Celebrating 38  Years: Historical Milestone 2024

Dr. Sung Lai Boo, Dean of SSW, U of West Virginia, was respectfully promoted to the first presidency of KASWEA as he was the most senior member who engaged actively in the circles of social work education. Dr. Boo served his term of four years (1986- 1990). The second president was Dr. Dong Soo Kim who served for two years (1990-1992) before he resigned due to his health reason. Both presidents laid the groundwork for sustaining supportive fellowship among Korean social work educators.

  Followed the two-prior presidency of Dr. Boo and Dr. Kim, Dr. Daniel Booduck Lee became the third president of KASWEA, and during his term (1992-96), he started strengthening the organizational structure of KASWEA as a viable caucus group to promote the interests of Korean constituency within CSWE in par with Asian-Pacific Social Work Educators Association (APSWEA). Firstly, the by-law was enacted; Secondly, concordant scholarly seminars were instituted which led to the establishment of Annual Joint Korea-U.S. Symposium on Social Work Education; Thirdly, Doctoral Students Mentoring Program was initiated, and it later expanded toward guiding and supporting of those beginning faculty members for their career enhancements, and Fourthly, Collaborative Workshops between KASWEA members and local Korean community social work practitioners were promoted.    

  Dr. Phil Jay Cho, with his sociological research background, served as the fourth President for two years (1995-98), and during which period, exchanges of scholarly works among membership were promoted. Dr. Daniel B. Lee was asked to serve the Fifth Presidency for two more years (1999-2001), and during which period, he expanded his initiated programs and advocacy role for KASWEA. It is noteworthy that during the 1990s, not only the numbers of social work educators and doctoral students of Korean ancestry were growing, but the Korean immigrant population in U.S. also had a drastic increase from 357,000 in 1980 to 798,849 in 1990. Demands for social work services and professional practitioners were noticeable in urban centers where Korean immigrant communities were expanding.  Dr. Lee instituted two community forums with local social work practitioners. The first community forum was held in New York City (2000) which led to the establishment of the New York Social Workers Association. The second community forum was held in Dallas, Texas (3-10-2001) with a focus on developing social welfare service model for Korean immigrant communities. Presenters and discussants included both KASWEA members and local area social work practitioners and community leaders. One of the Korean Dallas Newspapers carried the event news. 

  One may wonder why KASWEA stands itself as an independent caucus group aside from APSWEA in which the Korean is a subset of ethnic and nationality groups including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and Pacific Islanders. In fact, some questioned about our own caucus standing. While APSWEA attempted to bring its diverse ethnic membership groups altogether, organizationally and diplomatically speaking, its impact has not yet grown strongly. Some of Korean members there kept their supportive roles to minimize any potential conflicts. One of strategic efforts employed then was to persuade CSWE leadership to remain supportive of KASWEA as a unique caucus group through our intentional diplomacy. We invited CSWE presidents and board members to both our concurrent session at CSWE APM and the Joint Korea-U.S. Symposium on Social Work Education. For instance, Dr. Moses Newsome, President of CSWE, Dean of SSW, Norfolk State U. was invited as a guest keynote speaker to Seoul when we held the Second Joint Symposium on SW Education at Soong-Sil University in 1995. Thanks to both Dr. Dong Soo Kim and Dr. Sook Ja Paik who were faculty members at NFSU for their connection with Dr. Newsome. We also invited Dr. Patrick Leung, President of APSWEA and CSWE leadership to our concurrent Annual membership meetings at APM to greet and to observe our caucus venues. Dr. Leung was one of my former doctoral students at Ohio State University where I taught for ten years (1980-90).  

  The First Joint Korea-U.S. Symposium on Social Work Education was held in San Francisco at University of California at Berkeley Center for Korean Studies on February 2-3, 1994. The focus on comparative reviews of social work curricular at the three levels of social work degree  programs (undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral). The Korean-side presenters included: Dr. Sup Chung Shin of Busan U, Dr. Hye Bin Han of Seoul Theo. Seminary, Dr. Myong Heung Lee of Ewha W. U, Prof. Man Du Kim of Kang Nam U, and Dr. Jong Sam Park of Soong-Sil U,  The U.S.-side presenters were: Ki Sang Sohn of San Francisco State U, Dr. Woo Sik Chung of Boston C, Dr. Daniel Booduck Lee of Loyola U of Chicago, Dr. Sook Ja Paik of Norfolk U, Dr. Dong Soo Kim of Norfolk U, Dr. Young In Song of California State U at Hayward who gracefully hosted the reception banquet at her residence as the chair of the local host committee. One of the students’ participants was then a social work doctoral student at Berkely, Ms. Hye-Ryun Noh who now still teaches at Soong-Sil University, Seoul.  The Second Symposium was held in Seoul at Soong-Sil University in 1995. As aforementioned, Dr. Moses Newsom came to Seoul, Korea as the President of CSWE to deliver a keynote address. The Third was held in U. S. (1996); the Fourth in Korea (1999); and the Fifth in Korea (200) at which time we invited the President of CSWE who succeeded Dr. Newsome.

  I am grateful for the officers of KASWEA who served tirelessly during both of my presidency terms toward building a cohesive organization that has laid the structural foundation for KASWEA to continue its successive developments for the following three decades. Dr. Aileen Moon of UCLA, my succeeding the sixth President of KASWEA who graciously recognized my dedication and outstanding services to our Association at the Business Meeting on February 23, 2002. Dr. Moon strengthened the mentorship program for doctoral students and made concerted efforts to support junior faculty to strive. Dr. Young-In Song of Cal State U at Hayward who succeeded Dr. Moon as the seventh President of KASWEA advocated the promotion of women faculty’s positions and collaborative networks with APSWEA members to mention a few. Dr. Song was one of my former doctoral students at OSU and a classmate of Dr. Leung who served as the President of APSWEA. There is a saying: Music is tuned when you move from one note to another; likewise, leadership is enhanced as the former presidency is succeeded to the next, and so on. I cannot but mention that how grateful I was to the KASWEA members when my retirement was celebrated at our Business Meeting when CSWE APM was held in San Antonio, Texas on November 7, 2009.

CONGRATULATORY REMARKS

  Social Work, as a Discipline to serve humanity in needs of well-being and for realization of just and caring society, calls for a Professional Body of Science and Ethics in generating the best theory and practice to advance such an invaluable discipline we have chosen to serve. KASWEA as a distinctive group of educators, students and practitioners in Social Work and Social Welfare is anchored a vital source of hope in the land of Promise where multitudes of Korean immigrants and their descendants strive for their American dreams and advance towards their fulfilments. I, with all foregone presidents and members who have laid steppingstones to sustain our legacy, hope and pray that every succeeding generation of leadership and membership together will continue building a truly remarkable body of scholarship and dedication not only for Koreans, home and abroad, but inclusively for all human races in needs of peace and prosperity. 

I truly command many outstanding achievements of the current KASWEA leadership and membership led by Dr. Suk-Hee Kim who has advanced our organization to become a leading caucus networking group within and beyond the realms of CSWE. It is indeed my joy to make these congratulatory remarks on the occasion of celebrating the 38th year of KASWEA commemoration. May God bless Us all and Happy Birthday to all of KASWEA constituents wherever they may be!