Designed by: Bohdan Anderson

March 9th marks the birthday of Taras Shevchenko, Ukrainian poet, artist and literary father. Shevchenko is widely regarded as the most important contributor to the development of the Ukrainian language. He is also renowned for his impact on Ukrainian culture and the strengthening of the Ukrainian identity. With these contributions as inspiration, SUSK is pleased to announce it will be holding a Ukrainian Literature Day on Friday, March 9th 2012.

On Ukrainian Literature Day, SUSK encourages all members of Ukrainian Students’ Organizations at post-secondary institutions across Canada, as well as Ukrainian Canadians in the community to visit their local or post-secondary libraries and engage with literature pertaining to Ukrainian culture, literature, history and other topics pertaining to their Ukrainian background. Many Canadian libraries offer a variety of books relating to Ukraine and Ukrainian subject matter, both in English and in Ukrainian. Many students are unaware of the wealth of information that is available to them. By participating in this initiative, SUSK hopes to encourage Ukrainian-Canadian students to become more active in exploring, learning and sharing their newfound knowledge.

The goals of Ukrainian Literature Day are twofold. Primarily, SUSK would like to encourage students to make use of the thousands of resources available to them. We are very fortunate to have such fine collections at our fingertips. There is a wealth of information to be discovered, and SUSK encourages all Ukrainian-Canadians to become familiar with and take advantage of these resources.

Furthermore, many libraries have policies regarding infrequently used books. In some cases, books that are not regularly checked out are either moved to remote areas, including basements or are permanently removed from library circulation. Many books with Ukrainian subject matter are in danger of falling into this category. Without knowledge of their existence, many library users overlook these valuable pieces of literature. SUSK hopes that through Ukrainian Literature Day we can encourage students across the country to check out a large number of these books to help prevent them from being moved or discarded. This will allow these resources to remain available for generations to come. When you do go to your local or post-secondary library to take a look at these books, please be sure to check them out.

SUSK strongly encourages everyone to visit their local or post-secondary libraries on March 9th and explore the books relating to Ukrainian subject matter. Enhance your knowledge and help preserve these wonderful resources for the future!

“Учітесь, читайте, чужого навчайтесь і свого не цурайтесь”
- Тарас Шевченко, 1845

“Teach, read, and learn from others, but do not forget what is your own”
- Taras Shevchenko, 1845

The Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK) opposes acts of discrimination, exclusion, oppression, and violence and honours all human right defenders who work towards freedom, justice, and peace.

SUSK strongly disagrees with the current Ukrainian Government’s actions of harassing and intimidating the Ukrainian academic community and infringing on the autonomy of academic institutions. Primarily, these actions have been focused on historians who draw attention to Ukrainian national sentiment relative to Soviet oppression.

In light of  recent events in Ukraine, including the apparent politically motivated arrest of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and concerns of lack of transparency in her hearings and trials which do not comply with the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, as well as the recent Holodomor Awareness Day and the opening of an exhibit as part of recognition of Canada’s First National Internment Operation, SUSK recognizes them because of their distinct contribution and value to human rights education.

November 18^th, 2011: Seventy-nine years later, the Ukrainian Students’ Club at the University of Western Ontario held its third annual Holodomor Awareness day in the University Community Centre (UCC).  The project was part of an initiative by the 2009 club executive, under the presidency of Illina Frankiv, to educate the UWO student body about the Holodomor.  The commemorative exhibit Holodomor: Famine by Genocide from the League of Ukrainian Canadians (LUC) was displayed in the main forum of the UCC and drew the attention of many students, professors and tour groups.   The executive and club members were able to answer questions such as: “Why have I not heard about this?”, “Who orchestrated such an event?” and “Where can I get more information?”.  Those who showed more interest were directed to websites and organizations involved with raising awareness about the Genocide.

After informing students on the horrors of the Holodomor, Ana Ostapchuk, Danylo Kostruba, Diana Stepczuk, Bohdan Zariczniak and Alaxandra Lazar had the opportunity to attend Fr. Edward Danylo Evanko’s Holodomor: Murder By Starvation later that night at the Grand Theatre in London.

