Emerita Professor Soonja Choi’s generous gift bolsters the Korean Studies program

When she arrived at San Diego State University from the East Coast in 1987, Soonja Choi was one of only four Korean professors across the entire campus. 

She remembers feeling lucky to teach on a campus in a city full of sunshine, beautiful trees and a temperate climate. “The sky was blue, the palm trees were there and SDSU really embraced me from the very beginning.” She was hired to teach language acquisition and the psychology of language. “I was an immigrant, and I was happy that I had a place that welcomed me as a professor, as a profession, as a professional.”

As she settled in she noticed that the College of Arts and Letters only offered Japanese and Chinese language programs. She wondered, “Is there a Korean program?” Choi often thought that she should find a way to promote or start a Korean language program. “As a Korean, I felt like I had a mission.”

With the new CAL Dean Paul Wong, she found a supporter. He amassed grant funding to help build the program and with only a few months before the semester start in 2008, she gathered faculty and assembled a program. The first Korean 101 class was filled with about 30 students. 

Studying a language like Korean, “not only fulfills a language requirement, but it enriches you, your philosophy, your point of view,” she said. Through the study of language, students learn cultures and respect. “What we need, as a country, is to learn about other people to understand the whole world,” Choi added.

Now, 38 years later, Choi is giving back to the program she established with the Soonja Choi Director of Korean Language Studies Endowment and the Soonja Choi Korean Language Scholarship. Both will strengthen new initiatives, scholarships, and leadership. She hopes with her support, the program will expand with a directorship and appear on a “bigger platform.”

“I’d like our Korean Studies program to be not only the San Diego community’s pride, but also nationwide,” Choi said.