UCCA board meets to discuss plan of action for 2002-2004 (10/13/02)

UCCA board meets to discuss plan of action for 2002-2004

by Tamara Gallo
Ukrainian Congress Committee of America

NEW YORK - After the summer vacation season, the UCCA Executive Board met on Saturday, September 14, at its New York City headquarters. The meeting began with a moment of silence for John Teluk, a longtime UCCA activist and former UCCA treasurer, who died on July 14.

The first item on the agenda was the upcoming 19th Congress of Ukrainians in America. The by-laws of the UCCA state that the Congress of Ukrainians in America is to be held every four years in the same year as U.S. presidential elections. Following a brief discussion, the Executive Board agreed with UCCA President Michael Sawkiw's recommendation to hold the next congress in 2004 in the Philadelphia area and to charge the UCCA Philadelphia branch with forming a convention planning committee.

A proposal was also offered to examine the status of the Ukrainian American community and its organizations prior to the next Congress of Ukrainians in America in an effort to reunite the Ukrainian community under one centralized umbrella organization.

A critical aspect of the Ukrainian community is the education of its youth. The UCCA Educational Council was formed in 1953 with the responsibility of coordinating the activities of the Ukrainian school system in the United States, providing textbooks and conducting teachers' seminars. A concise, yet sobering, analysis of the current Saturday School system was presented by Dr. Eugene Fedorenko, chairman of the Educational Council.

Dr. Fedorenko outlined the current status of the Ukrainian Saturday School system in the United States, which includes 32 schools throughout the country, close to 3,000 students, and nearly 400 teachers. The faculty of these schools is composed mainly of the newest immigrants from Ukraine.

Many new schools have recently been established in cities throughout the country with a high concentration of Ukraine's newest immigrants to the United States. To address the small percentage of the Ukrainian community's youngest generation that attend Ukrainian studies schools, the UCCA executive board unanimously voted to pen an appeal to the Ukrainian community to revitalize these schools and encourage further enrollment.

It was noted that the establishment of the UCCA's newest bureau in Kyiv presents the UCCA with a unique opportunity to initiate various projects in Ukraine. Since its inception in February, the UCCA bureau in Kyiv has conducted a civic education program during the 2002 parliamentary elections in Ukraine, cooperated with the Prosvita Society to produce and distribute Ukrainian-language audiocassettes of Ukrainian fairytales and participated in various NGO forums. The the Kyiv office also worked on providing logistical support for the annual conference in Washington titled "Ukraine's Quest for Mature Nation Statehood - Roundtable III: Ukraine and the EuroAtlantic Community."

The UCCA executive board discussed forming an Advisory Committee for the UCCA Kyiv bureau, which would recommend projects and activities in Ukraine and assist in their coordination. Future proposals include preparations for a civic education program for the 2004 presidential elections; conferences on various topics, such as the 70th anniversary of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide; and assisting the UCCA's Council on Aid to Ukrainians in their humanitarian/educational projects in Ukraine.

In preparation for the upcoming 69th anniversary commemoration of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide in New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral on Saturday, November 16, the UCCA president informed the executive board that Cardinal Lubomyr Husar primate of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, will be the main speaker at the observance. Furthermore, it was proposed that following the ecumenical church service, a special joint session of the UCCA's executive and national boards be held with a press conference announcing the community's objective to erect a monument in Washington, dedicated to the victims of the Ukrainian Famine-Genocide. Participants invited to the press conference would include: Cardinal Husar, religious hierarchs, Ukrainian government representatives, sponsors of the Ukrainian Famine Memorial Bill in the Senate and House of Representatives, and leaders of Ukrainian organizations.

Regarding events in Ukraine, the UCCA president said that an official statement would be released on Monday, September 16, the day of planned mass protests in Ukraine. The UCCA is to be circulated in Ukraine, as well as among Ukrainian newspapers in the United States. [Editor's note: As of press time, no statement was received by The Ukrainian Weekly.]

At the conclusion of the meeting the UCCA Executive Board expressed its sincere thanks to New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey for his sponsorship of a statewide Ukrainian Independence Day program held at the governor's mansion on August 24.

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