Another ongoing project is an annual, two-week display of selected posters from LUC’s publication in the D.B. Weldon Library.  With the help of Elizabeth Mantz, the posters were on display from November 15-30^th.  Interested students were granted access to the library’s extensive selection on Soviet history as well as other publications on the Holodomor.

The club executive would like to thank all those who helped make the Holodomor Awareness events successful this year.  In particular we thank Elizabeth Mantz for her continued support at the Weldon Library, Lindsay Harris for her guidance as Student Organizations Events Services Officer and Emily Vereshchak for helping set up the exhibit in the UCC.  The executive would also like to thank Buduchnist Credit Union, Peter Kryworuk, Mykola Wasylko, Jim Kozak and Lew Figol, as without their help, these events would not be possible.

If you would like to learn more about the UWO Ukrainian Students’ Club and its projects or events, email the executive at ukienews@gmail.com.

Like the new SUSK : Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union Facebook Page for a chance to win a Shevchenko t-shirt and SUSK sunglasses!
http://www.facebook.com/SUSKNational?sk=app_174489652597378

SUSK is looking for article submissions to be published in our national student magazine called ‘Student‘!

The article can be about anything, as long as it is written by a Ukrainian student, or has something to do with Ukrainian culture.

This is an excellent opportunity to get some of your work published for Ukrainian students across Canada to read.

You can read past volumes of Student by visiting our Publications section of the website HERE.

E-mail submissions to media@susk.ca !

How the UCU Investment Challenge! Works:
• Open to all individuals 18 years of age or older on December 31, 2011. Some restrictions
apply. See below.
• Start with $100,000 in “UCU dollars” as starting capital.
• Pick a maximum of 5 positions (stocks, mutual funds, or ETFs, or keep it in cash if
you want). Indicate the percentage (%) you want to allocate to each one.
• Positions must be listed or traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, the New York Stock
Exchange, the Nasdaq Exchange or the American Stock Exchange.
• You will have one opportunity to make trades – you can trade out of all, some or none
of the positions you have, but the trades can only be done once and on the same day.
• At the end of the two month period, the top three portfolios with the highest total
return win! (returns include accrued interest and dividends and any adjustments for
currency).

For full contest details see the following links:

• UCU Investment Challenge Form
• UCU Investment Challenge Website Information

All forms must be sent to: ucuinvestmentchallenge@ukrainiancu.com by October 14 2011 at 11:59 PM.

It was an event organized by the League of Ukrainian Canadians, League of Ukrainian Canadians Women, and The Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada and supported by the Consulate General of Ukraine and UCC Toronto.

SUSK National Executive Members with Olexander Danyleiko, Consul General of Ukraine

Notable and honoured guests included His Eminence Metropolitan Yurij, Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada; His Grace Bishop Stefan, Ukrainian Catholic Church of Canada; Members of Parliament including Ted Opitz, Peggy Nash, Jim Karygianni; Members of Provincial Parliament:  Donna Cansfiled, Norm Miller, Cheri Dinov; Olexander Danyleiko, Consul General of Ukraine; and past Members of Parliament: Borys Wrzesnewskyj and Yuri Shymko.

Community representatives included  Yvan Baker, Ontario Provincial Council President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress; Olyana Grod, National President of Ukrainian Youth Association of Canada; and SUSK’s very own Deana Drozdowsky, Regional Vice President Central.

Deana Drozdowsky, SUSK Regional Vice President Central greeting the community on the 20th Anniversary of Ukraine's Independence

Deana Drozdowsky greeted the community on behalf of the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union, which represents Ukrainian Canadian students at post secondary institutions across Canada. Below is an excerpt from Deana’s greeting:

Congratulations to Ukraine on its 20^th birthday. In the past 20 years, Ukraine has achieved much and continues to grow and prosper. We as students of Ukrainian origin are very fortunate that Ukrainian Independence was won within our generation. However, that comes with responsibility to continue to support its struggles in developing its political and economic integrity, and to not let it revert to the past. We must remain vigilant. Ukraine will never truly be free until Human Rights, respect for the law, and genuine democracy are upheld.

Honoured Guests at Queen's Park

You will also find the incoming and outgoing National SUSK Executive List, and two pages of photographs from the Congress!

Check it out HERE