2001: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
For the UNA , a pre-convention year
Reaching the age of 107 on February 22 of this year, the Ukrainian National Association continued its benevolent activity here in North America and throughout the world, wherever Ukrainians have settled. As UNA President Ulana Diachuk noted, although this fraternal organization traces its roots to a time long passed, "We are moving with the spirit of the times and adjusting to the needs of today's Ukrainians and the Ukrainian community."
As The Weekly noted in its editorial on the occasion of the 107th anniversary, the UNA's new insurance programs reflect members' new needs: the policies are now issued for higher sums and at lower prices; in addition, there are new offerings like annuities that provide for members' retirement needs. The UNA also is attempting to restructure its governing bodies via by-laws changes aimed at taking this organization born in the 19th century and developed in the 20th century into the 21st.
Today the UNA is reaching out to potential members among the younger generations and new immigrants. Its goal remains unchanged: to help all Ukrainians by reinvesting the earnings from its insurance business into our community.
Topic No. 1 for the Ukrainian National Association as the year 2001 began was direct billing. Due to the controversy that the change, instituted in response to a recommendation by New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, elicited among many branch officers who traditionally collected members' dues (premiums), National Secretary Martha Lysko sought the counsel of the UNA's consulting actuaries. Bruce and Bruce Co. affirmed in a letter published in the UNA's official publications that "direct billing has been hugely successful and has proven to be a necessary step in survival in today's market." The changeover to direct billing took effect on January 1. As branches were relieved of the responsibility of collecting insurance premiums (known in fraternal circles as dues), the UNA Home Office encouraged them to revitalize organizing activity to enroll new members and fraternal activity to make UNA membership more attractive and the UNA more visible to the public eye.
Topic No. 2 for the UNA in 2001 was changes to the UNA By-Laws. In mid-February it was announced that all delegates to the UNA's previous convention, held in 1998, and current members of the General Assembly were being sent voting packets enabling them to cast a ballot via mail for or against changing the organizations' by-laws.
As outlined by UNA Advisor Taras Szmagala Jr., chairman of the UNA By-Laws Committee, the proposal provided for the selection of a chief executive by an 11-member board of trustees, with the trustees being elected at UNA conventions. This board would be responsible for recruiting, interviewing and eventually hiring the full-time head of the organization. The board would also exercise general oversight into the affairs of the association, formulate its policies and strategies, and oversee the implementation of those policies and strategies. Significantly, this board would also have the power to dismiss non-performing executives, thereby providing a degree of accountability not currently found.
In a commentary in The Weekly, Mr. Szmagala urged delegates to approve the by-laws amendments, arguing that the change is necessary for the well-being of the UNA and that it would modernize an organizational structure and system of functioning that is badly outdated. UNA members, who elect delegates from their branches to quadrennial UNA conventions, would still have a say in how the UNA functions, since their delegates are the ones who will elect the 11-member board of directors.
Those who were against the proposed new by-laws, such as Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, who sent a letter to those eligible to vote on the by-laws proposals, suggested that adopting a corporate structure was the fastest way to guarantee that the UNA would no longer be a fraternal organization that cares about and caters to the needs of the Ukrainian community. The only way to preserve the UNA's fraternal structure is to elect fraternalists as executive officers. Opponents of the proposed changes also argued that an 11-member board of directors would never be as representative of the UNA membership as is the current 25-member General Assembly and that it would concentrate too much power in too few hands as it would take only six votes (out of the 11-member board) to control the entire organization.
Finally, there were also those who urged a "no" vote on the mail-in ballot for the simple reason that they believed such a monumental change should be discussed openly at a full-scale UNA convention, where all the delegates have the advantage of hearing each other's opinions - pro and con - on issues of critical importance to the UNA's future. Advisor Alexander Chudolij wrote: "An exchange of ideas among convention delegates is, in my opinion, the best, fairest and most democratic way for any or all of the delegates to be heard - both leading up to and during the actual vote. Every delegate is in attendance and already sitting in the same convention hall. It is the perfect setting for an exchange of views, opinions and understanding of the issue at hand. In fact, it's exactly what conventions are for!" "Furthermore," he argued, "I have always believed that it does not matter as much what type of system we use to elect our UNA leaders, but that it matters whom we elect and what resources they have to get the job done. Does anyone really think that all of our problems will turn around if we elect a board of directors?"
The ballots were to be returned by May 1, whereupon they were tabulated by members of the UNA Auditing Committee on May 8.
