NEWS AND VIEWS: Ostroh Academy still an island (10/03/99)

NEWS AND VIEWS: Ostroh Academy still an island

by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas

As depressing as events in Ukraine are on the eve of the presidential elections, there is reason for optimism. There are schools of higher learning where Ukrainian patriots teach and learn, and towns where one hears the Ukrainian language in the homes, in the stores and on the streets.

Such a school is Ostroh Academy. Such a town is Ostroh, an island of Ukrainianism in Volyn. Both deserve our enthusiastic moral and financial support.

Much has happened at the academy during the past year. Natalia Lominska, who successfully completed her M.S.Ed. degree at Northern Illinois University (NIU) last June, was promoted to vice-rector last fall. She also translated her thesis, titled "Language Education and National Identity in Ukraine: A Historical Analysis," into Ukrainian. Mrs. Lominska spent the month of August expanding her research in Kyiv and, upon completion, Ostroh Academy will publish her study.

Ostroh Vice-Rector Vasyl Zhukovsky, who also completed his M.S.Ed.degree at NIU, completed a thesis titled "Moral Education in the Public Schools: The American and Ukrainian Experience." He is currently completing his doctoral studies.

Two additional professors from Ostroh Academy are presently enrolled at Northern Illinois University. Kateryna Roshschuk is completing a thesis titled "Progressive Education in an Independent Ukraine, Two Perspectives: Francis Parker and Vasyl Sukhomlynskyi." Victoria Kontsiger's thesis is titled "Character Education in an Independent Ukraine, Two Perspectives: Hryhorii Vaschenko and Thomas Lickona."

The Ostroh/NIU project, partially funded by the Eurasia Foundation, will end once the final three professors from Ostroh Academy complete their studies at NIU during the 2000-2001 academic year. The final objective is to establish a graduate program in educational foundations focusing on philosophy, sociology, history and psychology, all subjects neglected during Soviet times. It is hoped that once an American-educated faculty is in place, Ostroh will become Ukraine's premier post-graduate teacher-training institution.

Ostroh Academy was honored on March 22 when Rector Ihor Pasichnyk was presented with the coveted "International Award of Excellence" by the Trade Leaders Club (TLC), an organization founded in Madrid in 1979 as an international society dedicated to the promotion of sound business practices, economics education and human relations. Today, TLC branches can be found in 120 countries. A group of TLC members spent time at Ostroh Academy last fall, attending lectures and inspecting the facilities. They were obviously impressed with what they observed.

Other VIPs who visited Ostroh during the year include Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, who established a scholarship for a student from her parents' village (Ostroh has a special one-year remedial program for youth educated in substandard rural schools) Profs. Zenon Kohut and Frank Sysyn of the Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Alberta; and Prof. Lubomyr Wynar of Ohio, who was solemnly inducted into the Ostroh Academic Brotherhood - only the second Ukrainian American to be so honored.

The most exciting event of the year, however, was the awarding of bachelor's degrees to 122 graduates in the fields of cultural studies, law, economics, Ukrainian history and foreign languages. Founded in 1576 and re-established in 1994, Ostroh Academy has made spectacular progress during the past five years, largely as a result of an enthusiastic and patriotic faculty that truly believes it is training Ukraine's future leaders.

Another significant event during the year was a sports competition in which Ostroh Academy bested three other universities, the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, the Mykolaiv Institute and the Symferopol Institute, to capture first place.

Ukrainian Americans have been very generous in their support of Ostroh Academy, donating some $13,000 during the past two years. The academy is continuing to expand and will soon be offering post-graduate degrees.

Ukrainians in North America who wish to become charter members of the recently established Friends of Ostroh Academy are urged to send their tax-exempt donations to Friends of Ostroh Academy, c/o Myron B. Kuropas, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115-1856. Checks should be made out to: Ukrainian National Foundation/Ostroh Fund.

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