hearing that it was possible for my name to be engraved somewhere on campus, I immediately decided to become a donor for the project.”

Choi decided to engrave a verse from Jeong Ho-seung’s poem “To the Daffodils” on his bench. “When snow falls, walk on snowy paths; when rain falls, walk on rainy paths.” The message he wanted to convey to his fellow Yonseians is that “no matter what situation, we must embrace it with bravery.”

Alumnus Min-joon Choi’s bench message

Thank You Yonsei for Bringing Us Together

Jeong-eun Jang (entering class of ’04, Business Administration) and Sang-woo Kang (entering class of ’99, Business Administration) playfully expressed their love for their alma mater and fellow Yonsei students with the Korean letter “ㅋ” — which holds similar meaning to the “lol” acronym. The two alumni first met in a student club in college and continued to share a great affection for the University.

“We will always be thankful to Yonsei for bringing us together and making our lives happier,” the couple explained. They “wanted to do something fun and meaningful with our savings” and decided to participate in the donation project. Jang and Kang hope that their “ㅋ” bench, currently installed in front of the Student Union Building, will become a place for future Yonseians to create memories and form significant relationships.

Benches near Engineering Hall 1

Support from the Extended Yonsei Community

Apart from Yonsei alumni, various representatives of society with ties to the Yonsei community also took part in the donation project. Ban Ki-moon — the 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Honorary Chairman of the Institute for Global Engagement and Empowerment (IGEE) at Yonsei University — and his spouse, Mrs. Soon-taek Yoo, shared their belief in a better world for all by engraving the phrase, “With the hope that Yonsei will help make the world a better place.”

“As Secretary-General of the UN, I came to realize that compassion for others is more important than passion,” said Honorary Chairman Ban. “I hope that Yonsei University students will create a better world for everyone by freeing themselves from worldly restraints and reach for their dreams while being compassionate to others.”

Benches in front of the Central Library

Another donor is Ki-yeong Han, Vice-President of Gansam Architects & Partners, who participated in the reconstruction of Baekyangro. He shared his story of redesigning Baekyangro with the message, “Baekyangro, revive the memories of the past and make new history for Yonsei.” When redesigning Baekyangro, architects from his company preserved the existing underlying base and created new meaningful spaces with the concept of “writing new history based on the past.”

“We put a lot of effort in redesigning Baekyangro since it is a place for the students, the future history-makers of the University," said Han. "I hope that a wonderful future lies ahead of Yonsei University."

Numerous other messages sharing the personal stories of donors can be found on the benches around Baekyangro. After the success of the bench donation project, the Office of External Affairs & Development is currently launching a follow-up donation project, "Share the Classics: Seats of Yonsei Kumho Art Hall." The 390 seats of the luxurious performance hall located in The Commons will be engraved with donor names and their personalized phrases.

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