The Inauguration of the New President, Chang Soon-heung

Editor-in-chief Ahn So-hyun

prevoyage@naver.com

On October 13, President Chang Soon-heung's inauguration ceremony was held at Mano Auditorium of Busan University of Foreign Studies. He was appointed president about a month after his vision presentation. Numerous VIPs visited the inauguration ceremony, and the event was divided into two parts. In the first part, the inauguration ceremony was held in which the appointment of the new president was announced, followed by the transfer of the school flag. The new president was introduced and he gave an inauguration speech, congratulatory speech, and held a reception. A speech by Pastor Lee Bok-soo of the university church and various Christian-related events were also held. In addition, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon visited the school to celebrate the inauguration of the president. He had a brief conversation with President Chang.

President Chang Soon-heung said in his inaugural speech, "I have come to Busan University of Foreign Studies with a heavy and great responsibility, and mission, so I will create a happy campus to foster convergent talents who can solve problems suitable for the global era."

However, some controversy surrounded the new president's inauguration. News of the new president's inauguration was only notified to faculty and not the students, meaning that the students had no idea about it until the inauguration day. The school has always emphasized that 'the students are the true owners of the school,' yet for the new president's inauguration, the students, who make up the largest portion of the school's members, were ignored. In addition, the vote on the appointment of the new president by the BUFS Faculty Council also had no effect on the outcome of the appointment. In a situation where strong opposition to the appointment continues and where the opinions of school members are ignored, much attention is being paid to Chang's future moves.