UCEF Scholarships – A Good Education for a Good Future

Halyna Vykhnevych-Charron

An education which forms the whole person is one that expands a person’s intellectual and spiritual world-view. Such an education is a necessity for young people in Ukraine who strive for change in their nation. In fact, the spiritual values of such people become the driving force behind the process of building a truly democratic, civil society. This kind of education is now available in Ukraine, and it is at the only Catholic university in the former Soviet Union – at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) in Lviv.

The Ukrainian Catholic Educational Foundation (UCEF) in Canada makes possible the important educational work carried out by the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU). UCEF was established in 2002.  Since then, it has continued to support financially numerous academic projects and research at the university, has awarded special bursaries for seminarians and students at UCU, as well as, sponsored summer pastoral programs. To be thankful, all these good works have been made possible by generous donors in Canada, aware as they are of the importance and necessity of a sound education for the growth of our Church and of Ukraine as a nation. Some of the money donated to UCEF goes toward special funds, from which scholarships and bursaries are awarded to students in Theology, as well as Humanities and Social Studies.

Several years ago, UCEF initiated the creation of the Seminary Scholarship Fund from which the Seminarian Excellence Award is granted annually to seminarians in Ukraine and Canada. With thanks to God, the continued generosity of UCEF donors has allowed this Fund continuous growth. The late Rev. Fr. Ihor Stephan Chabursky gave in his passing an example of continued giving. His desire was that any money collected in lieu of flowers at his funeral be directed toward this Seminarian Excellence Award. From this fund, UCEF awarded five seminarians at Holy Spirit Ukrainian Catholic Seminary in Lviv financial assistance for the 2007-8 Academic Year, in memory of the late Fr. Chabursky. A direct result of this award is that today, these seminarians are deepening their vocation by spreading the Word of God in schools, hospitals, orphanages and prisons. Many of them spend their summer vacation doing missionary work in Eastern and Southern Ukraine, sharing their faith with the locals. Furthermore, two seminarians from Holy Spirit Seminary in Ottawa were also awarded the UCEF Seminarian Excellence Award for the 2007-8 Academic Year; A. Lashchuk and H. Chorney have shown academic distinction and made a contribution to the life of the seminary and society as a whole.

Finally, ten students from UCU received scholarships this year from UCEF’s Bolubash Initiative Bursary Fund. The money helped them cover the cost of university tuition for 2007-8.

In the fall of 2007, Lada Darewych, Administrative Director of UCEF, and Ihor Komarnicky, UCEF Treasurer, met with these scholarship recipients during separate visits to Lviv. Ms. Darewych was particularly impressed to learn that one of the seminarians chosen to receive an award had asked that another seminarian be chosen for the scholarship in his place, as he had earned enough money over the summer to pay his tuition himself. His selflessness made it possible for another seminarian to receive this award instead, who was truly in need of financial assistance.

In November 2007, leaders of the Ukrainian Catholic University, including Rector Fr. Borys Gudziak, Ph.D., Fr. Ihor Boyko, Ph.D., Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Theology, who holds the Dr. Teodor Dziubanowsky Chair at UCU (funded by the Dziubanowsky Endowment at UCEF), and Natalia Klymovska, Director of the Information Office, visited Canada as part of an informational and fundraising tour. Along with Ms. Darewych, they travelled to Toronto, Edmonton, and Montreal. “For me, this was a unique opportunity”, said Fr. Boyko, “it being my first visit to the ‘Land of the Maple Leaf’ to meet with our people. There were many individuals with incredibly exceptional life stories, from various parts of Ukraine. But all of these people, having lived through tremendously complicated times, set a noteworthy example for us, the younger generation of Ukrainians.” 

Indeed, it is impossible to imagine the day-to-day life and development of UCU without the generosity of the Ukrainian community in Canada. The financial support that is granted by UCEF to seminarians and students of UCU is possible only through the generous help of donors who appreciate the importance of education for our Church and the whole country of Ukraine, as well as for those who long to see the Ukrainian Catholic University grow.

For further information about UCEF and its Scholarship Programs please contact the UCEF Office at:    265 Bering Ave., Toronto ON M8Z 3A5; email ucef@ucef.ca; phone (416) 239-2495, or visit http://www.ucef.ca.