Evening of stories, performances will offer support for Ukraine

LAWRENCE — Featuring personal stories, poetry, theatre performance and music, several University of Kansas partners will host a night in support of Ukrainians on April 18.

The event will take place at Maceli’s Banquet Hall beginning at 7 p.m. Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the 75-minute event, featuring many members from the KU academic community:

• Barbara Bichelmeyer, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, will provide opening remarks about KU’s institutional efforts to support Ukrainian students and scholars.
• KU Slavic and Eurasian languages & literatures faculty members Oleksandra Wallo and Vitaly Chernetsky will share personal accounts of Ukrainian life during wartime.
• KU Department of Theatre & Dance faculty members Laura Kirk, David Ruis Fisher and Jane Barnette will perform Ukrainian poetry about war, with dramaturgy by KU doctoral student Marzi Ashrafian.
• The program will conclude with KU School of Music faculty member Boris Vayner and colleagues performing Ukrainian music, joined by Ukrainian musicians from the broader Kansas City community, including cellist Elena Bosworth.

The event, which shows support for Ukrainians both at home and abroad, is part of a larger effort to support Ukrainian students at KU and to enable KU to host displaced Ukrainian scholars and students on campus. The present destruction of Ukraine by the Russian military has disrupted life for millions of people, including many university students and scholars.

KU has a strong Ukrainian tradition, having taught Ukrainian languages and culture for many years, along with being home to many Ukrainian scholars and students. As such, the KU Department of Slavic and Eurasian Languages & Literatures, in conjunction with KU International Affairs and the KU Center for Russian, East European & Eurasian Studies, set up a dedicated fund for donations. KU is collaborating with Ukrainian Global University, an emerging consortium of higher education institutions in Ukraine, to identify needs and hosting opportunities for displaced students and scholars.

Further, the April 18 event will include a cash bar, where all profits will be donated to the KU Ukraine Education Fund. With the support of KU Endowment, donations from the community will be accepted at the event as well as through the LaunchKU page.

For questions about the event, please contact Ani Kokobobo. 

For questions about the Ukrainian Education Fund, please contact Charlie Bankart.