A report signed for the Auditing Committee by William Pastuszek, chairman; Stefan Hawrysz, vice-chairman; Dr. Alexander J. Serafyn, secretary; Myron Groch and Yaroslav Zaviysky, members; noted that a total of 179 ballots was received, which represented 76.8 percent of the 233 eligible votes. The results of the vote was: for adopting the by-laws changes, 106; against, 70. Three ballots were ruled invalid (two were returned empty and one was damaged). In order for the by-laws proposal to pass 155 "yes" votes - two-thirds of the eligible votes - were required. Fifty-four eligible voters, or 23.2 percent of the total eligible, did not register a vote. Thus the proposal to alter the UNA's governance structure to a corporate model failed to pass.
On the financial front, 2001 was a turnaround year. At the March 24 meeting of the UNA Executive Committee - the first of 2001, it was reported by Mr. Kaczaraj that the UNA had ended the year 2000 with the lowest deficit in over 10 years. The greatly improved financial status of the UNA was mainly due to the reduction in the deficits of its publications and a reduction in operating expenses. The publications had an overall deficit of $175,000 for the year 2000, while the deficit in 1999 was $246,000. The Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp. showed a profit for the year 2000 in the amount of $107,000. The UNA had unrealized losses of $383,000 due to the weakness in the Canadian dollar. Soyuzivka remains the UNA's biggest financial burden; the deficit from Soyuzivka was $579,000 for the year 2000. Mr. Kaczaraj concluded by reporting that the overall decrease in surplus for 2000 was $188,000.
In December at the annual meeting of the UNA General Assembly, Treasurer Kaczaraj reported good news about growth in the UNA's surplus: during the first nine months of 2001 the surplus increased by $1 million to $7,791,225. Other positives included the UNA's very strong solvency ratio of 114 percent (that is, $114 to cover each $100 of liabilities, as compared with the $105 average for the top 25 insurance companies); the expectation that the net profit of the UNA's building corporation, the Ukrainian National Urban Renewal Corp., would be $350,000 in the year 2002; and the reduction of the UNA publications' deficit to the "manageable level" of $86,455 for the first nine months of this year.
Mr. Kaczaraj tempered his optimism, however, as he spoke of Soyuzivka, which recorded a deficit of nearly $462,000 during the first three quarters of 2001. He concluded his report by underscoring that "we have to solve Soyuzivka's problems and increase sales of insurance."
At the first executive committee meeting for 2001, National Secretary Lysko reported that total UNA membership for the year 2000 stood at 50,689 members: 25,685 premium-paying members and 25,004 paid-up members. At the yearend annual meeting of the UNA General Assembly, Mrs. Lysko reported a total UNA membership of 48,536, with a net loss of 2,170 members as of the end of the third quarter. She noted that the UNA now has no professional sales forces and that branch secretaries are aging and are no longer as active as they once were in enrolling new members.
The fate of Soyuzivka was very much on the minds of UNAers and on the agenda of its leadership.
During its annual meeting held in December 2000, the General Assembly of the Ukrainian National Association had commissioned a standing committee to prepare a comprehensive analysis of the state of affairs of the Ukrainian National Association's resort, Soyuzivka. The committee analyzed the situation facing the resort, and reached a number of conclusions regarding its future that were set forth in a 12-page report delivered to the Executive Committee in late April of this year, and in an enhanced report submitted in early July. (The work of several committee members, foremost among them Stefko Kuropas, Taras Szmagala, Alexander Chudolij, Wasyl Szeremeta. The report was divided into four sections: physical plant (summarizing necessary building renovations and reconstruction), financing alternatives (including charitable and for-profit capitalization options), operating analysis (including profit and loss projections) and future actions needed to be taken by the Executive Committee. The committee made a number of recommendations on improvements, including both renovations and additions to the resort that would cost $4.2 million to complete, but which it considered "absolutely necessary for Soyuzivka to attract guests at a rate to enable it to operate at a break-even basis or better."
The committee also examined several options, including for-profit and non-profit structures, with the latter seen as preferable. Under the non-profit approach, the UNA would transfer Soyuzivka into a not-for-profit foundation organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Such an entity would conceivably be able to both accept charitable contributions and attract strategic capital. Indeed, the UNA General Assembly's annual meeting in December concurred with the non-profit approach.
The report concluded: "On a going forward basis, the committee noted the need to follow-up on four areas: (a) identifying professional assistance in attracting charitable donations, (b) identifying interested institutional donors, (c) identifying candidates for third party management, and (d) finalizing the position of the state insurance commission on the committee's recommendations."
