Founded in the Fall 2021 semester, KAINATION is a donation club seeking to foster collective effort among students to solve internal issues and help KAIST advance to become the world's leading university with unity and purpose. This month, The KAIST Herald interviewed KAINATION's founder, Changseob Lee.

Why did you decide to found KAINATION? 

President Kwang Hyung Lee’s inauguration ceremony was held the semester I entered KAIST. That day, President Lee’s speech to make KAIST the world’s number one [university] changed my life completely. As he said, I decided to dream big: I wanted to contribute directly to making KAIST the number one in the world. So I organized some ideas to add to the President’s policies and emailed them to him. That was [in] April, so the brave email from a freshman who had only been in school for a month surprised President Lee. One of the ideas I sent was that students should help raise funds for the development of the school. When there is a problem within the KAIST community, especially when money is needed in areas closest to students’ lives, raising money on their own to solve this problem will serve to unite the student community. A united community will make students proud of themselves as KAISTians, and it will be the first step in making KAIST the world’s number one. Surprisingly, I heard that President Lee already had a similar idea. He organized a meeting for me with the KAIST Development Foundation, which is the organization that collects donations. The Development Foundation suggested the creation of a club that could hold a donation event recurrently, rather than as a one-time occasion. Thus, we established KAINATION with the vision of becoming an organization that directly contributes to making KAIST the world’s number one.
For aspiring club founders and students seeking to bring positive changes to KAIST, could you share with us the founding process of KAINATION? 
KAINATION is fundamentally an organization that cooperates with the KAIST Development Foundation. While there were some good initiatives by the KAIST Development Foundation to raise donations, others were outdated or not very effective. We get a lot of inspiration by thinking about how to improve these activities. In addition, KAINATION does not receive financial help from KAIST or the KAIST Development Foundation. The way clubs can receive funding is usually by joining the Clubs Union.

Because of the unique nature of KAINATION as a club that works for the school, we communicated a lot with the school administration to see what we could do with the school. In the case of KAINATION, most of the faculty, including the President, supported the establishment and [our activities]. You can get in contact with them just by sending an email or making a phone call. There’s no need to worry about “Am I qualified to talk to them?” However, in general, there is no need for the school administration’s or the President’s help in establishing a club. All you need to do is prepare and register documents according to the rules and procedures of Clubs Union. In fact, the most difficult and important part of establishing a club is [gathering] people. In the early stages of a club’s establishment, it is very difficult to gather people because of the uncertainty of the club. With too few people, not only is it difficult to carry out large or important projects but the club can also be expelled from the Clubs Union. Therefore, the qualities that club founders should have are smooth interpersonal relationships and the ability to promote the club well to [the student body].

What traits are you looking for in KAINATION members? Who would you encourage to apply to your club and why?

KAINATION likes independent people who can find and carry out their own work. We’re looking to make a new culture of donation take root in KAIST, which is something that no one has ever done. Therefore, people who only do what they are told to do are not suitable for the nature of our club. About half of KAINATION members are representatives of other [clubs and] organizations. Five of them are representatives of their departments. I am also the founder of an artificial intelligence club called Vlab. Like this, KAINATION consists of a group of leaders. We want people who can lead any organization they are thrown into. And in order to promote the donation culture to the student community, we want people who have an influence. We welcome attention-loving freaks, too. Lastly, donations are not only important for Korean students, so I hope that international students join KAINATION as well. However, KAINATION is a club where communication is very important and currently only 100% Korean is used, so those who can hold a smooth conversation in Korean are encouraged to apply.

Could you describe the daily responsibilities and activities of KAINATION members? What was your most favorite activity at KAINATION so far, and what did you learn from the experience? 

KAINATION is a club that gets busy only when there is a special event, so most days are spent leisurely making future plans. Currently, the regular meeting time is 8 p.m. on Sundays, but we are considering moving it to a weekday. For the rest of the week, you complete your tasks (working on ideas, filling out documents, producing promotional materials, etc.) by the set deadlines. Among the completed projects, the one I had the most affection for was the “2032 Future Calendar Project”, which was meant to encourage us to make mindful decisions [with] the outcomes 10 years from now [in mind]. This project was actually very difficult for us. Promoting, producing, transporting, packaging, and shipping goods required more labor than we thought. 10,000 KRW per calendar is actually not a cheap price. We had to take extra steps to be very [transparent] and [responsible] for everything we did for people who believed in us and bought our goods.

The nature of the club requires close communication with the KAIST President and school donors. Please tell us more about your interactions with the prominent figures at KAIST. How have they affected KAINATION’s goals and purposes?

If KAINATION needs something, it is easy to have a meeting with the President or [school administration]. Although we originally planned to meet with donors every year, we have only met one person so far. Most of the donors are elderly, so most of them were reluctant to welcome guests due to COVID-19, unfortunately. Chairman Sooyoung Lee is the only donor KAINATION has met. But we study the lives of all the big donors, and there’s something in common that you can find there. Donors hope that their money will be used to achieve bigger goals like the Nobel Prize, not for their businesses or their children to just spend. They have the biggest dreams of contributing to society. Another thing in common is that they are all very frugal. I was surprised to see many of the donors wearing inexpensive clothes and driving ordinary cars. They invest a lot of money only in the development of science and technology and their own health.

Currently, KAINATION is still in its early stage of development. What are your upcoming plans and events for the club? What are your visions for the club for the next one, four (or when you graduate), and ten years?

The biggest thing that’s going on is hosting “KAIST Live Aid” in September this year. In order to raise donations for KAIST and the community, band clubs will gather to hold large-scale music events. Just as KAINURI promotes KAIST visitors, KAINATION will also run a campus tour program to tour buildings built thanks to donations. The goal of KAINATION this year is to become a full member of the Clubs Union, so that we can get support money and a clubroom. By the time I graduate, [I hope that] KAINATION will be a club that has a great influence on the school. It is now operating with 20 members, and by that time, we will expand the recruitment to 30 people every year. [Another] goal is to be introduced in media outlets nationwide and become a club that anyone interested in KAIST knows. After 10 years, [I hope that] KAINATION could collect 100 million KRW to donate to KAIST and produce 100 leaders who contribute to our university. [My main vision is to make the club] contribute directly to KAIST's ascend to become the world's number one university.