CNU Internationals represent in Town Hall Meeting for Foreigners

By Rigoberto Banta Jr., Head Student Editor

   Various students from different international student organizations on campus represented the international student community of Chonnam National University (CNU) a town hall meeting hosted by Gwangju City last March 19, 2013 at the city hall. CNU Chinese Student Council president Li Teng (Junior, Dept. of Food and Nutrition), Association of Filipino Students in Korea vice president Rigoberto Banta Jr. (Senior, Dept. of Economics), and representatives from the CNU Mongolian Student Association Anu (Junior, Dept. of Business Administration) and Chanchal (Senior, Dept. of Political Science and Diplomacy) attended the event to represent the international student population not only in CNU but in Gwangju in general. The said event is the first of kind gathering representatives from different sectors of the foreign population residing in Gwangju. It was an opportunity for them to talk directly to the city’s top executive and suggest ways to improve the lives of the foreigners in the city.

One of the hottest issues in the forum was the state of international students in universities located in Gwangju. “When we talk about foreigners, it has always been marriage migrants and labor migrants and international students have always been compromised,” says Mukul Basu, Indian, participant of the forum. “These students, the budding elite of their own communities back in their home countries, should be taken into central planning as they carry with them the best potential for tourism and promotion of the city,” he adds. According to Jeong Sun-hwa, coordinator from the Office of International Relations, Gwangju City Hall, it is a fact that Gwangju City has not given close attention to the needs of students nurtured in universities within the city. For this concern, Gwangju mayor, Mr. Kang believes that the state of international students and the internationalization level of higher education in the city should be reviewed with a much closer eye, a rather vague generalization and a non-guarantee to the betterment of the status of the students. The city currently houses more than 5,000 international students amongst its tertiary education institutions and CNU has over 1,000 of them.

Chinese representative Li Teng emphasizes that “the first step to improve the lives of international students in CNU is active and constant communication amongst them.” He said that he expects international students to cooperate and form themselves to be heard. CNU does not have any official international student organization on campus apart from country-based groups such as the CNU Chinese Student Council.