(Uliana Storoshchuk / Ukraine Action Summit)
Pictured, right to left: Svitlana Kukharuk, Ukraine on Campus stipend awardee, Vitalii Svichinskyi, Razom in Ukraine, Oleksa Martiniouk, Ukraine on Campus
Hailing from universities across California, Florida, Iowa, New York, and Wyoming, the first cohort of Ukraine on Campus stipend awardees brought their unique stories and impactful advocacy to the halls of Congress recently. Razom for Ukraine, through the Ukraine on Campus project, was able to support five students in offsetting the cost of attending the third Ukraine Action Summit, which took place October 22-24, 2023.
The Summit, organized by the American Coalition of Ukraine, of which Razom is a founding member , consisted of panel discussions, collaborative advocacy training, and Congressional meetings on Capitol Hill. The three day event offered students, and constituents at-large, an opportunity to engage with their Congressional Representatives and Senators and develop sustainable relationships with their offices in advancing continued and unwavering support and aid for Ukraine. Student awardees brought their unique perspectives, academic expertise, and personal connections to Ukraine as they sat down with members of Congress and their staff to present legislative remedies to the greatest challenges facing Ukraine and her allies today.
This semester’s cohort of UAS stipend awardees included students from across the country, each displaying highly unique, yet very impactful leadership in championing Ukraine on their campuses and in their local communities. Solomiya Kovalenko, a student at Iowa State University, co-hosts a podcast about Ukraine on the local radio station in Ames, Iowa, in addition to her work with the Ukrainian club there. Svitlana Kukharuk, studying human rights at Bard College, launched the Ukrainian Solidarity Club focused on social, cultural, and activist outreach,after serving as an on-campus ambassador with the Lubetzky Foundation’s Global Democracy Ambassador Scholarship program. Pournima Narayanan, engages students at Stanford and beyond through her work with the Ukraine Support Alliance at Stanford and SUSTA, and makes an impact in the community through TeleHelp Ukraine and Brave Generation‘s MentorUkraine program. Oleksandra Nelson, president of the Ukrainian Student Association at the University of Florida, leads efforts to fundraise, educate, and advocate both on campus and in the Gainesville city community. Anastasiia Pereverten, working on an advocacy-related capstone project for the Honors College at the University of Wyoming after an internship with the New Lines Institute, has championed Ukraine in her small college town with everything from rallies and fundraisers to movie screenings and stickers.
Ukraine on Campus, already a database of 50+ Ukrainian student groups across American university campuses, is a developing project focused on connecting students interested in championing Ukraine and mobilizing the resources they need to activate their campuses in support of a Ukrainian victory. Its goal is to engage student activism both on campus and beyond through conferences, event tours, and more.
Like with the Ukraine Action Summit, Ukraine on Campus will offer a number of travel stipends for students to attend the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Convention this November-December. This year’s theme is decolonization, which is vital to the study of Ukraine.