The truism that genuine patriotism is not bound by geography alone has been confirmed by the steps taken by Ukrainians in the Diaspora who, as fate decreed, left their fatherland during the terrible years of war and repression. In their adopted homelands they dreamed of a free and independent Ukraine with its own language and clear-cut national idea.
Today Ukrainians abroad are doing their best to help their ancestral homeland preserve its national cultural traditions and identity. One of them is the well-known Canadian public figure and philanthropist Erast Huculak, who has launched a joint project with National University of Ostroh Academy to build a new classroom building for the university.
Huculak was born in the Rivne area into the family of a teacher at Rivne Gymnasium No. 1. When he was a child, he immigrated with his parents to Canada, where he was raised and carved out a career for himself. Today he is the president of the Medical Pharmacies Group, a company that he founded when he was taking his first steps in the pharmaceutical industry. According to Huculak, this is Canada’s largest company that supplies medicines to homes for the old and infirm.
Even after he achieved success and a high material and financial level in Canada, Huculak never forgot his homeland. Aware of belonging to the Ukrainian nation, he has always sought to pass the sense of Ukrainian identity to his children and grandchildren while doing his utmost to help Ukraine. According to Prof. Ihor Pasichnyk, the rector of Ostroh Academy, by agreeing to grant funds for the building of a new classroom wing, Erast Huculak has demonstrated his patriotism and interest in the revival and popularization of his homeland’s finest cultural and educational traditions, which were established by the Ostroh Slavonic- Greco-Latin Academy in the 16th century.
The new building will stand in downtown Ostroh, on the site of a Soviet-era construction project (a community center) that was abandoned for lack of funds. Ostroh Academy drafted a project to use the unfinished structure for a new university block, and the construction work began in the fall of 2007.
The exterior will be a blend of modern trends and medieval architectural traditions, illustrating the motto of the revived Ostroh Academy: “Modern education based on centuries-old experience.” A square opposite the building will be named after the great Ukrainian enlighteners Herasym and Meletii Smotrytsky, whose contemporary compatriots still have not duly appreciated their work. The architectural ensemble of the new building will include a tower named after Erast and Yarmila Huculak, the university’s patrons.
