Women’s wheelchair basketball game with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power
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- Writer 커뮤니케이션팀
- 보도일자 2016-11-08
Our university held a women’s wheelchair basketball game together with the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., Samantha Power, at the Multicomplex Hall on campus on October 9. This event was prepared to raise human rights awareness in light of Ambassador Power’s first visit who has shown a lot of interest in women’s rights and the rights of the socially disadvantaged. The event was planned and organized by the Korean Culture Institute, whereas the Sookmyung Women's University Sports Volunteers participated as resource volunteers.
Ambassador Power was a Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent, and she developed an alliance with President Barack Obama while she was lecturing at the Harvard Kennedy School. She served as the Special Assistant to the President and as the Senior Director of White House National Security Council. Currently, she is serving as the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. since 2013. For consultations concerning sanctions against North Korea, she visited Korea from October 8 ~ 11.
Our university, which has been at the forefront of education and welfare for women and students with disabilities, has co-organized the event with the first women’s wheelchair basketball team Red Fox Wheels that is affiliated with Goyang City’s Rehabilitation Sports Center by inviting Ambassador Power. The Red Fox Wheels is the first women’s wheelchair basketball team in Korea that was formed in 2009. The majority of the players are disabled women in their 40s. They are outstanding role models who are leading the improvement of disabled women’s lives by overcoming their disabilities and turning their lives around 180 degrees.
The event that kicked-off at 6pm was also participated by a documentary director Baek Yeon-ah, school social worker Park Eun-hee, and priest from the Anglican Church of Korea Kim Gi-ri through the invitation from the U.S. Embassy in Korea as well as President Jungai Kang, one student recommended by the Disabled Student Services, and one student recommended by the Department of Physical Education of our university. President Kang and Ambassador Power especially attracted attention by wearing uniforms with numbers 110 and 134 symbolizing the 110th anniversary of our university’s founding and the 134th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and the U.S.
At the friendly game, Ambassador Power said, “I hope today can become an opportunity for everyone to think about women’s rights and the rights of the disabled.” President Kang also said, “We will continuously create more interest in our students, women in our community, and sports for the disabled as well as becoming the hub for raising the awareness of people with disabilities and improving women’s status.”