The Student Council claimed that they came up with the item thinking that alcohol should not be the priority of the university festivals. They also maintained that university festivals may not become more creative because students are so bound by the thought that the festivals are all about drinking.
However, the Council’s idea was not very welcomed by many UOS students. During the Q&A session, students cast doubts on the quality of festivals without drinks. Kim Philip (School of Environmental Engineering, ‘09) asked the Council, “Would it not be better to plan a festival without alcohol after you have enough programs that would replace the bars at the festival?” Ko Woo-suk, the President of the Student Council answered, “I am going to arrange a planning team for the festival so as to have more various programs. Also, I wanted to plan a festival with no drinks because I wanted to see the changes it would cause starting from my term.” Another student, Shin Dong-hyuk (Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, ‘08) asked, “What happens if some students bring drinks to the festival from outside?” Ko then answered, “I would not be able to control the whole festival. Still, I am going to have all presidents at each department regulate and supervise their bars and students.”
Although it was evident that Ko put a lot of effort into passing the item, only around 110 students voted for ‘ Daedongje with No Alcohol’ and the rest rejected the bill. When it was confirmed that the item was voted down, many students went wild and cheered at the result of the vote.