On August 31 a sort of “Feast of the 1st of September for Students” took place in all higher education establishments in Ukraine. The National University Ostroh Academy (OA) may be called unique in this sense, as the inauguration ceremony, during which first-year students are accepted into the ranks of the OA student body, is held in 16th-century style, from the time of the university’s founders Vasyl-Kostiantyn Ostrozky and Halshka Ostrozka. The revived academy has inherited this tradition from its historical predecessor, and has been recreating it for 16 years already. This time journalists-to-be also took oath as OA students, as the university has opened a department of journalism and history of literature, and the first intake of students who will specialize in journalism has already been admitted. The Ostroh Academy has strong traditions for educating Ukrainian journalists — as far back as the 16th century its teachers, graduates and participants of the national Renaissance wrote treatises of polemic literature, like those of Herasym and Meletii Smotrytsky, Kliryk Ostrozky, or the Message to Vasyl Ostrozky by Ivan Vyshensky (whom Ivan Franko called “a high-style publicist”). Not only did those works create a new polemic style, they also laid the ground for future Ukrainian journalism. Therefore the students of the modern Ostroh Academy will have an opportunity not just to master the technical elements of this profession, but also to become acquainted with its origins. Especially for those who seek to realize themselves in journalism, the university created a conference-hall-style lab. This will enable students to practice the knowledge they receive during the lectures in relatively authentic conditions. Ukraine’s Vice-Prime Minister Viktor Tykhonov, head of the Taras Shevchenko Literature Institute Mykola Zhulynsky, poet Borys Oliinyk and writer Dmytro Stus took part in the inauguration ceremony. The Day after that the full-fledged students already spoke with Zhulynsky and Oliinyk about Ukraine’s place and role in the modern world.
