Fighting the heritage of passivity <I>The Day</I> in Ostroh Academy

There were many reasons for The Day’s meeting in Ostroh. Many new and interesting things have happened both in the newspaper and Ostroh Academy in the six months since The Day’s editor in chief Larysa Ivshyna’s last visit to the university. Life is, as always, in full swing in both places. Therefore, exchange news and fresh ideas has already become a necessity. Moreover, this exchange yields practical results.

As usual, a trip to Ostroh had a packed program, including, among other things, the launch of the new book in The Day’s Library Series James Mace: Your Dead Chose Me, discussion of the film James Mace’s Candle, a meeting of the Ostroh Club for Young People’s Free Intellectual Exchange, admitting new members from Chernivtsi and Lutsk into the club, a traditional exchange of ideas, and interesting acquaintances and excursions.

BEING EUROPEAN, RATHER THAN SPEAKING ABOUT IT

On Jan. 22, 2007, members of the Ostroh Club, a new entity at the time, and The Day’s editor in chief Larysa Ivshyna came to Ostroh Academy. They dedicated to The Day of Reunion their discussion about ways to form social capital in Ukraine, a topic mentioned by the well-known thinker Francis Fukuyama in his Kyiv speech. The discussion was not fruitless, and it has become a tradition to come together and discuss topical problems on the Reunion Day. The Ostroh Club proved that the most powerful social capital is a close connection with one’s own country and its best people in every region. It did so by visiting many cities in Ukraine during the following year. Within this time the club members became convinced that this kind of connection required powerful energy on the inside and the strength to change oneself, above all other things.

The results of these changes became evident on Jan. 22, 2008. On that day The Day initiated the Year of Vasyl Stus in Ostroh, which was dedicated to the poet’s 70th birth anniversary.

Those who were present at that meeting still recollect the strong impression made by the speech of Serhii Nesvit, a postgraduate student at the Donetsk National University (Stus’ alma mater). In 2008 readings of Stus’s works took place the Ostroh Academy, and students wrote research papers on Stus’ literary heritage.

Thus, it is no surprise that this year’s “reunion” meeting in Ostroh started from references to Vasyl Stus. Larysa Ivshyna told about the article “Vasyl’s Day” carried by Den’. The author, a member of the Ostroh Club from Donetsk, wrote that the alumni and students of the Donetsk National University came forth with a suggestion to rename their university by giving it Vasyl Stus’ name. They send a letter to this effect to the rector of the university and the minister of education and science. They haven’t received any response so far. However, both the university’s administration and the ministry will have to respond, because the initiators have the support of the entire Ostroh Club, which now unites nearly all of Ukraine — Ostroh, Odesa, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Kyiv, Lutsk, and Chernivtsi. The members of the Ostroh Club have already started collecting signatures, which will be added to nearly 500 from Donetsk. “This is maturity born of communication,” Ivshyna said at the meeting with students, “We are speaking about the Bologna process and the Bologna process means, above all, that Donetsk students are ready to communicate with their counterparts in Ostroh and vice versa. We are not merely talking about being European — we are practicing it.”

SUSTAINED INITIATIVE

In general, the meeting with The Day and its editor in chief continued for over two hours. The Day’s old acquaintances — the fourth- and fifth-year students —wanted the most to get to the meeting, but Rector Ihor Pasichnyk asked them to give way to the younger students because the university’s assembly hall can seat no more than nearly 350 persons. Therefore, many of those who came to the meeting heard about our ideas for the first time. But this did not have much impact upon the mood of the conversation.

There are several reasons for this. First, continuity is a special feature of Ostroh Academy. Favorite books, films, and notes are passed from generation to generation. Moreover, ideas and initiatives are passed as the most precious things. A vivid example of this is the Ostroh Club itself: its founders have already graduated from their universities, but their initiative continues to live and develop with the new generations of students.

Second, it is easier to speak even with those who may not quite understand what you are talking about, when you use real examples showing that projects are really efficient. Ivshyna mentioned again in this assembly hall the story code-named “Anna’s list,” which is the title given to a letter that a girl from the Kirovohrad region sent to The Day’s editors back in April 2004. Her father was the only person in their village to subscribe for The Day, and according to the young author of the letter, there hardly was anyone else who would read it. Her letter contained a list of a child’s seemingly simple questions put to adults. But in reality many who read these questions had to feel ashamed, because such simple questions as, “Why did I have to pay 18 hryvnias for a small book about animals written in my mother tongue that I bought for my little brother?” is deeper than many questions “with a deep meaning” asked by various political talkshow hosts. Then The Day suggested that politicians answer Anna’s questions. The students of Ostroh Academy received the same proposal, because in the preface to her letter Anna wrote that she was dreaming of becoming a student of Ostroh academy.

