Uproar over bid to turn women’s university co-ed spreads

Moves to turn South Korea’s Dongduk Women’s University into a co-educational institution sparked a fierce response from the university’s students this month. The protests, which began on 11 November, rapidly intensified, involving hundreds of students, with police called to the campus this Monday.

The protests have been supported by several other women-only universities.

By 13 November, student councils from five of the seven women’s universities in South Korea, excluding the prestigious Ewha Womans University in Seoul, had joined in solidarity protests against co-education, including moves at Dongduk and another university to admit male international students in new departments or international sections at women’s universities.

The Dongduk University student council, known as Naran, issued a statement on 7 November, firmly opposing any transition towards co-education, highlighting that the university administration had confirmed it would hold an initial discussion on co-education.

“We are wholly against the co-educational transition that contradicts the founding purpose of the university, which was established with the goal of empowering women,” the statement said.

Naran argued that a women’s university “provides a safe space for discussions, free from the widespread discrimination and hostility toward women present in society!”.

Even though discussions on co-education are still at a preliminary stage at Dongduk, and the university administration stressed it was just one of several options being considered in response to a declining school-age population, students held a variety of protest actions.

They posted manifestos across campus, spray-painted slogans on walls such as ‘better to perish than open up’, launched a petition campaign, and held highly visible demonstrations and sit-downs. University buildings were occupied, and lectures boycotted en masse.

Some students expressed discontent by hurling eggs and other food items at a bust of the university’s founding chair Cho Dong-sik, while others placed funeral wreaths around campus in a symbolic gesture.

Police called to campus

Police were called to the campus in Seoul following five consecutive reports of noise and property damage. The officers entered the main building, where a student sit-in was taking place. Police reports said they witnessed students striking the walls and other parts of the building with objects such as baseball bats and fire extinguishers.

Students at the scene explained: “We were urging the school administration to attend a meeting with the student council, which had been scheduled for 5pm. The school officials failed to show up for over an hour.”

A particularly contentious incident involved a police officer filmed remarking to students: “You will later become teachers, have children and parent them”, with students yelling back that they would not. The video footage provoked widespread condemnation when circulated online.

No official discussions yet

The student council noted the issue of co-education had not been on any official meeting agenda, though discussions have taken place.

“Despite the topic being discussed, the university administration has, to date, failed to provide any communication to the General Student Council, the official representative body of the students. It is only when such suspicions are publicly raised by the student council that the administration chooses to respond,” the council noted.

“The administration’s silence, without an official stance, has fostered unease and ignored the potential anxiety of students when these allegations (of discussions on co-education) surfaced,” it said.

Students called for the university to formally end “reckless” discussions on going co-educational, including halting discussions on enrolling male undergraduate international students.

Dongduk admitted six male students to its undergraduate Korean Language and Culture Studies programme this year. The university had amended its regulations to clarify that “majors exclusively open to a specific group of students, whose admissions are decided outside the regular admission quota, do not restrict applicants based on gender”.

Broader context

According to Lee song-yi, co-chair of the university’s Emergency Response Committee set up on 12 November and composed of representatives of each college, the campus serves as a rare safe space for women amid pervasive sexism and violence.

At a 12 November press conference, Lee pointed to a high-profile off-campus incident in the city of Jinju on 4 November when a woman was assaulted by a 28-year-old male for having short hair, citing this as evidence of the enduring challenges faced by women in public spaces.

An often-cited incident occurred in 2018, when a man infiltrated a Dongduk University building and uploaded photos to social media of himself naked, along with images of lewd acts, sparking widespread controversy.

Lee remarked that, given such circumstances, abandoning the university’s mission as a women-only institution would be a step backward.

Protests at other women’s universities

The wave of protests at Dongduk has reverberated across other women’s universities in the country. On 12 November, students at Sungshin Women’s University in Seoul staged demonstrations against including male international students in a newly established department, arguing the move undermined single-gender education.

According to the “2025 Admissions Guidelines for International Students” released on 1 November, a new International School for international students has been established at Sungshin. The guidelines state “for the International School, applications are open to all genders without distinction”.

Sungshin’s student council released a statement on 12 November calling for a reversal of this decision and staged a protest that involved laying out university jackets on the ground in front of the main building.

A Sungshin University official told University World News on 13 November: “There have been some misunderstandings among students, and we plan to create an opportunity for communication.”

The official added: “Our university has had foreign male students attending classes and earning degrees in the past. We have no intention of changing the value or identity of a women’s university.”

Similar expressions of solidarity came from other women’s universities, such as Kwangju Women’s University and Duksung Women’s University, with their student bodies pledging support for Dongduk’s stand.

Dongduk Women’s University’s President Kim Jung-ae responded to the turmoil with an official statement on 12 November. She stated: “It is deeply distressing to witness such violent incidents occurring in a university, an environment that should be dedicated to dialogue and debate.

The university is taking this matter very seriously and intends to hold those accountable to strict standards. We will inform you of our discussions and decisions regarding the co-educational transition while addressing the current situation. Efforts for the development of the university will continue with the participation of all members.”

The student council said demonstrations and boycotts would continue until its demand for a complete withdrawal of any co-education plans is met.