At its December 2001 annual meeting the General Assembly authorized the Executive Committee, together with the Standing Committee on Soyuzivka, to obtain legal counsel and engage a resort consultant regarding options for the future of Soyuzivka, and to report back to the General Assembly by mid-January.
The UNA recorded several sad losses during 2001: the deaths of three honorary members of the General Assembly with a total of 93 years of active service to the UNA among them. Walter Sochan, supreme secretary and an executive officer (vice-president and recording secretary, 1966-1974 and later supreme secretary 1974-1994) for 28 years, plus another 17 years as an employee of the Home Office, and honorary member since 1994 died on May 23 at age 77. John O. Flis, former three-term supreme president (1978-1990) and one-term vice-president (1974-1978) and honorary member since 1990, died on June 8 at age 78. Stephen Kuropas, supreme auditor for 25 years (1937-1961) then supreme vice-president for eight years, (1961-1970) and honorary member since 1970, died on August 11 at age 100.
In February we reported on one of the UNA's most promising programs. To help Ukraine's disadvantaged rural youths, the UNA decided to give 10 such youths a chance at a college education at one of Ukraine's most prestigious academic institutions. After discussions with the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy, the UNA, through its Ukrainian National Foundation, agreed to pay the $1,000 tuition for each of five boys and five girls from villages in central and eastern Ukraine to take part in college preparatory courses at the university - rated for the last several years as one of the top two centers of academic study in Ukraine. The semester-long college preparatory course puts prospective students on the university's campus and in its dormitories as they take part in a pre-college level curriculum that teaches required subjects, in the physical sciences as well as the humanities, and is aimed at helping them pass the school's entrance examination.
The UNA programs continued its Scholarship Program in 2001. In September it was announced that more than $16,000 in scholarships was awarded to 129 college students throughout the United States and Canada for the 2001-2002 academic year.
This year's UNA scholarships add to the more than $1.78 million awarded by the UNA since 1946, continuing its tradition of supporting the education and development of today's Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian youth.
The Scholarship Committee awarded $100 to each of 36 incoming freshmen, $125 to each of 30 sophomores, $150 to each of 25 juniors and $175 to each of 29 seniors. The nine remaining recipients, whose applications required a personal statement, were awarded special scholarships, ranging in value from $500 to $2,000.
A special eight-page insert devoted to the previous year's (2000-2001) scholarship program, and containing the photos and brief profiles of the 141 scholarship recipients was published in our April 1 issue. The UNA's 2001-2002 scholars should be profiled sometime in 2002.
The UNA was active in the field of education also by way of its English Teachers for Ukraine Program. During 2001 nine volunteer educators traveled to Ukraine to teach the English language under a program directed by Zirka Voronka. Since 1992 more than 400 volunteers have taught conversational English to 4,000 students in over 80 cities in Ukraine.
Since we are speaking about aid to Ukraine, it is important to recall that in October the UNA president published an article in which she spelled out how much aid the UNA had given to Ukraine and its citizens since the county's independence was proclaimed in 1991. The total: an amazing $1,171,511. That breaks down to nearly $137,000 for publication of books; more than $342,000 in aid to various organizations; over $73,000 in scholarships; about $167,000 for UNA teaching projects; almost $178,000 for the Kyiv Press Bureau, more than $37,000 for special collections, such as flood relief and aid to families of miners; and $237,000 in other miscellaneous support for youth organizations, political activists, the arts and schools.
The 91st annual UNA Almanac, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of independent Ukraine, was released in 2001 by Svoboda. The 288-page almanac included a collection of articles on various aspects of Ukrainian life, including politics, religion, art and history. The editor of the book is Petro Chasto; the cover design is by Erica and Stepan Slutsky.
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In the waning days of the summer, throngs of young Ukrainians, as well as somewhat older types, traveled to Soyuzivka for the annual Labor Day weekend ritual that marks the end of summer.
The weekend at "Suzy-Q" has become an annual ritual - one last chance for Ukrainians to gather as a community and have some fun in the sun together before the weather turns and young people go off to school.
When asked why they come to Soyuzivka for Labor Day year after year, the vast majority of young people replied that it gives them an opportunity to see their friends one last time before heading off to school. As Adrian Olesnycky explained, "it might seem like a generic thing to say, but it's true."
