"Ukrainian-American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history (02/06/05)

"Ukrainian-American Citadel": from the pages of UNA history

Following is part of a series of excerpts from "Ukrainian-American Citadel: The First 100 Years of the Ukrainian National Association," by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, published in 1996 by East European Monographs of Boulder, Colo. The excerpts are reprinted with the permission of the author.

The book is available from the author for $25, plus $2.50 shipping, by writing to: Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, 107 Ilehamwood Drive, DeKalb, IL 60115. Also available is a newly released Ukrainian edition of the book; price: $25 (including shipping).

Chapter 12

The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

Trouble within the Ukrainian Congress Committee [of America], brewing for years, came to a head in 1980. There were two major causes, the growing insensitivity of Dr. Lev Dobriansky, who after more than two decades as UCCA president, had come to believe that he, and he alone, was the sole spokesman for Ukrainian Americans in Washington, and the emerging belief among the Liberation Front leadership that since they were the most active segment of the community, they, and they alone, should lead the UCCA.

Wholly dependent on the Liberation Front for his support within the UCCA, Dobriansky refused to participate in the 1977 Human Rights Day hosted by Sen. [Robert] Dole because the UNA and not the UCCA sponsored the event. Confident of his re-election, Dobriansky would often leave the UCCA convention floor during heated debates between the Liberation Front and other groups, returning only to attend the banquet and to accept his re-election by acclamation on the last day of deliberations.

The 13th Congress of the UCCA was a disaster. In an attempt to totally control the national executive of the 40-year-old Ukrainian coordinating body, the Liberation Front mobilized a clear majority of delegates and pushed through a list of candidates that did not include an executive vice-president from any Ukrainian fraternal. According to a provision in the by-laws passed at the previous convention, the UCCA executive vice-presidency was to be rotated among the four fraternals. Until 1976, the position was automatically assumed by the UNA supreme president. When the majority refused to budge, 20 organizations including the UNA, the UWA (now called the Ukrainian Fraternal Association, UFA), ODVU, Zarevo, the Gold Cross, the UNWLA, Plast, ODUM, the Ukrainian Professional Society of Maryland, and the Ukrainian Engineers' Society left the convention hall. In a memorandum addressed to the UNA members, President Flis later explained:

"The reasons for the walk-out were the continued effort by certain elements to ignore the wishes of the minority, the imposition of a gag rule on the minority, and the relegation of the UNA to a position of insignificance in the official organs of the UCCA by the arbitrary cancellation of the UNA's traditional right to the office of the executive vice-presidency of the UCCA, which office the UNA has consistently held for many years, albeit on a rotational system with the other three Ukrainian fraternals during the past four years.

"The UNA has not resigned its membership in the UCCA. This question will be considered by our Supreme Assembly. For reasons stated above, the UNA has not named representatives to the positions reserved for the UNA in the governing bodies of the UCCA.

"We urge all UNA'ers to close ranks and defend the interests of the UNA against all attacks, internal and external, and assist your governing bodies in their attempts to retain in our communities our earned position of integrity and respect. ... Let our effort be instrumental in bringing about a healthy rebirth of unity in our communities and a revival of the spirit on which we built the democratic foundations of the Ukrainian National Association."

A Ukrainian Weekly editorial argued that America's Ukrainian fraternals had played a vital role in the UCCA since the 1940s when they revived the newly established umbrella organization, then drifting into oblivion as a result of the defamation campaign. "Fraternals form the base of the Ukrainian American community because they have been around the longest, they are dedicated to the ideal of self-determination for Ukraine, their membership is broad-based, and they have a tradition of service to their members. Without them, our 'community levers' including the umbrella organizations, would simply dangle in midair," declared the paper.

Criticism of the UCCA continued to build in the UNA press. In an editorial titled "Democracy in Action?" The Ukrainian Weekly opined:

"The intolerance for differing viewpoints, as well as the rather crude political thinking of some delegates and the ultrazealousness of others, blinded them to such a degree that they sought only victory for their own political grouping.

"The majority's abuse of power extended even to the by-laws and the accepted traditions governing the structure of the UCCA's executive bodies. Without the necessary amendment of the by-laws, the executive board of the UCCA was expanded in size from 21 to 26 members. ... With nothing more than a statement of one man - the chairman of the UCCA auditing committee - that the rotational basis of the executive vice-presidency had not been effective (no reasons for this evaluation were ever offered) this rotation system was rescinded, and the fraternal associations which traditionally held the office were demoted to lesser positions. The four fraternals were never consulted about the move.

"On the way to its 'victory,' the majority also approved congress rules that made it all but impossible for delegates themselves to ask for and obtain a secret-ballot vote. ... As a result of the majority's abuse of power and a virtual stampede of the congress, the UCCA is no longer an organization of organizations. At best, it may evolve into a coordinating body for ideologically affiliated groups."

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