On Recent Wound and Sorrow of Korean Community

We request repentance of Fuller’s senior administration and a full restitution for the recent wound of Korean Community.

• Over the last 10 days, various solemn and startling events have taken place at Fuller Seminary, specifically the Korean community within. On February 4, 2016, we were informed via President Mark Labberton’s email regarding the announcement of the restructuring of the Korean programs, which included layoffs of 6 full-time staff members. Therefore, this event is being recognized by us not as ‘hopeful beginnings of the new Korean Center’, but rather ‘Fuller’s aggressive, discriminatory, and massive layoffs of Korean staff members’.
• Due to such situation, many people are in shock, feeling deep pain, disrespect, frustration, and confusion. This shock, pain, and disrespect have not only been inflicted on the entire Korean community at Fuller, but also the Korean and Korean American church as a whole. The ensuing responsibility for the frustration and confusion is to be held by Fuller Seminary and its senior administration, which are now playing the role of the inflictor.
• Many intense emotions and complex issues are embedded in this event. Therefore, the current wound and suffering can multiply without an accurate understanding of the objective aspects of this problem. Yet if Fuller’s administration, along with the Korean community, can correctly recognize the core issues and secondary issues of this situation, we believe that definite resolution of the problems and progressive recovery can happen.
• There are two key factors to this event: (1) the issue of ‘how to maintain and improve Fuller’s Korean programs’, and (2) the fact that ‘Fuller Seminary has completely ignored and disproportionately offended the Korean community in the process of making and carrying out relevant decisions’.
• On February 10, President Mark Labberton at the Korean student forum claimed multiple times, “We have created the new Korean Center because of the disharmony and disagreements between the Korean programs.” However, this claim cannot justify the restructuring that has led to the current situation.
• As the two Korean programs respectively belong to two independent graduate schools of the SIS and the SOT, and primarily focus on different disciplines, it is no wonder that these programs disagree on the announced restructuring. Therefore, the disagreement between the programs (even if a strong disagreement) cannot justify the senior administration’s wrongdoing in the complete ignoring of the Korean community, whose place in the seminary changed suddenly from a conversation partner to a recipient of unfair judgment.
• The administration’s logic in fact reminds us of the imperialistic thoughts of the past: ‘Since some people do not have the capacity to determine their own destiny, they must be dictated and ruled by a wiser and stronger people’. This attitude has manifested in Fuller Seminary discriminately ignoring and disrespecting the dignity and autonomy of a minor community within itself. This situation is especially unfortunate and regrettable when considering that it has happened at a seminary that is called to teach the Gospel that ‘breaks the walls between the Jews and the Gentiles’. If Fuller Seminary does not recover from the current problem in Gospel power and repenting mind, all teachings of reconciliation and global missions at Fuller will be considered neither genuine nor practicable.
• We plead to the senior administration of Fuller Seminary. The core issue of the current situation is not ‘establishment of the Korean Center due to disagreement within the Korean community’. The primary reason why all of the Korean community at Fuller is deeply hurt, and the Korean church is shocked by the actions of Fuller Seminary is: ‘The offensive ignoring and complete neglect of the Korean community by Fuller’s senior administration’. We demand that the administration comes clean and apologizes unconditionally regarding this point. If the President’s explanation of ‘I apologize for unintentionally hurting the feelings of the Korean students, but this restructuring has happened because of the internal struggle and tension of the Korean programs’ continues, it will only add insult to injury to the hearts of the Korean students.
• If this injury is left unhealed swiftly and decisively, the relationship among Fuller Seminary, Fuller’s Korean community, and the Korean church will surely receive a critical blow, no longer able to be fully recovered. Specifically, while the current Korean students would reluctantly graduate in order to finish what they have begun, the number of new Korean enrollees to ‘Fuller Seminary that ignores Koreans’ will drastically fall. This foreseeable result will prove how practically pointless and self-inflicting decision this restructuring is, a rash decision made to merely save some money.
• This event is not an ordinary administrative matter of the school. Rather, it is a serious wrongdoing that undermines an internal community, committed by the school which is supposed to teach the Gospel of reconciliation and community building. This wrongdoing calls for repentance and recovery. Therefore, we Korean students, based on our conscience as Christians, respectfully demand the senior administration of Fuller to “repent”. This repentance is not to be done merely with a ‘linguistic repentance’, but with a genuine ‘repentance of action’ that brings concrete recovery and reparation, as the Bible teaches. Moreover, this recovery and reparation are not to be made reluctantly and defensively, but rather positively and preemptively by the senior administration, impressing the Korean and other minority communities within Fuller with astonishment beyond expectation.
• Based on all the points listed above, we demand the following in order that the Korean community can heal and overcome the deep wounds we are experiencing:

First, President Mark Labberton makes a written public apology immediately to the Korean community and Korean church, for the current offense committed against the Korean community, through an internal and official seminary email.

Second, the seminary cancels the lay-off of all 6 Korean staff members or re-hires them.

Third, the seminary terminates, or at least demotes, the responsible person(s) within the senior administration who has given it an inadequate advice regarding the restructuring of the Korean programs announced on February 2, which has cut communication between the senior administration and the Korean community, and hence caused serious harm to the dignity and honor of the Korean community as well as the seminary as a whole.

Fourth, the seminary creates and installs a system which structurally guarantees an appropriate and sufficient representation of minority communities within the senior administration, in order to prevent further discriminatory events such as the current one.

• In making above requests, we do recognize that the Korean programs have some short comings to serve students well, and that these short comings must be sorted out. We believe that such tasks should be worked out diligently and primarily by the whole Korean community with the respectful help of Fuller’s administration.
• While we also appreciate President Labberton’s apology verbally issued on multiple occasions at the forum on February 10, we expect that his humble attitude will progress to concrete and substantial actions. We are hoping that the senior administration courageously and sincerely responds actively and intentionally, rather than telling the wounded to wipe their own tears.
• The Bible teaches that all humans are sinners. Therefore, even the students, teachers and the leaders of seminary are also sinners, ignorant, insensitive, and foolish. With this unhappy incident, we have learned that even those who have committed their lives for the holy Lord’s work, can make a serious mistake to ruin and destroy a community whether it is intentional or from negligence, whenever and wherever.
• However, we believe in the Gospel of reconciliation and the power of repentance. The revelation of human wrong gives us the chance to remand and repair. We are now experiencing a crisis which reveals the weakness and unseen barriers within the Fuller community. It requests all of us to humbly deny ourselves and bear each party’s own cross. We sincerely pray and believe that we can see and learn the work of God which remands the wound within a Christian community at Fuller, and strengthen this genuine Christian community of all nations through this painful experience. We urgently pray that all of Fuller will experience the divine healing and reconciliation with our humble demands and courageous responses of the senior administration, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

February 18, 2016

Korean Student Association (English Program)