Turning the pages back... June 2, 2002 (05/28/06)

Turning the pages back...

June 2, 2002

In an editorial titled "The UNA: renewal and rebirth," The Ukrainian Weekly of June 2, 2002, wrote about the 35th Regular Convention that had just concluded. A total of 122 delegates, 22 members and four honorary members of the General Assembly participated in the quadrennial convention, which was held, for only the second time in the UNA's 108-year history, in the beautiful and unique city of Chicago.

It was a landmark convention since it was the first convention of the new century and the new millennium. It was also a convention that radically changed the composition of the UNA General Assembly, as the organization's newly elected Executive Committee included two newcomers, three members who had moved up in the ranks, and one former advisor who had returned as a vice-president. "It is a younger and more diverse Executive Committee that holds much promise for the future," The Weekly opined. "There are changes also among the auditors and advisors - all of which one can consider a sign of renewal."

The editorial went on to note: "To be sure, there was some sadness in the fact that some General Assembly members are not on that body for 2002-2006 - most of them chose not to return for various reasons, and one was defeated in his campaign for higher office." It was pointed out that Ulana Diachuk retired after 52 years of service to the organization - the last 12 of them as president. But the editorial also underscored that "Thanks should go also to the other 14 non-returnees, who devoted many years of volunteer - yes, volunteer - work for the UNA, as none of them were paid executives."

"It is a plus that the five members of the newly created Soyuzivka Redevelopment Committee are dedicated veterans who dealt with the issue when they served as members of the General Assembly's Standing Committee on Soyuzivka: Stefko Kuropas, Taras Szmagala, Anya Dydyk-Petrenko, Alex Chudolij and Al Kachkowski. The five were named to the new body despite the fact that four of them chose not to seek elective office for the 2002-2006 term," our editorial noted.

The convention enacted a number of by-laws changes, the most significant of which reduced the size of the UNA Auditing Committee from five members to three, and the number of UNA advisors from 14 to 11. A proposed reduction in the number of executive officers from six to four did not win the required number of votes (two-thirds of the registered delegates) to pass.

The editorial went on to report that much discussion was devoted to the "Fourth Wave" of immigrants from Ukraine and that two Fourth Wavers were elected as advisors, making them the first General Assembly members from that group.

"In many ways, then, the 35th Convention of the UNA brought renewal," we wrote. "May that renewal be a harbinger of the UNA's rebirth in the new millennium."

Source: "The UNA: renewal and rebirth" (editorial), The Ukrainian Weekly, June 2, 2002, Vol. LXX, No. 22.

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