The story was continued last June: while speaking before students in Ostroh Academy, Ivshyna mentioned “Anna’ list” and saw unusual animation in the audience. It turned out that that same Anna was there: her dream came true and she was enrolled at the university about which she had learned from the newspaper her father received.

Anna came to the recent meeting as well. For the students who were present at the event for the first time she became a symbol of the fact that right steps in a proper direction and own efforts may change people’s lives for the best; for us her story is symbolizes that our long-lasting work on uniting of our country is not traceless.

BOOK TREASURE HOUSE REPLENISHED

Every Ostroh meeting of The Day involves a presentation of books worthy of being shared. This year three new books were offered by Ivshyna for discussion.

The first one is the newest book of The Day’s Library Series, which is well-known in Lviv, Lutsk, Kyiv, and, of course, to all readers of The Day — James Mace: Your Dead Chose Me. Without doubt, James Mace is no stranger to the students of Ostroh Academy, because here the previous collection of his works Day and Eternity of James Mace was launched. A special course of lectures was established in the Academy that follows James’s creative work and public activity.

After the students watched the film The Candle of James Mace, which we had sent to the Academy, they came up with a whole range of questions.

Two other books presented by Ivshyna to the library of the university were something new. The Day’s editor in chief bought two copies of Ave, Europa! by Oxana Pachlowska in the Pulsary Publishing House primarily for this event. The first one will go to the library, while the second one, traditionally — to the person who would ask the most interesting question for discussion. This time it was Alla Dubrovyk, a student at the Economics Department and head of the Student Brotherhood. They say that students are lining up to get the copy from the library. Intrigued by Larysa Ivshyna’s account of the book’s launch in Kyiv, the students are eager to read this potential intellectual bestseller of 2009.

The second present that went to the library of Ostroh Academy was a two-volume edition of memoirs penned by the well-known Ukrainian literary critic Hryhorii Kostiuk, Meetings and Farewells, for the first time published in Ukraine by the Smoloskyp Publishing House. This book is priceless source for those who study memoirs and interesting for those who study the Ukrainian diaspora. There are many people that fall into these groups in Ostroh, where the Institute for Ukrainian Diaspora Studies, the only one of its kind in Ukraine, is operating. So now we are waiting for the impressions of the lucky ones who will be the first to read the presented books.

A PLATFORM FOR THE FUTURE CULTURAL RENAISSANCE

Ihor Pasichyk is proud of his students, and everything is proof of this: he knows the best students by names; he is happy for their every success; and he takes interest in everyone’s future. But his greatest request to his students before every meeting with guests is to avoid their “shortcoming”: “Do not torture the guests with a lot of questions.”

This time students, obviously, did not pay attention to their rector’s request. They asked The Day’s editor in chief about everything: the activity of the Ostroh Club, the decreasing level of spirituality in Ukrainian society despite a greater number of churches, what James Mace would say about Ukraine now, the Ukraine-Russia information war, and even why The Day’s journalists never write articles in verse. There were questions that, it seems to us, are a vivid demonstration of today’s moral condition of the youth: Why is the number of socially active young people so low in our country? When will Ukrainian society be ready to listen to its youth? Are young Ukrainians ready to make decisions on their own without yielding to informational pressure?

“Ukraine is in a paradoxical situation. Active, rhythmic, and creative people find it more difficult to realize themselves than sly and passive ones. We have received a huge heritage of passivity. Therefore, we must do everything to help creative people with a great potential win,” said Ivshyna. “Young people should choose an environment that would suit their taste. The main thing for you is to improve yourself. In spite of all the troubles that are present in our country you should never be conformists. This does not mean being a scandal-monger or a conflict-maker. Rather, this means having your own position, principles, and opinion. Your development is your own task.”

Ivshyna and the students of Ostroh Academy agreed that they have a common alarming feeling that the Ukrainian intelligentsia destroyed by the “red terror” is reviving too slowly. “We may be merely unskilled workers who are paving the way for the new cultural renaissance. It is only through hard work that new generations and talents will be produced by society,” said The Day’s editor in chief.

