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. The event emerged from discussions between the Ukrainian Studies Fund and REEEC, both of which desired 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 the University of Illinois, including the Dmytro Shtohryn International Ukrainian Studies Conference, lecture series on Ukrainian topics which are sponsored by the Slavic Department and REEEC, 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.

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 contacted REEEC. The event was also sponsored by the Selfreliance Foundation, The Heritage Foundation of First Security Federal Savings Bank, and Luba Libations. Slavic would like to thank Taras Ferencevych, the executive director of the Ukrainian Studies Fund,  the Illinois State Treasurer’s office, and the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art for hosting. Finally, thank you to the individual donors from Chicago, Illinois, and across the U.S. for their contributions.