Ostroh Academy regularly raises the question of Ukrainians’ national identity in a variety of forms. One of them is the numerous publications by Ostroh students on the pages of The Day and their participation in all kinds of competitions (including our editor-in-chief’s scholarship contest — Ed.). For the past five years the university has been collaborating with the family of Ivan and Natalia Danylenko (US), on an annual competition of student research papers, called “Respect the Past to Build the Future,” which entails an in-depth study of a suggested topic. This project recently received the backing of the Ukraine-3000 Foundation headed by the Ukrainian president’s wife, Kateryna Yushchenko. Last September young scholars were invited to do research on the topic “Upholding traditions: Christmas festivities and rites in Ukraine.” About 50 students entered the competition. The jury almost unanimously conferred the first prize on Nina Datsyk, an M.A. student majoring in Political Science, who presented the most thorough and interesting study entitled “Features of Christmas and New Year Rituality in the Village of Onatskivtsi, Polonsky Raion, Khmelnytsky Oblast (based on the accounts of the village resident Nina Romanova).”
Ukraine’s first lady recently attended the award ceremony. Mrs. Yushchenko confessed to the students that she had long dreamed of visiting Ostroh, for her father always used to tell her about the history of Ostroh Academy, underscoring the fact that it was a center of European spirituality. Although many centuries have passed, today’s students are upholding the traditions of the luminaries of Ukrainian education. The president’s wife would also like to see her children in the ranks of Ostroh Academy students. “I would be proud if they studied here,” she said.
The university awarded Mrs. Yushchenko the Prince Vasyl- Kostiantyn Ostrozsky Medal for promoting Ukrainian culture and charitable activities. The audience also had the opportunity to enjoy a Ukrainian Christmas scene staged by the academy’s art and culture center and the student theater “Catharsis.”
Nina DATSYK, M.A. student majoring in Political Science at the Faculty of Political and Information Management; winner of first prize.
“Today, the study of Ukrainian ethnography and civilization is an organic, cultural, and political requirement for reviving the Ukrainian nation. Over the years we have lost many valuable treasures of our early culture, such as the folklore and customs of the pre-Christian and early Christian eras. So, in working on our chosen subjects, we understood something important: each of us owes it to himself and the entire Ukrainian nation to preserve and reproduce the rites, customs, and traditions of our ancestors. It is gratifying that the initiative to preserve the spiritual culture is coming from our state’s top leadership. This fact encourages us to make every effort to implement Socrates’ adage, “Know thyself.” Let us also recall the philosophy of Hryhory Skovoroda, who wrote: “Know yourself and you will find the way to personal happiness.” Accordingly, by getting to know Ukrainian history and culture, we are blazing a trail to a prosperous Ukrainian nation.”
Oleksandra KORNIYCHUK, third-year undergraduate majoring in Religious Studies at the Liberal Arts Faculty; competition participant
“It is very important today to collect the treasures of Ukrainian folklore. We must not just record but bring them back to life. In my study ‘Christmas in the 21st Century,’ I tried to document the fact that young urbanites between 17 and 23 absolutely do not understand the form and content of traditional Christmas celebrations and carols. This study can lay the groundwork for revived festivities that can be celebrated by the family and society. Maybe, Mrs. Yushchenko’s Ukraine-3000 Foundation will address this problem, for this would have a generally positive effect on the national renaissance of Ukraine.”
Valentyna STASHUK, third-year undergraduate majoring in Document and Information Studies at the Faculty of Political and Information Management:
“Once, when I was passing by the notice board of our faculty, I saw a large poster that looked like a Ukrainian embroidered shirt. I stopped to read it. It was an announcement for a research competition on Ukrainian folk traditions. ‘That’s interesting,’ I thought, so I decided to enter. Actually, I live in a small village with my grandparents. To tell the truth, even as a schoolgirl I used to tape-record my grandmother’s songs and accounts of the past to have a memento for my heirs. So I came home and began asking the villagers about Christmas traditions.
“As I wrote my research paper, the most interesting thing was to listen to the old people singing the tunes and remembering the events of their past. ‘Oh, child, I don’t remember, it was so long ago, they don’t do this today.’ But why is it not done? Why don’t we uphold those remote events that yet are so dear to us?
“It was extremely pleasant to hear Christmas carols from the mouths of people who are three times older than me. In a way, it was thanks to their words that I could at least cast a cursory glance into the past. People today are unaware of those feasts but elderly people are, so we must heed and respect their viewpoints. To create the future, we must look into the past.”
