[Aaus-community-list] [aaus-list] Fwd: Open Letter to Father Gudziak

[stephen velychenko]

Thank you for your note. I know Father Gudziak' response which, in my
opinion, completely ignores the issue.
The fact Ukrainian specialist academics completely ignored the
donation to Cambridge, and some have even begun taking it as guest
lecturers,  really doesn't say too much about thier moral attitudes --
particularly of those critical of the ruling oligarch Russophile
authorian regime. At least LSE can boast the presence of a minority
who condemned Col Gadaffi's "donation" and a principled director who
resigned when the secrets about his government come out.
The long and the short of it is that the oligarchs have now even
bought-off the Uniate Church!
The will undoubtedly continue to welcome  Father Gudziak  at their
feasts to give lectures on "business ethics."


Eze.7: 19  They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold
shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to
deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD…



On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:09 PM, irene jarosewich <irenejay at att.net> wrote:
> Please see Rev. Gudziak's response to arguments similar to yours.
>
> http://ucu.edu.ua/news/4801/
> ________________________________
> From: stephen velychenko <velychen at chass.utoronto.ca>
> To: aaus-list at ukrainianstudies.org
> Sent: Sun, June 5, 2011 4:19:32 PM
> Subject: [aaus-list] Fwd: Open Letter to Father Gudziak
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: stephen velychenko <velychen at chass.utoronto.ca>
> Date: Fri, May 20, 2011 at 9:17 AM
> Subject: Open Letter to Father Gudziak
> To: gudziak at ucu.edu.ua, odz at ucu.edu.ua
> Cc: bonner at kyivpost.com, news at kyivpost.com, myroslavao at gmail.com,
> tkuzio at rogers.com, riabchuk at email.com, Alexander Motyl
> <ajmotyl at andromeda.rutgers.edu>, andrij.mokrousov at gmail.com,
> haran at ukma.kiev.ua, Marta Farion <marta at farion.org>,
> serbyn.roman at viodetron.ca, Ihor BARDYN <iwbardyn at rogers.com>,
> mdyczok at uwo.ca, zawada98 at gmail.com, admin at ukrweekly.com
>
>
> OPEN LETER TO FATHER BORYS GUDZIAK, RECTOR, UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY
>
> Dear Father Gudziak
>
> I write to you as a fellow academic concerned about the integrity of
> one of the two institutions of higher learning in Ukraine with a
> deserved international reputation. I urge you to consider that, by
> taking money from this  particular donor, the short term benefits your
> institution will undoubtedly get, will be outweighed by the long term
> benefits  this man and those he represents will gain from association
> with you and your institution.
>
> This donor has appropriated vast amounts of public assets in collusion
> with known criminals. He has used those funds to finance the road to
> power of a gang of thugs led by an ex-convict  who by law cannot hold
> any public office. These people  have re-established a neo-soviet
> dictatorial regime that funnels Ukraine’s wealth into their offshore
> untaxed accounts and they now desperately seek  respectability and
> legitimacy. In the area of education  the shortfall in government
> revenue their policies have created has resulted in low pay for
> teachers, school closures (usually Ukrainian-language schools), and
> two years removed  from  the pre-university schooling program. After
> 20 years of independence students at all levels doing any
> non-Ukrainian related subjects must still rely on soviet-era
> Russian-language text-books.. The benefit a few hundred university
> students might get thanks to the donor’s money cannot cancel out the
> harm inflicted on the hundreds of thousands of children denied proper
> primary and secondary education  because the wealth of those like the
> donor lies untaxed thanks to policies they enact..
>
> By accepting money from one of the men responsible for this state of
> affairs you and the Catholic Church not only  confer upon him and
> those he represents a respectability  and legitimacy they crave. More
> seriously, you will also be letting Ukraine’s ruling clique use  your
> moral authority  and  the Church as pawns in some broader strategic
> plan of which outsiders can only guess  but which  will sooner
> benefit them  rather than Ukrainian national independence. Although
> academics might understand that some foreign institutions  accept
> money from this donor because their administrators are ignorant of
> Ukrainian history and current affairs, they should expect those like
> you who know  the country  to set an example of discernment and
> integrity.
>
> In conclusion allow me to remind you of the fate the recent director
> of the London School of Economics, my Alma Mater. When he had the
> opportunity, he ignored a minority that urged him not to accept any
> money from one particularly vicious African potentate. Later, when
> this dictator’s crimes became public knowledge the director made the
> correct decision and resigned. No one concerned with Ukrainian higher
> education would want you someday facing a similar decision.
>
> Thank you
>
> Stephen Velychenko
>
>
>
> --
> Stephen Velychenko
> CERES Associate,Munk Centre;
> Research Fellow,Chair of Ukrainian Studies;
> 100 St George Street,
> University of Toronto
> Toronto M5S 3G3
>



-- 
Stephen Velychenko
CERES Associate,Munk Centre;
Research Fellow,Chair of Ukrainian Studies;
100 St George Street,
University of Toronto
Toronto M5S 3G3

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