UFU begins academic year

MUNICH - The Ukrainian Free University (UFU) held opening ceremonies of the 1997-1998 academic year here on July 13.

Guests included Bishop Michael Hrynchyshyn, the Ukrainian Catholic exarch for Europe; Vasyl Polishchuk, the Ukrainian consul in Munich; three members of the Ukrainian Parliament; and many prominent German guests. In his opening remarks, Rector Miroslav Labunka stressed that the Ukrainian Free University has remained faithful to the principles upon which it was founded 76 years ago: the search for truth and knowledge. He spoke of the university as a cultural bridge between Ukraine and Western Europe.

The university serves students and scholars from the West and Ukraine. More than 60 students from Ukraine attended, and their studies were made possible by generous grants from the Ukrainian Free University Foundation in New York. The UFU receives support from the Bavarian State Government and the Federal Government of Germany, the Ukrainian Catholic Church, and the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria.

The inaugural address, titled "Heinrich Heine and Ukraine," was delivered by Prof. Leonid Rudnytzky, dean of the faculty of philosophy. It marked the 200th jubilee of the German poet whose works are widely known in the world and loved and translated in Ukraine.

Consul Polishchuk presented a medal from the Minister of Education of Ukraine to Rector Labunka for his distinguished service.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 17, 1997, No. 33, Vol. LXV

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