Christian Koschil, a New Jersey native who moved to Torrance, Calif., but now attends Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, added, "I was out of the loop in California. Being away from it for a while really lets you see and appreciate it. There's a kind of continuous friendship here that you'll find nowhere else, on the East or West Coast. It's something our grandparents had and passed on to our parents, who have passed it on to us. And we'll carry it on."
Besides the student crowd, the resort also attracted tennis players and swimmers for the annual national championships of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada.
For the record, the men's tennis champion was Mark Oryshkewych of Chicago, while New Jerseyan Lesia Bilak, formerly of Uzhhorod, Ukraine, earned her fourth consecutive women's title. Sitch swimmers took home the team trophy.
At Soyuzivka, the season had officially begun with the traditional Fourth of July festivities.
But things got moving around Memorial Day weekend with Seniors Week in June, when the 27th annual UNA Seniors Conference was held and with Anna Chopek being re-elected to head the organization.
In between there was a full complement of camps including the Chemney Fun Center day camp for children age 4-10, the popular Tabir Ptashat Plast day camp for pre-schoolers, plus recreational camp for older children, tennis camp and Roma Pryma Bohachevsky's dance camp, not to mention Club Suzy-Q Week. A number of camps, such as the Sitch Sports School and Roma Pryma Bohachevsky's dance workshop and the dance camp that normally would have been held at the Verkhovyna resort previously owned by the Ukrainian Fraternal Association.
The UNA resort also selected a new Miss Soyuzivka during 2001, as Miss Soyuzivka 2002 was chosen on August 11. She is Laryssa Blaha, 19, of Whitestone, N.Y., a sophomore at Iona College. Ms. Blaha is a member of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) and the SUM choir Prolisok, and participates in various sports, dance groups and clubs. She is a member of Branch 86 of the Ukrainian National Association.
The UNA's Christmas Card Project for 2001 earmarked its proceeds for Soyuzivka. This year the UNA published approximately 120,000 cards that were distributed throughout the United States, Canada and Ukraine.
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With the end of the year approaching the UNA General Assembly held its annual meeting at Soyuzivka, on November 30-December 2.
The assembly discussed collaboration with Ukrainian credit unions throughout North America, a renewed proposal from the Ukrainian Fraternal Association for a merger with the UNA; the future direction of the UNA in general and its activity in Canada in particular; and the issuance of membership cards to all UNA members.
The General Assembly also adopted a budget for 2002 that foresees $5,625,000 in income and disbursements of $5,563,800.
President Diachuk reported that compliance issues took up an extraordinary amount of time and effort as insurance regulators impose ever-increasing demands on fraternal insurance companies.
She devoted special attention to the UNA's business in Canada, which, according to the UNA's Canadian actuary, "is barely sufficient to be self-sustaining." Back in March Mrs. Diachuk had reported that Canadian officials were concerned by the UNA's lack of growth in Canada and were demanding that the UNA prepare a strategic plan for the next five years for Canadian business. She noted that the UNA has three options: to aggressively pursue more Canadian business, to let its business in Canada gradually dwindle, or to withdraw from Canada while there still is a surplus on the UNA's Canadian books. The General Assembly later resolved that a meeting of the UNA's Canadian representation be convened by the director for Canada by the end of January 2002.
The president also spoke of the fact that only 93 UNA organizers were active in enrolling members during 2001, bringing in 326 members insured for $5,823,000. Of that number, only 20 were signed up in Canada, where the UNA has 31 branches.
The annual meeting of the UNA's highest decision-making body between quadrennial conventions adopted a number of resolutions, in which the General Assembly:
As the year came to a close, UNA'ers were looking ahead to 2002 and the 35th Regular Convention of the Ukrainian National Association to be held in Chicago on May 24-28, Memorial Day weekend.
The convention committee is headed by Dr. Myron B. Kuropas, honorary member of the UNA General Assembly, and includes UNA Advisor Andrij Skyba, vice-chairman; Osyp Panczyszyn, Ukrainian-language secretary; Lesia W. Kuropas, English-language secretary; and Nick Chemers, treasurer.
According to Dr. Kuropas, among the highlights of the Memorial Day weekend convention will be a concert and a tour of Chicago, including its Ukrainian Village section.
"We plan to make this the best convention ever," Stefko Kuropas, UNA Chicago District Committee chairman and UNA vice-president, promised back in June. "If all goes as planned, we will have many activities for the spouses of delegates as well as for their children and grandchildren. Chicago is a great place for a convention."
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, January 6, 2002, No. 1, Vol. LXX
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