Ukrainka Garden marks anniversary celebrations and commitment to Ukrainian legacy on campus

In the warm fall sunshine, with blue skies and the start of golden leaves, USask’s Murray library, in partnership with St. Thomas More College’s Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage (PCUH) and Ukrainian Students’ Association, hosted an outdoor event Saturday in the recently refreshed Lesya Ukrainka Garden recognizing important anniversaries and celebrating donor support.

2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the placement of the Lesya Ukrainka statue on the USask campus, the 35th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, and 135 years of Ukrainian settlement in Canada. Saskatchewan’s first official Ukrainian Heritage Month proved the perfect time to celebrate on campus.

Dr. Nadya Foty-Oneschuk, the resident Ukrainian professor on campus and the director of the Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage opened the event recognizing that the Lesya Ukrainka statue “has been a gathering place for generations of Ukrainian Studies students and faculty on this campus over the last 50 years”.

“From the original location in front of the Arts tower where the Gordon Oakes Red Bear Student Centre now stands, to the Garden on Murray Library grounds, the Ukrainka statue continues to inspire us a literary and feminist icon, who personified Ukrainian spirit, tenacity, and resilience,” she added.

Elder Harry Lafond, STM’s Providence kanaweyihtâkosowin Chair in Indigenous Spirituality and Reconciliation began by recognizing that 135 years ago Ukrainians began to settle on several prairie treaty territories. He welcomed a space of understanding, respect, and shared celebration between our cultures and communities and noted that wise women like Lesya Ukrainka have much to teach us all.

USask, the site of North America’s first ever post-secondary Ukrainian language courses offered in 1943, grew into the busy Department of Slavic Studies, and by the 1970s had educated thousands of students in courses on Ukrainian language, literature, history, and culture.

“The Ukraina Society, under the auspices of the Association for Cultural Relations of the USSR – also known as the cultural arm of the Soviet government in Ukraine - commissioned the casting of a statue of Ukraine’s beloved poet and writer Lesya Ukrainka to be gifted to a Ukrainian community in Canada.” shared Foty-Oneschuk. “As the heartland of the earliest and largest wave of Ukrainian settlement on the Canadian prairies, Saskatchewan was a logical choice.”

“What our university stood to gain was a beautiful statue of a literary heroine, sculpted by a Ukrainian artist, that could stand on our campus for time immemorial as an anchor for Ukrainian Studies.”

Dr. Lori Birrell, University Librarian and Dean, emphasized the relationship between the statue and the library’s Ukrainian resources - serving as keepers of its history and engagement with the community. She also thanked the Ukrainian Students Association for their volunteer service and the Murray Library donors whose contributions make the Ukrainka Garden a beautiful place.

President Carl Still spoke to the value that the academic Centre - Prairie Centre for the Study of Ukrainian Heritage (PCUH) - brings to St. Thomas More College, to the University of Saskatchewan, to our students, and to the Ukrainian community – as well as plans at STM to strengthen Ukrainian Studies on this campus.

“There is a pressing responsibility in today’s global and Canadian context to preserve the heritage of Ukrainian communities and ensure that future generations continue to learn the language and culture of Ukraine,” Still said. “Today, PCUH continues to support the pioneering tradition of Ukrainian Studies at our University by providing the context for STM’s Certificate in Ukrainian Studies, while also guiding the work of undergraduate and graduate students who have an interest in studying Ukrainian language and culture.”

Thanks were extended to Dr. Bohdan Kordan, Professor Emeritus of Political Studies at STM, who had the vision for PCUH and was the first Director of the Centre. Additionally, Still extended gratitude for donors Dr. Victor Buyniak, Dr. Stephen Worobetz and the Stephen and Michelene Worobetz Foundation, and to the Shevchenko Foundation who supported the vision.

President Still reiterated STM’s commitment to PCUH, and the desire to honour the donors who have already supported it by investing in the future of PCUH and Ukrainian Studies by seeking funds to complete the endowment for the Lesya Ukrainka Chair. “The full establishment of the Chair will bring together the work of PCUH with the academic program in Ukrainian Studies,” he said. “With that I am announcing Dr. Nadya Foty-Oneschuk as the first Lesya Ukrainka Chair.”

“Presently serving as PCUH Director, Dr. Nadya Foty-Oneschuk has focused on innovative community outreach to help preserve and promote the study of all things Ukrainian, drawing students and the wider public to the appreciation of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Canadian experience. Her dedication to students and teaching has been recognized with three teaching awards,” President Still said.

To make this unified vision a reality it was stated that STM is seeking an additional $3 million in funding for the Lesya Ukrainka Chair. Still announced that the Stephen and Michelene Worobetz Foundation provided a leading gift of $500,000 to support the Lesya Ukrainka Chair honouring the leadership of Dr. Stephen Worobetz, who led the way in 1998 with a gift that founded the PCUH endowment at STM.

Ukrainian Studies was stewarded for many years by the faculty members of the USask Department of Slavic Studies, among them its final department head, Dr. Roma Franko. Foty-Oneschuk also announced that Dr. Roma and Mr. Stefan Franko donated $100,000 to the Lesya Ukrainka Chair at St. Thomas More College. Dr. Roma Franko taught Ukrainian language and literature in the Department of Slavic Studies established by Dr. Andrusyshen, along with colleagues and good friends Dr. Buyniak and Professor George Foty, all of whom dedicated their careers and lives to ensuring that the Ukrainian language and culture thrived in Saskatchewan.

Dr. Roma Franko shared her message of support for the newly named Chair. “St. Thomas More College and the Ukrainian community in Saskatchewan are very fortunate to have Nadya carry on, with passion and energy, the work of those who taught Ukrainian language and history courses at USask since C.H. Andrusyshen established them in 1944.”

Throughout her life, Lesya Ukrainka was the very image of courage and bravery in the face of seemingly impossible odds. These are shared characteristics of the president of the University of Saskatchewan Ukrainian Students’ Association, Taisa Rudy, who spoke of her own involvement and travel to Ukraine to support in several humanitarian and service initiatives.

STM Campus Minister Father Andre Lalach and Very Reverend Father Taras Makowsky led the community in a prayer for peace in Ukraine to close the celebration.

Those who wish to support Ukrainian heritage and the future of Ukrainian Studies through the Lesya Ukrainka Chair Endowed Fund through a gift are invited to contact Connie Andersen. candersen@stmcollege.ca

 Event photos