Meeting at Chernivtsi National University
On August 11, the delegation visited Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University, where they met with Rector Ruslan Biloskurskyi. Also taking part in the meeting were Iryna Osovska, vice-rector for academic and international affairs; Yurii Khalavka, vice-rector for research; and Oksana Matiichuk, deputy head of the international relations office.
Participants discussed how the educational process at Ukrainian universities has changed since the start of the full-scale invasion, drawing on the experience of Chernivtsi National University and the Ukrainian Catholic University. Particular attention was given to work with veterans and internally displaced persons. According to university leadership, this is one of the institution’s priorities. The university’s dormitories have housed roughly 300 internally displaced people since the start of the war, though space remains scarce, since approximately 2/3 of the student body comes from outside Chernivtsi. One question participants raised was how to keep young people in Ukraine, and how to help them see a future here.
A separate conversation focused on the formation of theology students.
Rector Biloskurskyi noted that student life at the university extends well beyond academics: students organize their own initiatives, including charity fundraisers.
The university runs a Veterans Development Center, which supports veterans’ social reintegration, including those who have returned with amputations. Much of that work happens through the arts — exhibitions, theater, workshops. As university staff put it, this isn’t a separate strategy but a daily practice. A hundred university employees are currently serving in the war; an online Book of Memory honors those who have died in service.