The Metropolitan Gudziak Endowed Faculty Fund
Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation reached 100% of its 2025 match challenge of $1 million, and has now launched an additional $250,000 match for 2026!
All gifts received in 2026 will be matched dollar for dollar. With this doubling of your donation, your gift will have an even greater impact on ensuring UCU’s academic excellence and retention of the highest-caliber faculty.
“Teaching by example, teaching by listening, teaching by deep knowledge and content, teaching by empathy, teaching by joy, teaching by action.”
The greatest teachers in our lives are those who inspire us long after we complete our studies. To honor the legacy of one such teacher and visionary, The Metropolitan Gudziak Endowed Faculty Fund, the largest-ever endowed fund at the UCU Foundation, has been established. The fund is named for Metropolitan-Archbishop Borys Gudziak, whose long career encompasses great intellectual achievements along with a devotion to God, service, empathy and community. Thanks to generous donors Chrystia and Adrian Slywotzky, this fund will honor Archbishop Gudziak’s legacy as a transformational and inspirational teacher and will ensure that the University continues to attract and retain faculty members who embody his values and principles.
The Significance of Endowments
Endowed funds are invested and maintained in perpetuity, providing a permanent source of funding. This fund will enable UCU to maintain the highest quality faculty members now and in the future and will help to secure a financial foundation for the University. An endowment also creates a lasting and highly visible link between the honoree and the university. The legacy of Archbishop Gudziak will live on in UCU’s ability to deliver its extraordinary education to students amid any potential future challenges.
By contributing to this Fund, you are demonstrating your commitment to the longevity and sustainability of programs that are strategically critical to UCU. Through your support of UCU’s faculty, you will become a part of a ripple effect of educating students and advancing research in the most critical fields of study. Bolstering faculty at UCU is especially vital for ensuring that the university can continue to attract and educate the most talented students who may otherwise choose to leave Ukraine to study or live abroad.
“UCU will now be on a similar footing with established American universities whose endowments assure outstanding faculty in perpetuity, and this will inspire students to want to study here,” said Taras Dobko. “This is a pivotal moment for UCU, allowing us to grow our faculty with professors who embody the ideals, talents and character of Archbishop Gudziak. What a gift to UCU and its future students!”
An Additional Matching Opportunity
Good begets good, and generosity multiplies. So inspired by the incredible success of the initial match for the Fund, donors Marko and Roma Gudziak pledged a new dollar-for-dollar match this year! We invite all who have not yet had an opportunity to support this historic initiative to join the hundreds of generous donors who gave last year.
Find out more about endowed funds and how they support the mission of UCU.
For questions and to learn more about this critical initiative, please email hello@ucufoundation.org to speak with a Foundation representative.
