The Yonsei Promise:
Lead with Vision, Serve with Honor

February 1, 2016
Professor Yong-Hak Kim,
the 18th President of Yonsei University

Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the Honorable Suk Soo Kim, Members of the Board of Trustees, former Yonsei University Presidents, Distinguished Guests, and Members of the Faculty and Staff,

I imagine how missionaries such as Horace Allen, Oliver Avison and Horace Underwood might have felt as they came ashore at the port of Jemulpo in the late 19th century. With fearful and anxious hearts, they set foot in a country that was beset by poverty and despair. Their courage became a ray of light, helping to illuminate the path that led to Korea’s modernization.

With the same fearful and anxious heart, I am taking my first steps as President of Yonsei University. As I do so, I feel the profound weight of responsibility that comes with Yonsei University’s educational and societal role in Korea’s higher education. I wholly embrace the enormous responsibility of lifting Yonsei University to greater heights and bringing about necessary changes to our country’s higher education.

Distinguished Guests and Respected Yonsei Colleagues,

Just as these missionaries journeyed to an unknown world 131 years ago, our University is today headed toward a world we do not know and have not experienced. Within the whirlpool of immense civilizational shifts, the very foundations of university teaching and research are being transformed by rapid advancements in science, means of communication and information sharing. Korean universities, however, remain stuck in the paradigm of an industrial society, hesitant to change.

In the face of such rapid changes, our University must take the lead and act. As President of Yonsei University, in order to transform Yonsei University and present a vision for Korea’s higher education, I will start laying the cornerstone for the “future university,” leading the way to the next one hundred years. Among the challenges that our university must face, I will address the following three tasks.

First, we must prepare for a new era with life expectancy of 100, and make dramatic changes to pedagogic methods.

We are facing an era of longevity primarily due to advancements in medical technology. It seems certain that students in our newly admitted freshmen class will probably live to see the year 2100. Let us think for a moment about what that society of 2100 might be like. After these students graduate, no one knows what kind of world they will encounter in their lifetime. There are predictions from the scientific community that artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence by the year 2045. By then, our freshmen will be almost 50 years old, with another half century of life ahead of them. For our students who will live in this brave new world that is difficult for us to even imagine, it would be a disservice to teach and train them with knowledge limited to the boundaries of their majors and the specifics of our current affairs. We cannot nurture outstanding men and women for the future under current conditions wherein students spend their youth straining for “career qualifications,” and attaining test scores is prioritized over achieving knowledge. We have to teach content that our students will be able to utilize throughout their lifetimes. We have to teach our students the critical thinking skills that will be the important aspects of humanity even in an age of artificial intelligence.

That content, in my view, is basic education rooted in literature, history, and philosophy. Expected to live until the year 2100, our students need the abilities to think, imagine, and create. As such, I plan to significantly change the content and method of education.

These changes will begin with the education of the freshmen class while in Residential College both at the International and Wonju Campuses. Through new education and Residential College experiences, our students will learn habits of thinking creatively, and this could lead to the development of entrepreneurial ideas. In such cases, the University will help improve students’ competitiveness and support their endeavors.

Second, we must respond to the “Network Society.”

In a network society, whom you are connected to and how become the basis for competitiveness. As one area of knowledge connects with another, new knowledge is created. When physicists developed key theories and technologies for nanoscience, they also brought down the barriers between pure science and applied technology. Collaboration between the humanities and the natural sciences has brought about innovations that were previously unimaginable. Since the strength of a university’s research will depend on how different areas of knowledge are brought together, I will pursue a variety of initiatives to energize networks between fields and across campuses.

In order to transcend the divide between the human and natural sciences, university education must nurture the ability to converse with researchers in different fields. To that end, I will set a new educational goal of improving ‘Extelligence’ which connects existing smart ideas, as well as improving intelligence. Creativity is not some magical ability to conjure something from nothing; rather, it is the ability to cognitively connect and network existing elements to create something new.

The power of networking is not limited to research and knowledge production, but also extends into university administration. Overcoming particular interests, collaborating across different administrative units - that is, “connecting across boundaries” - these are the practices that will bolster our university’s competitiveness.

As President, I will facilitate opportunities for communication in order to create a university where there is fluid movement across different disciplines and fields of study as well as across campuses, and effective cooperation between different administrative units.

Third, we must prepare for the Era of “Empathetic Civilization.”

It has been predicted that in future societies, value systems based on the pursuit of individual interest will be replaced by empathetic value systems that demand mutual respect and consideration. If the driving force of industrial society was the calculated drive for profits, the future society’s driving will be generosity and support based on empathy. In future society there will be increased attention to our neighbors and the environment, more appreciation of diversity, and greater demand for participation in policymaking that impacts public welfare. Consequently, the concern for survival will shift to the desire for self-expression, and concern for personal wealth will shift to commitment to collective welfare.

Going beyond sharing material resources and capabilities, universities must contribute to making a society that shares opportunities in common. This culture of sharing brought forth by an empathetic civilization is the very bedrock on which Yonsei was founded 131 years ago.

Beloved Yonseians!

The universities of today are our society’s future. The students we teach are the future leaders who will transform our society, and the knowledge we produce will be the sustainment of our society’s future. If the condition of our universities today is bleak, our future will also be bleak. This is why it is vital that we address the many pending issues that universities currently face.

In order to reform our institutions for our future, and to solve the problems of our present day, I believe the most important step is to collectively internalize the shared values rooted in the Yonsei spirit. Yonsei University was founded on the Christian spirit of Veritas and Libertas, yet in recent times our community has strayed from these founding values. I will work diligently so that every member of our community can have in common the Yonsei spirit of courage and creativity, communication and empathy, sharing and concern, service and respect, and thus establish our Yonsei identity.

“Leading the Way to the Future” is Yonsei’s Calling.

Just as those missionaries implanted in Korea the spirit of truth, freedom, and service 131 years ago, the collective spirit of Yonsei “as one” must be the engine of change for the university to advance “together, with one another.”

On the basis of this founding and collective spirit, I will initiate a variety of institutional changes. I will transfer much of the authority that had been concentrated in the President’s office to the Provost and senior leadership, and by strengthening the authority and autonomy of administrative leaders, I will rather a new governance structure of “middle-up-down.” Like the first rush of water used to prime a pump, my role as President would be to draw out the best from each administrative unit by encouraging new ideas and supporting reform efforts.

My Fellow Yonseians!

Yonsei University is a university that belongs to God; further, with the grace of God, Yonsei University is a university that belongs to all of us. Early on in Yonsei’s history, Dr. Oliver Avison appointed a Korean to the position of Principal in spite of opposition from his colleagues, and declared that the owners of the school should be Koreans. After admitting the first class of 67 students, Horace Underwood worked alongside the students, baking the bricks to erect the first building. He wanted the students to be able to say, “I built this building!” and thus nurture in them a sense of ownership of their school.

I think the fundamental responsibility of the President is to honor this spirit, so that all may respect one another as owners of Yonsei. Only when all members of the Yonsei community respect one another, can they become the agents of genuine transformation. The outcome will be Yonsei as a university respected by all people around the world.

I will listen to calls for Yonsei’s advancement and transformation coming from any member of the Yonsei community. I will gladly accept your views and make use of them for the University’s advancement.

Until the last day of my term as President, I will not forget the “spirit of servant leadership” that I promised today.

Now, facing a new future, let us advance together toward Yonsei’s next 100 years!

I pray that God’s grace and love be with all of us.

Thank you.