Penn State Ukrainian Society offers place to learn, grapples with current events
Whether watching films together, making traditional Ukrainian cuisine or just hiking Mount Nittany, in many ways Penn State’s Ukrainian Society is a normal cultural organization at the university.
The club is both social and educational. It serves as a general area for Ukrainians, Ukrainian-Americans, and those generally interested in the culture of the country to meet and learn.
Returning to Penn State after a stint in the United States Army, Vera Gordienko grew up in Philadelphia speaking Ukrainian at home. Some of her relatives remain in Lviv, Ukraine, on the western side of the nation.
According to Gordienko, the club does not hold traditional general body meetings on a regular basis, instead choosing to focus its efforts on larger, less-frequent Ukrainian-themed events.
The group can also fill a more general role, she said, as a place to keep in touch with Ukrainian culture and tradition away from home.
“It’s kind of like you’re back home, essentially, with your family,” she said.
The family of Maria Smereka, the Ukrainian Society president, also immigrated to Pennsylvania, though to the other side, settling near Pittsburgh. She too grew up speaking the language and participating in the culture.
When Smereka (junior-neurobiology and Spanish) arrived at Penn State, she joined the Ukrainian Society in her first semester, though she said the group took a big hit from the coronavirus pandemic.
Inactive for about a year, the club was revived in the fall of 2021, hosting culinary gatherings, film screenings, social events, and other meetings, she said.
And though many of the current members do claim some sort of Ukrainian lineage or connection, others are simply interested in the culture of the eastern European nation.
“It’s not just Ukrainians and Ukrainian-Americans,” Smereka said. “We’re open to everyone.”
But unlike these students, the United States has not taken notice of Ukraine for its long history or unique culture. Instead, the prospect of war with Russia has kept the country present in the minds of many Americans.
Yuliya Ladygina is a literature professor at Penn State, who also teaches Russian language courses. A co-advisor for the Ukrainian Society, she grew up between Kiev and Poltava, Ukraine with both Russian and Ukrainian spoken in her household.
Regardless of the conflict, Ladygina said the Ukrainian Society is both a place for those who want to learn more about Ukraine and those students suffering a “disruption” of culture at Penn State.
“[Coming to college] is a disruption from something homey, something dear,” she said. “So they find that in the club, that sense of fellowship, that sense of support and community, and it’s especially critical right now.”
On a personal level, Ladygina said the conflict has been on her mind more, and the “state of anxiety” among some club members has increased.
She and others in the society are planning a rally at some point to “stand with Ukraine.”
“It’s not just me, it’s the people around me, it’s my family,” Ladygina said. “Imagining the city you love in ruins and under heavy bombardment is nightmarish. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”
But for Ladygina and others familiar with Ukraine, current events aren’t anything new.
There has been an ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine since 2014, when the former annexed the Crimean peninsula, a politically Ukrainian region. Since then, two semi-recognized pro-Russian republics have sprung up in the east of Ukraine.
Igor Latsanych has lived in both Ukraine and Russia and has studied in the United Kingdom, before arriving at Penn State and joining the Ukrainian Society.
For him, this conflict is simply the continuation of something that has been present among Ukrainians for years.
“Despite things heating up internationally, in the places of conflict nothing has changed,” Latsanych (freshman-international relations) said. “This is how it’s been for the last eight years.”
Keeping in contact with family and friends back home, he said some uneasiness and shortages exist in the east of Ukraine, but otherwise life has continued as it has since the start of the conflict.
“Nothing has changed for Ukrainians, the only thing that’s changed is that we see the word ‘Ukraine’ in every major press release,” he said.
Renata Hammond, a general member of the club, comes from the town of Mukachevo in western Ukraine. There, she lived in an orphanage, before being adopted by a family in York, Pennsylvania.
She said she still keeps in touch with friends and family in Ukraine, saying they are still living “regular life.”
In fact, Hammond (junior-Italian) said she plans to visit the country this week because of her sister’s recent marriage, though her plans are still up in the air as the situation evolves.
Though she views current events with the context of the last eight years, Hammond said the news has recently been affecting her personally somewhat.
To combat this, she said she’s been keeping herself busy, going to the gym and socializing with friends.
“But then it still comes to my mind, I can’t avoid thinking about it,” she said.
