PARSIPPANY, N.J. – The 2015 National Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK) Congress was held May 7-10 at McGill University in Montreal.
During the congress, delegates heard a presentation by Eugene Czolij, president of the Ukrainian World Congress, about a student’s role in the community. Mr. Czolij also answered questions from the delegates.
The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation was a major supporter of the event, as was the Ukrainian Canadian Congress – Montreal branch, and the Ukrainian National Federation – Montreal branch.
The new board members include: Cassian Soltykevych, president; Anastasia Hnatyuk, vice-president finance; Borys Bilaniuk, vice-president East; Alex Prokopchuk, vice-president Central; Andrea Dacko, vice-president West; Anton Waschuk, internal relations director; Dayra Naumova, external relations director; Inga Bekbudova, media director; Connor Moen, project director; and Christine Czoli, past president of SUSK.
The congress sessions began on May 8, included: “Current Ukraine: Historical, Economic and Social Sides of the Story” (with Dr. Roman Serbyn and Dr. Natalia Patsiurko); “Current Ukraine: Helping Ukraine and Getting Involved”; reports by SUSK executive members; a workshop on social media tools for students, led by Cassian Soltykevych and Romana Suchy; and a second workshop on leadership skill for students with Katherine Smolynec. The day’s sessions were capped off by a networking event hosted by the Ukrainian National Federation – Montreal branch.
On May 9, the film “Ukrainians in Quebec” by Yurij Luhovy was screened, followed by a discussion with Simon Kouklewsky. Following the SUSK executive elections, and an afternoon spent visiting Montreal, delegates heard the results of the elections during a reception that featured a keynote address by former SUSK President Artem Luhovy and a dance (zabava) with music by Skopa.
Founded in 1953, SUSK is a Canadian national student organization comprising Ukrainian student organizations at post-secondary institutions across Canada. The purpose of the organization is to coordinate projects and resources of Ukrainian student organizations, as well as to “advocate concerns relevant to Ukrainian Canadian students.”
In essence, SUSK serves as a coordinating body for Ukrainian students’ organizations providing a national forum in which their concerns are discussed. SUSK represents Ukrainian Canadian students as an organized body, providing resources to start a Ukrainian student organization, a forum to discuss ideas and advertise events, information about sources of funding for clubs and events, a list of Ukrainian Canadian scholarships and awards for students to see, and coordination of events on a national level to bring more awareness.
For more information about SUSK, readers can visit www.susk.ca or [email protected].