SUSTA The Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America
The Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America or SUSTA, its acronym for Soyuz Ukrayinskykh Studentskykh Tovarystv Ameryky;(Ukrainian: Союз Українських Студентських Товариств Америки (СУСТА)) — a non-profit, apolitical, organisation run by Ukrainian and/or Ukrainian-American students/alumni of institutions of higher education. SUSTA was created in order to promote the creation and networking of Ukrainian student clubs at American universities, to educate and inform Ukrainian-American students about issues relevant to them, to encourage the development of a Ukrainian-American student movement, to foster an understanding among non-Ukrainian ethnic groups as to Ukrainian affairs and issues, to promote the formation of local Ukrainian clubs at American Universities and to support Ukrainian clubs with resources and ideas for events. The Federation welcomes all who are interested in Ukraine, its culture, history, and society.
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| Motto | "VIRIBUS UNITIS" (United effort) |
|---|---|
| Location | 136 2nd ave, New York, NY 10003 |
| Established | 1953 |
| Vice presidents | Mykyta Safronenko |
| Trustees | Bohdan A Futey, Eleonora Hust-Kulchytska†, Zinovii Melnyk† |
| Members | 7573 |
| Affiliations | UCCA (УККА), CUUS (ЦЕСУС), SUSK (СУСК), UACC (УАКРада) |
| Website | http://www.cycta.org |
Mission statement
The Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations of America was established with the intention of fostering cooperation among Ukrainian Student Organizations and promoting their interests at large. SUSTA aims to facilitate the creation and development of Ukrainian student clubs and Ukrainian Studies programs at American universities. SUSTA disseminates information about current issues in Ukraine among all students and other community members.
History
In July 1952 the preliminary steps toward the formation of the Federation of Ukrainian Student Organizations (SUSTA) began with an initial organizing meeting held at the time of the UCCA convention in New York City. The 40 attending students set in motion the organizing process, which was primarily entrusted to the student community in Cleveland.
In August of that year, a joint meeting of the Cleveland and New York students clubs laid the foundation for the November forum that created an interim secretariat responsible for organizing the founding congress. That congress was held at Columbia University in April 1953 with of 68 delegates representing 22 Ukrainian student clubs attending. The total membership of Ukrainian students at that time was 654 at 50 universities and colleges.
The first Congress elected an 11-member executive board that was headed by Eleonora Kulchycka as president. The Congress declared that it was continuing the spirit of the First All-Ukrainian Student Congress held in Lviv 45 years earlier and that its purpose was to “ensure academic freedom and student rights and obligations, to represent individual student interests and nurture academic life, ... for building better organizational forums for Ukrainian students outside of Ukraine.”
For many decades SUSTA was in the forefront of national and human rights activism in the United States. It was an integral part of the political and social life of our community. From the time of its founding, SUSTA’s ranks have included hundreds of Ukrainian Americans in leadership capacities and thousands of members in its student clubs.
SUSTA was crucial to the efforts of Ukrainian community in establishing Chairs in Ukrainian History, Linguistics, and Literature at Harvard University and to formation in 1973 of the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute.
The Federation was dormant in the decade before its revival in 2006 by a group of students from Columbia University, Rutgers University, University of Michigan, and Villanova University.
