On March 19, a group of students and curators moved into Collegium II, the new residence for students and staff of the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU), to give the premises “a trial run.” This is only a test, because parts of the building are still being furnished, so the official opening is planned for June.
“I lived in the Patriarch Josyf Slipyj Collegium [Collegium I] since my first year, and I just can’t part myself from the UCU community, because you won’t find anything like it anywhere. There’s nothing like our collegium anywhere else in Ukraine. But what’s important is not even the modern, comfortable living conditions, but the community. You won’t find it anywhere else, so you always want to go back to UCU,” says Taras Kurylko, 4th-year history student.
There are six curators, university staff, also living in the residence. They are responsible for the collegium’s formational program: spiritual, cultural, educational, and athletic.
As in Collegium I, the new collegium also has Redemptorist nuns residing there. Fr. Yuriy Kozlovskyi, the master of the collegium, says: “The presence of religious, monks and nuns, among the students is a witness. They pray together, show how they can witness by their lives, and share their experiences and example.”
After moving into their rooms, the students participated in evening prayer at the University Church of the Holy Wisdom of God. Then the rooms were blessed and they had their first meeting with the curators.
Since the students moved in during the time of quarantine, Collegium II maintains strict rules about health safety. The students need to wear masks in places of common use and are forbidden to visit each other’s rooms. Academic year 2020-2021 at UCU is being conducted in a hybrid (mixed) format, in which students and staff have the choice to be on campus and can participate in classes either online or in person.
