Sogang’s Culture of Disability Inclusion
On April 8, Sogang University marked Disability Awareness Day with a gathering in the lobby of Ignatius Hall. Co-hosted by the Campus Ministry Affairs, the Institute for Global Engagement & Sustainability, and the Support Center for Students with Disabilities, the event brought together around twenty participants — students, intern staff, support workers, and administrators — for a shared meal, open conversation, and a closing song performed together. Participants exchanged accounts of everyday challenges on campus, and the occasion was held under the slogan: "Everyday life, accessible to all."
The event reflected something broader than a single annual observance. Sogang has spent decades building what it describes as a comprehensive support system for students with disabilities — known on campus as Dasoni students — covering academic accommodation, campus mobility, assistive technology, financial support, and career preparation. The University's Support Center for Students with Disabilities coordinates these services across the full student lifecycle, from pre-admission orientation through graduation and employment transition.
That commitment has drawn national recognition. Sogang has been rated top university five consecutive times in the Korean government's evaluation of educational welfare support for students with disabilities through 2020 — a distinction that reflects sustained institutional investment rather than isolated effort.
In practice, support takes several forms. Students with disabilities receive priority classroom allocation, extended exam time, individual testing spaces, and note-taking assistance through a structured peer support personnel programme. Faculty are formally notified of required accommodations through official letters issued under the President's name. For students with mobility needs, campus facilities include accessible parking, ramps, elevators, and automatic doors, with classroom relocation arranged where necessary. Assistive devices — ranging from electric wheelchairs and portable lifts to Braille tools, FM hearing systems, and OCR software — are available for loan through the Center.
The library operates its own access scheme, offering flexible borrowing and return options including on-campus delivery, extended loan periods, designated seating, and reading enlargement stations for students with visual impairments.
Financial support is also structured into the system. The Xavier Scholarship for Students with Disabilities covers between one-third and two-thirds of tuition fees, supplemented by alumni-based scholarships and living support schemes. Dormitory priority and partial fee support are available for students with significant accessibility needs.
The human dimension of this system was visible this March, when Han Joo-sung and Yu Min-woo — students in the Department of Media and Entertainment — received the grand prize at the inaugural Lotte Foundation Social Contribution Video Contest. Their 60-second film, produced under the team name Albatros, documented a student-led effort to place Braille stickers at key locations across campus. Competing against 197 other teams, the pair were recognized for turning a practical act of care into a story with wider resonance. "Our small gestures of consideration," Han said, "can become the starting point for positive change across the entire campus."
That instinct — that access is a shared responsibility rather than a special accommodation — traces back further still. When the late Professor Young-hee Chang, herself a wheelchair user, lobbied the University to install an elevator in Ignatius Hall, the result was a tower-shaped lift clad in the building's own red brick, used by everyone on campus. It remains one of the more enduring illustrations of what disability access, done well, can look like: not a workaround, but part of the fabric of the place.