STARTING FROM ONESELF IS THE MOST DIFFICULT THING

“Political culture of the elite and voters: practice of mutual responsibility” was the topic offered for the scholarly discussion at the most recent meeting of the Ostroh Club, which is traditionally held in the format of a roundtable. This time the club members were joined by students from Chernivtsi and Lutsk, whose enthusiasm surprised even the old members of the Ostroh Club. The participants of the meeting say that the Ostroh Club may soon tour the cities in Western Ukraine.

The discussion continued for three hours. Inspired by the meeting with The Day’s editor in chief, young people vigorously tackled the most important question, which is probably more vital for tomorrow than for the present day. The range of problems is huge: from the lack of a mechanism to control government agencies to the absolute corruption of society. Most importantly, there are ways to resolve them. They are on the surface, and everyone knows and understands them, but does not take into account, for some reason. The only conclusion is this: start with yourself. This is painstaking, systemic work, more difficult than initiating early elections or coming out to the Maidan once. But we can do it, the young people gathered in Ostroh affirmed. So, we’ll be looking for the results. Meanwhile, the Ostroh Club is planning to incorporate ideas voiced at the roundtable into an action plan to be presented within months.

COMMENTARIES

Anatolii IHNATOVYCH, head of the Ukrainian Student Self-Government Association:

“What should a young person do when s/he does not have money, when everyone around is talking about a crisis, and when the youth’s interests are ignored? One can get drunk or leave everything and go into depression. Alternatively, a group of people who know each other and think alike can get together and look for the ways of influence and ways of resolving problems. Communication with the members of the Ostroh Club has become this kind of exchange for me, I came here for the first time as the head of the Ukrainian Student Self-Government Association. Frankly, I had different impressions, but the positive energy, joint search for solutions at the roundtable in the Academy and later, in an information setting, with a cup of aromatic Ostroh coffee in the hand, filled me with faith in good things. Hopefully, I will be able to come to the next meeting with my friends, and I promise to spread the mood and atmosphere reigning in Ostroh Academy during my trips in Ukraine.”

Viktoria SKUBA, a student at the Department of Political-Information Management, Ostroh Academy:

“Meetings like this with Larysa Ivshyna are a sort of educational moment, thanks to which you can see new directions for development and self-improvement. The latest exchange to a large extent dwelled upon painful problems that Ukrainians began to face a decade ago. Unfortunately, they remain unresolved. We spoke about the superficiality of Ukrainian journalism and the vagueness of Ukrainian politics. The students were interested in Larysa Ivshyna’s opinion on Ukraine—Russia relations. Although the opinions expressed both by the editor in chief and students were not always optimistic, Larysa Ivshyna said that she is sure that the youth is able to change present-day Ukrainian realities. And this, more than anything else, gives optimism and a desire to make one’s own contribution, if only a small one, to our country’s future.”

Svitlana SAMCHUK, a student at the Lesia Ukrainka Volyn National University:

“Unfortunately, not so many people care about the problems that exist in Ukraine. I mean people who are not dishing out empty promises, but who are doing everything possible and impossible to solve problems. Many things that I heard at this meeting were new and unusual for me. First, I was impressed by the energy coming from Larysa Ivshyna — the way she behaved, the things she was told us, and the way she responded to the questions. Second, I was impressed by the atmosphere reigning in the hall filled with interesting, intelligent, and extremely talented young people. The name of James Mace, as well as his life story and his fundamental work about the Holodomor in Ukraine were a discovery for me. I want to thank Ostroh Academy for the organized meeting.”

Yurii MATSIEVSKY, Candidate of Political Sciences, Associate Professor, head of the Political Science Department at Ostroh Academy:

“Today’s roundtable brought together students who have certain moral values, not only those who study well or have a good civic potential. The words ‘morality’ and ‘moral values’ were frequently used today, and I wish to believe that this was not done to show off. Therefore, in spite of all the problematic situations in Ukraine, today’s youth is healthy and lively and has a great potential to bring about changes.

“Unlike last year’s meeting, which I also moderated, today’s meeting was better linked to the topic of the roundtable. The participants expressed their opinions in a very conscious and rational way. The format of the meeting (free exchange) enabled those present to share their views and examples, etc. One can make a conclusion that a new elite is arising in our country to replace the existing one.”