Rediscovering Ukraine in Kamyanets-Podilsky
As The Day has already reported, Kamyanets-Podilsky University celebrated its 85th anniversary on October 22. This national university, the first in independent Ukraine, was founded in the years of the Ukrainian Revolution and headed by Ivan Ohiyenko, its Rector and Education Minister of the Ukrainian People’s Republic (see page 6).
Apart from these festivities, which triggered great interest of the Ukrainian political beau monde (on October 22, Verkhovna Rada Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn paid a brief visit to Kamyanets-Podilsky), the old fortress city, not long ago capital of Podillia, on the Smotrych River played host to a unique and exclusive function. Our newspaper presented the first attempt in the history of our independent state’s media to show an up-to-date and essential vision of our historical process: our two- volume anthology Ukraina Incognita published in September 2002, enthusiastically welcomed by readers and experts, and republished, and Two Rus’s, dedicated to the most interesting and controversial pages of Ukrainian-Russian relations, under general editorship of Larysa Ivshyna. The same day also saw the opening of the 5th exhibition of Den/The Day’s best photographs at this historical city’s History Museum gallery.
Feasting our eyes on Kamyanetsk-Podilsky’s innumerable monuments and the Khotyn fortress (a well-known historical monument of what is now Bukovyna, which has gone down in the history of not only Ukraine as the place of a battle, in which the Ukrainians and Poles repulsed a Turkish-Tatar invasion of 1621-1622), our small group always rediscovered Ukraine for ourselves and other Ukrainians. Incidentally, The Day’s editor-in-chief Larysa Ivshyna noted at a local club ceremony, “Universities not only accumulate knowledge but also ‘produce’ citizens.”
What made the two days especially memorable were contacts with interesting and unconventionally minded personalities, such as Professor Valery Stepankov, a world-renowned historian, researcher of the 1648-1676 National Revolution, and Ukraine State Prize winner. So we hope for fruitful cooperation with academics, students and area researchers.
At the beginning of the function at Kamyanets-Podilsky University’s assembly hall, Rector Oleksandr Zavalniuk said, “We are receiving the highly respected Ms. Larysa Ivshyna, editor-in-chief of the influential national daily Den/The Day. A megastar of Ukrainian journalism has come to visit us. May I present her a university badge of honor.” In addition to the expected representatives of History and Philosophy Schools, there were also physicists and mathematicians... The function attracted about 300 people. The audience and the visitors gradually engaged in a dialog.
Ms. Ivshyna pointed out, “Today we can respond to the formidable challenges of our time only if our society is able to create a political and academic elite of as high quality as possible. This should be done in a short period of time by setting ambitious goals. For we have soothed ourselves for the past twelve years by the presumption that we have managed to avoid major conflicts: ‘Yes, there are many problems in our economy, but, thank God, we have no war.’ However, the competitive world will not provide comfort. And, if we do not make efforts ourselves, we will be really forced to ‘move around.’ And whoever loves Ukraine and identifies him/herself as a Ukrainian also has this alarming feeling. Even the Tuzla incident is a major irritant for Ukrainian society. You are in bad need of a practical excursus, for history is political biography. One must therefore do his/her best to convince students with sound arguments, enable them to contact with the media and create public opinion. Do our students and faculty of today really think that somebody else will provide them with truly European living standards? I am sure that if your university wants to live by such standards and bring back the name of Ivan Ohiyenko, you must set your students the highest ever objectives, such as making a career in European Union and European Commission organizations. Maybe, somebody will once become a NATO Secretary General...”
P.S. For more details of the meeting between Den/The Day’s editor-in-chief and Kamyanets-Podilsky University students and faculty, opening of Den/The Day’s fifth photo exhibition and impressions of this marvelous city, see the next issue of our newspaper.
