I had the privilege to meet and formally apologize to the representatives of HSC, IISU, and IGSO, and I was truly humbled by the depth of understanding that they’ve shown me during our interactions. Not only did they acknowledge and forgive the mistake, but they also empathized with the hardships of being a young business owner/entrepreneur, especially within the food industry.

In return, they urged me to understand and empathize with them. They explained the hardships and the frustration that they experience on daily basis when students display ignorance towards their beliefs and practices mainly because they’re simply uninformed. They encouraged me to think more expansively now that my decisions carry sufficient weight to impact not just myself, but my community as well, and taught me that the best way to limit yourself from mistakes is to always actively inform yourself.

Ultimately, I wanted to return the dollars that were misguidedly earned back to these groups that were most affected, and when we all sat down together and came to an agreement, it became an opportunity for us to give positive impact back to the greater communities through an unfortunate event. Through our agreement, we are now able to feed hungry children in India through SOS Children’s Village, help develop the local youth here in our own community through Broome County Urban League, and raise awareness of Indian/Hindu culture on campus by funding IGSO’s biggest yearly event, HOLI. I want to thank the representatives of each group for meeting and speaking with me (and even allowing me to join their meetings) through their busy schedules in order to make things right by their community.

Sung Kim

Founder of Chick-N-Bap

Click here to read a letter from the HSC, IISU and IGSO