2015 SU Update: Local College Students “Leading” the Network for a Successful Universiade

GWANGJU – The Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC) met student leaders and discussed the participation of college students in the 2015 Summer Universiade.

College students in the local area will join forces for the success of the 2015 Gwangju Universiade. The Gwangju Universiade Organizing Committee (GUOC) invited 50 college students to the Deli House on September 20th to discuss how to build a network among college students inKoreaand overseas.

The meeting attended by student leaders from 17 colleges, including Chonnam National University and Chosun University, was arranged to bring out active participation of college students, who are supposed to be the main participants of the Universiade.

Yoon-suk Kim, GUOC Secretary-General said, “Over 20,000 athletes and staff members from 170 countries are expected to join the 2015 Summer Universiade, which will be one of the largest Universiades ever hosted. The success of the event relies greatly on students’ volunteering work. I hope that local university student bodies will have stewardship in the event.”

GUOC is going to build a college student network starting with colleges in the area and expand the network to overseas in 2013.

Jong-hyuk Jung, the chair of a local university students’ association said, “2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade is the first international event that the city of Gwangju will host. It is very meaningful to us since the main participants are college students. The event will transform Gwangju as well as colleges in this area.”

Eun-chul Pak, the Student Union President of Chonnam National University, said enthusiastically, “We will do everything we can throughout the entire process of hosting the event.”

The student leaders made many great suggestions on how to promote the event: involving international students in the area, promoting the event through college festivals, nationwide tours, and minor sports events. They also asked to be the pivot point among all Korean college students for active volunteering work.

In the following month, GUOC is going to sign an MOU with the local university students’ association and start building a college student network.

(Source: GUOC 2015)