McGill Ukrainian Students’ Association Revived

MONTREAL – This fall, the McGill University Students’ Association has been reactivated through a membership drive. More than 70 students studying at McGill have joined the club.

The club’s diverse cultural and social program has also attracted members from Montreal’s Concordia University and from the universities offering French-language instruction, L’Universite du Quebec a Montreal and the University of Montreal.

Professor Yarema Kelebay, of McGill’s Department of Education and president of the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association, is working closely with the students.

“Long in tradition, the McGill Club has been revived by a very active, enthusiastic and impressive executive, with members studying in various faculties, having a desire to share a unique and rich Ukrainian heritage within their university environment,” said Professor Kelebay.

The students have organized a varied program on the McGill campus. On October 24, the executive assisted the Chair of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional and Business Association of Montreal in organizing a very successful lecture by Kyiv–based, Toronto lawyer Mr. Daniel Bilak at the McGill Faculty Club. Mr. Bilak spoke on “Democracy, Corruption and the Rule of Law after the Orange Revolution in Ukraine” to an audience of over 100.

       Also, scheduled for this academic year is Ukrainian caroling on the McGill campus and the club’s major event, Ukrainian Week, taking place from January 23 to 27, 2006. This event will include a talk by Professor Roman Serbyn of the University of Quebec in Montreal on the 1932-33 famine-genocide in Soviet Ukraine and a lecture on Ukrainian architecture by Professor Radoslav Zuk of McGill University.

The students have two delegates designated to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and work closely with the newly organized Ukrainian Students Association of Dawson College and its first elected president Adriana Luhova.

Members of the McGill University Students’ Association executive for 2005-2006 are: Johanna Paquin, president; Jaroslaw Holowko, vice-president; Christina Szuper,  secretary;  Artem Luhovy, treasurer; as well as, Katherine Didus, Ksenia Yatsenko, Peter Shakotko, Nick Saldon, Alexandra Havrylyshyn, John Mongeau and Roxanne Zalucky.

The association belongs to the Ukrainian Canadian Students Union (SUSK), which is comprised of university students’ club branches from across Canada. For further information about the club and its activities, e-mail annahoj29@gmail.com or call (514) 481-5871.