Western Kentucky University raises Ukrainian flag

by Xenia Piaseckyj

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - Western Kentucky University has become the latest American institution to raise the Ukrainian national flag on its premises. Western's two matriculating Ukrainian students, Olga Pryymak of Lutsk and Ivan Vlasiuk of Kyiv, acted as their country's official representatives in a special, on-campus flag-raising ceremony which took place Friday, April 27.

In the presence of students, faculty and curious onlookers, the blue-and-yellow flag was formally raised atop its designated flagpole accompanied by a recording of the national anthem "Shche Ne Vmerla Ukraina."

Ukraine's is one of 25 nations' flags comprising a new "International Plaza" located on the campus of one of Kentucky's eminent state universities. The assemblage was created by the administrators of WKU's International Programs and International Center as a way of tangibly honoring the school's growing multicultural and multi-ethnic student body.

Though as many as 50 countries from around the world are represented by Western students and faculty, the 25 nations chosen to have their flags displayed at the plaza this year signify the countries with the highest student enrollment and, therefore, the greatest impact on the university.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, May 27, 2001, No. 21, Vol. LXIX

| Home Page |