Roma Dyhdalo heads UACC National Council (03/14/99)

Roma Dyhdalo heads UACC National Council

by R.L. Chomiak

NEW YORK - Roma Dyhdalo of Troy, Mich., was elected chairperson of the National Council of the Ukrainian American Coordinating Council (UACC) in New York on February 27.

She replaces Ihor Gawdiak, who was elected UACC president at the organizations fourth convention last November. The UACC National Council meets once a year between UACC conventions, which are held every four years.

Ms. Dyhdalo is a professional librarian who has retired from a career in the Warren, Mich., public school system and currently works part-time in the library of the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian School in Warren. She is active in the Warren branches of the UACC and Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA).

At the UACC's fourth convention Ms. Dyhdalo delivered a keynote address in which she called for a new approach in the activity of the Ukrainian community in the U.S. - one that would emphasize planning and anticipation of events, instead of continual "reaction to crises."

She also sought to dispel what she called "the magic of unity," referring to the nearly two decades of unsuccessful negotiations between the supporters of UACC and those of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) to form one central organization of Ukrainians in America.

Ms. Dyhdalo commented that many people don't want to support either the UCCA or the UACC, and use as their excuse "the lack of unity in the community." Yet despite this lack of unity, she contended, a number of successful community activities have taken place on the local and national levels through coordination of efforts for specific goals.

She added that in a democratic society unity is nearly impossible to achieve, but "it is achievable in dictatorships, cults and among people who don't want to think." She ended her convention keynote address with the exhortation: "Let us stop praying for 'yednist' [unity] and instead start praying for good Ukrainian leaders."

The National Council meeting in New York also heard reports from UACC executive board members and from delegates of UACC branches. President Gawdiak reported that he has signed a lease for office space for the Washington Office of the UACC, located a block from the White House. (The present office is in suburban Silver Spring, Md., but its telephone number is listed in the capital directory.)

The National Council also expressed appreciation to Zenon Wasylkewycz and his associates in Warren, for organizing a successful convention in their city last November.

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