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Yonsei News

[YONSEI NEWS] Anonymous Woman Donates Scholarship of 100 Million Won

연세대학교 홍보팀 / news@yonsei.ac.kr
2008-05-19

From Money Saved During a Life of Hardship Unable to Give Children College Education Due to Lack of Money A woman in her late 60s donated 100 million won to Yonsei to be used as scholarship fund for students. Mrs. Jeong lives in the Gyeonggi area and visited Yonsei on April 1 with an envelope in her purse. When she met graduate student Jeong Jae-Hoon on campus, she asked, “I’m here to donate money for scholarship. Where should I go?” Mr. Jeong guided Mrs. Jeong to the Office of General Affairs, where she tried to leave after just handing her envelope, but University President Kim Han-Joong asked to meet her when he heard she had come. “I have lived a hard life for over 60 years,” Mrs. Jeong said, “so I know what it is like to be in hardship. I would like this money to be used for scholarships for students in need.” She then gave her envelope to President Kim. Inside were cashier’s checks worth 100 million won. Mrs. Jeong said she had acquired this money as a compensation for the development of the land that she had bought with the savings from her meager income. President Kim told Mrs. Jeong that God will surely pay her back with abundant blessing, not forgetting to remind her, being himself a Professor at the College of Medicine, of what Yonsei can do for her immediately: “Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you ever need any medical care or simply feel unwell.” The University is planning to give the money to students in need as scholarships. Mrs. Jeong explained that she had been poor all her life. When she was pregnant, she had no money to buy rice, so she had to go without food to the extent that her legs became too weak for her to be able to walk properly. People around her knew how hard things were for her, but were reluctant to help her out because they knew she could not pay them back. Even in such hardship, Mrs. Jeong brought up three children, but was unable to give them college education because she couldn’t pay the tuition. This fact made her donation even more touching, for she was making it possible for students to receive the education that she had not been able to give her own children. Mrs. Jeong did not want the details of her generous donation to be known, and left the university without revealing her full identity.