398 years in Europe’s educational space
Students and faculty celebrate Kyiv Mohyla Academy Day
This event is annually marked on October 15 (the day this educational institution was founded) with an intensive and interesting program that includes traditional and, if you like, legendary events, such as “Clean Skovoroda.” On every Mohyla Academy Day, students wash the monument to Hryhorii Skovoroda, a Ukrainian philosopher, poet, and one of the most prominent students of this university. This action is aimed at honoring the memory of the Academy’s founders, professors, and former students; present-day students say that to be allowed to wash the monument means to attract good luck during the winter exam period. That is why students so actively and inspiringly polish the monument so that it glitters.
No less traditional are street performances of the student theatrical studio on stilts. The brightly-clad actors add to the festive atmosphere on stilts, too.
This year the fest also included an exhibit of painted textiles, “Berehy,” by Olha Yamborko, Maria Bashlei, and Oleh Chuiko, as well as a book fair-cum-sales of the publishers Kyiv Mohyla Academy and Dukh i Litera, at which one could buy a lot of interesting publications at publishing-house prices. The celebration also came to a traditional close – by the offering of refreshments among the Mohyla students, performance of the group Kozak System, Cossack entertainments organized by SPAS, a Cossack martial arts fraternity, and a cheerful student soiree sponsored by radio K:)VIT.
In general, Academy students and professors consider this day one of the greatest feasts of the university community. “Our sincere greetings to all those who have selflessly participated in the making of our university! It is by the joint efforts of all the Mohyla people – professors, students, associates, friends, and partners – that our Alma Mater has become one of this country’s best universities,” the university’s official address says.
In addition to entertainments and celebrations as such, Academy Day also comprised an open civic and scholarly conference, “The Culture of Joint Self-Organization of Ukrainians and the Strategies of National Leadership,” which was held on October 17 in the assembly hall of Mohyla Academy’s Block 1.
