On May 17th, the Ukrainian Studies program at St. Thomas More College was honored to host a private audience with Her Excellency Dr. Melita Gabric, European Union Ambassador to Canada. Ambassador Gabric was in Saskatchewan for three days to visit the Provincial Government Ministries and learn more about the province. As part of the visit, the Ambassador spent some time on the University of Saskatchewan campus, meeting with senior leaders and faculty to better understand the scope of research the university is involved in and how our partnerships with EU countries may continue to grow.
As part of this visit, Ambassador Gabric made a special request to meet with representatives of our program – Dr. Nadya Foty-Oneschuk, Dr. Oksana Dudko, and members of the U of S Ukrainian Students’ Association executive Marta Krueger, Natalya Shevchuk, and Isabelle Steppan. Also invited to participate in the meeting were Dean Tammy Marche, Associate Dean Gerry Farthing, and Jacquie Berg.
Dr. Foty-Oneschuk shared the 80-year long history of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Saskatchewan and the activities of the Prairie Centre of the Study of Ukrainian Heritage, while the students spoke about their interest and enthusiasm for this field of study, and shared about some of the club’s initiatives. We were very proud to present Dr. Gabric with a vyshyvanka (Ukrainian embroidered blouse), as it was the eve of World Vyshyvanka Day, which celebrates this sacred cultural expression against the backdrop of the genocidal war in Ukraine.