Executive Boards
Current Executive Board 2012-2013
| Governing Board 2012-2013 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President | Larysa Hlukha | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Executive Vice President, Webmaster | Stanislav Demochko | Baruch College | |
| Regional Vice President West, Webmaster | Mykyta Safronenko | San Francisco State University | |
| Regional Vice President Northeast | Oksana Redko | Temple University | |
| Regional Vice President South | Yuriy Didula | La Salle University | |
| Director of External Relations | Dmytro Lenczuk | Rutgers University | |
| Treasurer | Vasyl Pyrozhyk | Baruch College | |
| Secretary | Anna Tarasiuk | Seattle University | |
SUSTA's Presidents
| SUSTA's Presidents | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Term | Name | ||
| 2012-2013 | Larysa Hlukha | ||
| 2011-2012 | Maksym Plakhotnyuk | ||
| 2010-2011 | Vira Partem | ||
| 2009-2010 | Bohdan Pechenyak | ||
| 2008-2009 | Bohdan Ignaschenko | ||
| 2007-2008 | Zenon Tech-Czarny | ||
| 2006-2007 | Adrian Podpirka | ||
| 1989-2006 | ... no activity ... | ||
| 1988-1989 | Petro Teluk | ||
| 1987-1988 | Taras Szmagala | ||
| 1986-1987 | Andrew J. Futey | ||
| 1977-1986 | Ronya Stojko-Lozynskyj | ||
| 1975-1976 | Iwan Prynada | ||
| 1973-1975 | Eugene Iwanciw | ||
| 1972-1973 | Yuriy Serant | ||
| 1971-1972 | Inya Gikava | ||
| 1970-1971 | Nestor Tomycz | ||
| 1969-1970 | Kvitka Semenyshyn | ||
| 1968-1969 | Andrij W. Chornodolsk | ||
| 1967-1968 | Yuriy Kulchytskyy | ||
| 1966-1967 | Bohdan Satsiuk | ||
| 1965-1966 | Ihor Duma | ||
| 1963-1965 | Bohdan A. Futey | ||
| 1961-1963 | Volodymyr-Walter D Prybyla | ||
| 1959-1961 | Kostiantyn Savchuk | ||
| 1957-1959 | Zenon Kravets | ||
| 1955-1957 | Oleh S. Fedyshyn | ||
| 1953-1955 | Eleonora Hust-Kulchytska
(First President of SUSTA) | ||
| 1952 | Zinovii Melnyk
(Head of the Working Committee) | ||
Past Executive Boards
| Governing Board 2011-2012 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President/Executive Director | Maksym Plakhotnyuk | University of Illinois at Chicago | |
| Executive Vice President | Thomas Maksymiuk | Pennsylvania State University | |
| Treasurer | Stephan Horon | Pennsylvania State University | |
| Regional Vice President Washington |
Victor Zagreba | The University of Maryland, College Park | |
| Governing Board 2010-2011 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President/Executive Director | Vira Partem | Lehigh University | |
| Executive Vice President | Olya Yarychkivska | Columbia University | |
| Treasurer | Roksolana Starodub | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Secretary | Ostap Tymchuk | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Webmaster | Pavlo Kononenko | Harvard University | |
| Webmaster | Roman Vengrenyuk | Drexel University | |
| Webmaster | Oleh Kotsyuba | Harvard University | |
| Governing Board 2009-2010 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President/Executive Director | Bohdan Pechenyak | Drexel University | |
| Executive Vice President | Oleh Kotsyuba | Harvard University | |
| Secretary | Tetiana Sears | Columbia University | |
| Webmaster | Andrij Harasewych | Villanova University | |
| Governing Board 2008-2009 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President | Bohdan Ignaschenko | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Executive Vice President | Iryney Makarukha | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Director of External Relations, Websmaster |
Andrij Harasewych | Villanova University | |
| Business Director | Yuliya Sychikova | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Director of Operations | Ksenia Yachmetz | New York University | |
| Alumni Coordinator | Andrew Laszyn | Rutgers University | |
| Director of Technology | Hanna Maksymova | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Regional Vice President Midwest | Zenon Halatyn | Rutgers University | |
| Regional Vice President Northeast | Victor Podpirka | New York University | |
| Regional Vice President South | Gregory Marecki | Tufts University | |
| Governing Board 2007-2008 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President | Zenon Tech-Czarny | Rutgers University | |
| Vice President, Webmaster | Andrij Harasewych | Villanova University | |
| Project Director | Igor Makar | University of Pennsylvania | |
| Governing Board 2006-2007 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Name | University | |
| President | Adrian Podpirka | Columbia University | |
| Vice President | Zenon Tech-Czarny | Rutgers University | |
| Director of Public Relations | Mark Pokora | University of Michigan | |
| Administrator, Webmaster | Andrij Harasewych | Villanova University | |