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Yonsei News

[YONSEI NEWS] Blue Butterfly Campaign

연세대학교 홍보팀 / news@yonsei.ac.kr
2013-07-10

Students with Financial Difficulties Find Support at Yonsei On June 14, the Alumni Association of the Yonsei School of Business (YSB) awarded scholarships valued at more than 1.5 billion KRW. The scholarships, which were given to 136 Yonsei students, cover tuition fees for four years, as well as expenses incurred during study abroad programs. As a part of Yonsei’s Blue Butterfly Campaign, the funds for these scholarships came from 799 alumni, each of whom donated 1,000 KRW each day for one year. Launched in 2009, the Blue Butterfly Campaign was organized by the YSB Alumni Association, and its purpose is to provide newly-admitted Yonsei students from lower-income families with the financial support necessary to complete their undergraduate degree. For freshman Kim In-hwan, the news that he was a Blue Butterfly recipient was both a delight and a relief. After his admission to Yonsei, he was debating whether to borrow money from his relatives for Yonsei tuition or to retake the College Scholastic Ability Test in order to apply to national universities. For freshman Kim Sang-ah, the Blue Butterfly scholarship has brought her a step closer to fulfilling her dream of studying in Switzerland as an exchange student. The Blue Butterfly Campaign was first envisioned by former Yonsei Alumni Association President, Mr. Kim Jeong-soo, CEO of J&F Catering Co., Ltd, with the mission of collecting small donations from a large number of alumni—rather than seeking larger donations from a small number of donors. Offering alumni user-friendly websites to make their donations, Blue Butterfly takes its name from the so-called “butterfly effect,” in which a small change in circumstance can bring about a large change in the outcome. For instance, before the Blue Butterfly Campaign began, only 1-2% of Yonsei alumni from the 1980s gave scholarship donations; however, since its inception, more than 50% of these alumni now donate. The Blue Butterfly Campaign’s advertising video involves the participation of prominent Yonsei alumni, such as announcer Son Bum-soo and professional golfer Shin Ji-yai, and several non-Yonseians, most notably the actor and film director Ryu Seung-ryong, have also donated, demonstrating their support for this innovative and wide-reaching program.