Journalism Scholarships Established іn Memory оf Roman Melnyk

Toronto (UCEF) – The Board and Executive of the Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF) is very pleased to announce the establishment of the Roman Melnyk Scholarship Fund for students enrolled in the Masters of Journalism program at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv, Ukraine.

Roman Melnyk, a founding director of UCEF, was a lawyer and former television executive at both CBC and CTV, Canada’s major broadcasters. He believed firmly in the need for involvement and commitment to one’s community and was a staunch supporter of UCU, an open academic community in the Eastern Christian tradition that promotes leadership and professional excellence in Ukraine and internationally.

The Roman Melnyk Scholarship Fund was established with initial contributions of $10,000 from each of the lead donors: wife Tania Melnyk, and Yarmila and Erast Huculak. These funds were supplemented with generous donations from Mr. Melnyk’s family, friends, and former colleagues and to date, nearly $35,000 has been raised in his memory. The funds will be used to provide scholarships to students of the Masters in Journalism program at UCU.

Established in 2011, UCU’s Journalism program was conceived with the goal of developing strong Ukrainian journalists in a country where journalistic freedom is constantly under attack. The program is designed to provide students with an education grounded in high moral and ethical standards in an environment free of corruption.

In his address at the opening of the program, University Rector Bishop Borys Gudziak said that UCU’s Journalism School strives “to help future journalists recognize their own dignity… A person with moral and spiritual principles will not allow lies, will not allow them because of their principles. And this is the main assignment of a contemporary journalist – to speak the truth with dignity.”

UCU is widely recognized as one of only a handful of institutions that fosters innovative quality education grounded in strong Christian ethics and principles of academic freedom. Among its faculty are world-renowned scholars, former political prisoners and leading theologians. UCU is the only Catholic university between Poland and the Pacific Ocean. It has developed a strong reputation for incorruptibility and a strategic vision that has attracted eminent scholars, not only from Ukraine, but also from Canada, the United States, France, Israel, Poland, Russia, Germany, and beyond. Edward Lucas, a writer for The Economist, called the Ukrainian Catholic University “the jewel of higher education in Ukraine.”

In addition to serving on the Board of UCEF, where he was instrumental in establishing its charitable status, Mr. Melnyk served for over a decade on the Board of the St. Demetrius Development Corporation, including four years as its Chair, and on other boards that being of the Independent Production Fund, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, the National Catholic Broadcasting Council, and the International Media Centre in Kyiv, Ukraine. He volunteered for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and was a lifelong member and supporter of Plast Ukrainian Youth Association.

The Ukrainian Catholic Education Foundation (UCEF) supports various projects at UCU, including scholarships for needy students, grants, and professorships. For further information or to contribute to the Roman Melnyk Scholarship Fund in Journalism, please visit the UCEF website at www.ucef.org. You may also contact UCEF directly, in Canada: (416) 239-2495, e-mail: ucef@ucef.ca; or in the USA at (773) 235-8462, e-mail: ucef@ucef.ca. For more information on the School of Journalism at UCU, visit www.journalism.ucu.edu.ua.