Ukrainian Canadian Students Union votes to accept U.S. clubs (03/21/99)

Ukrainian Canadian Students Union votes to accept U.S. clubs

CALGARY, Alberta - The Ukrainian Canadian Students Union (known by its Ukrainian-based acronym, SUSK) has recently joined the world trend to go international.

Over the weekend of February 18 to 21, SUSK held its 46th annual congress in Calgary. SUSK is the umbrella organization of all Ukrainian student clubs in Canada. Twenty-seven delegates from across Canada voted to give U.S. clubs associate membership in SUSK. "This means that they will be allowed to attend SUSK functions, and use SUSK as a tool for rebuilding and strengthening their own clubs," said the outgoing SUSK president, Lubko Belej, of Brock, Saskatchewan.

The 46th congress saw the culmination of a yearlong study into the feasibility of U.S. affiliate membership into SUSK. The Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America (SUSTA) was SUSK's counterpart in the U.S., until it fell apart some years ago, leaving America's Ukrainian students stranded.

SUSK did not debate the "revolutionary" constitutional amendment for long. "We feel that SUSK will benefit a lot from the U.S. clubs, and vise versa," said Mr. Belej. After some discussion, the constitutional amendment was passed unanimously.

"For the immediate future," continued Mr. Belej, "I see the border towns joining, and maybe some day both Canadian and U.S. students will work together to make our Ukrainian student voices heard throughout the world. This is a revolutionary phase for SUSK."

The congress also saw the reawakening of a once mighty giant, the University of Alberta Ukrainian student organization. "A few years back, this club was one of the cornerstone clubs in SUSK," said Mr. Belej.

The University of Alberta Ukrainian Student Society (USS), based in Edmonton, was once a pillar in the Ukrainian Canadian student network. It has spent the last few years in a "rebuilding" phase.

"We're a young group, on average," said current USS President Andrij Tyrkalo. "We learned a lot from the other, more established clubs during congress," added Mr. Tyrkalo, specifically citing the roundtable discussions and the Presidents' Forum as valuable.

Mr. Belej added that he enjoyed seeing the huge delegation from Edmonton - by far the largest at this year's congress. "I saw potential with the members who were present at congress, and I personally feel confident that these people will do a good job in rebuilding the U. of A. club."

On the social side, congress delegates and the local Calgary Ukrainian Student Organization had the chance to participate in a variety of activities. At the opening night wine and cheese party, delegates met with the "Who's Who" of the Calgary Ukrainian scene, including Marlene Mysak, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of Calgary.

Students also filled two school buses for a Calgary-wide pub-crawl, with an authentic western bar on the itinerary.

Saturday night saw the traditional congress banquet. The guest speaker, Bishop Stephen Soroka of Winnipeg, gave a speech aimed at students at the dawn of a new millennium. Mike Anisimovicz, one of the organizers of the event, described Bishop Soroka's address as "ideal for the participants, and truly a speech suited for the times."

Most delegates left Calgary pleased at how events transpired. Pavlo Oleskevych of Toronto described Congress '99 as "absolutely stupendous - not one iota of detail was overlooked."

"Everything went well and I could not see any way that things could have gone any better," said a fatigued Jonathan Cholak of Edmonton. Orest Szczurko of Waterloo, Ontario, added that congress was "super fun, and, (more importantly), super productive." American student Adrian Deputat: said "I encourage anyone who is thinking about going next year to just go and think about how to pay for it later. For what you get, it's very cheap."

"There is no shortage of people who are quick to dismiss all student organizations as drinking clubs and excuses to party," said Windsor, Ontario, student Pavlo Horbal. "However, I challenge anyone to show me one thing wrong with getting Ukrainians together from across the continent to develop meaningful ideas for student clubs and Ukrainians in general. If they can find a better way to stimulate the interests of young Ukrainians in keeping our organizations alive and vibrant, please, by all means, let us know," he added.

Christine Prystajecky and Janet Huang, were two of the many Calgarians who put hundreds of hours into organizing this year's event. "I'm glad it's over," said Ms. Huang, visibly relieved.

"I think we'll look back on this in a few weeks time, and only then realize just how well things went," added Ms. Prystajecky.

The Calgary organizers were not the only ones involved with making Congress '99 happen. "We had a lot of sponsors, both individuals and corporate," said Ms. Prystajecky. "Without them, we would not have been able to make a go of it."

Incoming SUSK President Mychailo Ilnycky has promised that SUSK will increase its exposure in the Ukrainian Canadian community. "Watch for us. We will be visible," said a beaming Mr. Ilnycky, who expressed his happiness at the prospect of working with an executive he described as "dynamic and capable."

"This is the year that SUSK will make its presence felt," Mr. Ilnycky emphasized.

Although the elected executive has members from across Canada, this is the first time that SUSK's core executive will be based in Calgary. Asked whether this will pose a problem, being geographically distanced from the Ukrainian belt of Edmonton-Winnipeg-Toronto, Mr. Ilnycky responded that he is not concerned. "We are always in touch with one another through e-mail and the phone. Plus, members of the executive will be meeting with each other in person, just like in years past," he explained.

Pictures of Congress '99, as well as the full list of resolutions, are available at the SUSK website, at http://www2.susk.ca/susk/

Congress 2000 is to be held in eastern Canada. An exact venue will be specified in the coming months.

Ukrainian Canadian Students Union Executive for 1999-2000

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