On September 28, 2025, REEEC, the Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures, and the Ukrainian Studies Fund hosted a public engagement event in Chicago at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. This event raised over $50,000 in support of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Speakers included Michael Frerichs, Illinois State Treasurer; Taras Ferencevych, executive director of the Ukrainian Studies Fund; Markian Dobczansky, associate director of REEEC; and Olha Khometa, assistant professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures.
The seed money for the fundraiser came from funds recovered by the office of the Illinois State Treasurer, Michael Frerichs. His office reached out to the Ukrainian Studies Fund, a charitable organization headquartered in Pennsylvania, which in turn contacted REEEC. The idea for the event emerged from discussions between the USF and REEEC and the broadly shared desire to re-connect with Chicago’s Ukrainian community. Planning for the event coincided with the formation of the Illinois Ukrainian Studies Committee by REEEC and the Slavic Department.
The funds raised will support Ukrainian Studies initiatives, including course offerings in Ukrainian language and literature, faculty research on Ukraine-related topics, collaborations with Ukrainian institutions and communities, and the development of interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies projects.
These new initiatives will supplement existing programming at Illinois, including the Dmytro Shtohryn International Ukrainian Studies Conference, campus lecture series on Ukrainian topics sponsored by REEEC and the Slavic Department, the College of Law’s Kyiv Mohyla Academy Peer-to-Peer Writing Project, and visiting scholars programs such as Illinois Scholars at Risk and BridgeUSA.
The event was also sponsored by the Selfreliance Foundation, The Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank, and Luba Libations. REEEC would like to thank Taras Ferencevych, the executive director of the Ukrainian Studies Fund, for laying the groundwork for the event and spearheading the fundraising efforts. We would also like to thank the Illinois State Treasurer’s office for facilitating the Treasurer’s participation. We extend our thanks to the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art for hosting. Finally, we express our gratitude to the individual donors from Chicago, Illinois, and across the U.S. who supported this event.