Eugene & Elinor Kotur Scholarship Awards

Toronto - The Eugene and Elinor Kotur Scholarships for 2008 were announced by the Ukrainian Fraternal Association of Scranton, Pennsylvania. The eleven scholarship recipients are: Viktoria Andriyuk born in Rivne, Ukraine, a Senior at the University of Washington; Lesia Chyczij born in Toronto, a Senior at the University of Toronto; Mitchell Hulyk born in Southfield, Michigan, a Sophomore at Michigan State University; Roman Ianiv born in Drohobych, Ukraine, a Senior at the University of Toronto; Alexandra Kelebay born in Montreal, a Sophomore at McGill University; Markian Kuzmowycz born in Providence, Rhode Island, a Senior at McGill University; Michael Livinovich born in Kharkiv, Ukraine, a Sophomore at the University of Notre Dame; Khrystyna Levytska born in Tysmenytsya, Ukraine, a Sophomore at the University of Toronto; Olga Mukha born in Lviv, Ukraine, a Junior at the University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA); Nadiya Oleksiv born in Ternopil, Ukraine, a Sophomore at the University of Toronto; and Eva Schlitz born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a Senior at Harvard University.

Eugene Kotur was born in Lviv, Ukraine in 1912. He came to the USA after WWI and settled in Elmira, New York. During WWII, he served in the US Army. After the War, he married Elinor Brougner of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania and worked with the government of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania until his retirement in 1974. After retirement, he became seriously ill and lost most of his vision and part of his hearing. To compensate for his deficiencies, he used the Library of Congress Talking Book System, to communicate with friends. It was during this period of his life that Eugene Kotur established a $250,000 Endowment Fund with the Ukrainian Fraternal Association to administer scholarship awards at 32 universities. He died on April 8, 1992 and was buried in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

Commenting on the eleven recipients, the UFA Supreme Secretary Christina Shablovsky said, “We are delighted with the caliber of students and their intention to continue with graduate studies. All are active in Ukrainian community organizations.”

In addition to the Kotur Scholarship, the Canadian students received an additional scholarship of $500 from the Katedra Foundation of Toronto.