Mariupol State University’s Centre to Open at VMU
“What separates us from Russia is that we are fighting for our nation, for our people first, while they are fighting to take our lands. But people are the true treasure of this country, especially the youths. University is not walls, it’s people”, the Rector of Mariupol State University (MSU), Prof. Mykola Trofymenko said while participating in the event dedicated to the opening of MSU Centre at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas on October 9th.
The buildings of MSU were destroyed or damaged during the war waged by Russia. However, the university has successfully renewed its activities and has been expanding its relations in Europe and around the world. The new centre, which will open its doors at VMU, will make it possible for MSU to continue cooperating with VMU and to conduct various activities: plans include joint study programmes, broad exchange opportunities for the students, lecturers, and employees of both universities, joint research projects and various other initiatives. The agreement of the new centre’s establishment was signed by MSU Rector Prof. Mykola Trofymenko and VMU Rector Prof. Juozas Augutis.
“We are opening the Mariupol State University Centre which will aim for MSU to have the chance to continue its activities not just in Kyiv but also here, at Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas. By the initiative of VMU, MSU has been accepted as an associated partner in the European university alliance Transform4Europe, where VMU is a member as well. Now we will be able to cooperate even more closely at the new Mariupol State University Centre”, VMU Rector Prof. Juozas Augutis explained, adding that VMU has accepted over 300 Ukrainian students since the beginning of the full-scale ware and last year Centre of Ukraine has been opened at VMU which is not just a shelter for Ukrainians running from war but also a place for various educational, cultural and other activities.
Lithuania has the responsibility to take care of Ukrainian kids’ future
Counsellor at the Embassy of Ukraine in Lithuania Viktor Hamotskyi thanked Lithuania and VMU for the support, noting that the aid to Mariupol State University, which opened its doors in 1991, soon after Ukraine had regained independence, is like an investment in the country’s future.
“Mariupol is a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, I love this city. Thank you for your very necessary, practical help. In total, you gave us more than 1 percent of your national GDP. Thank you for all that you’ve done – as a state, as a government, as a nation. This is a very practical investment in the future of Ukraine, in our common future. Kartu iki pergalės“, Viktor Hamotskyi said, finishing his speech with a Lithuanian expression which means “Together until victory”.
The event was also attended by Member of Lithuanian Parliament, former Minister of Education, Science and Sport Jurgita Šiugždinienė, who recalled that she participated in a sailing competition in Mariupol when she was young, and said that it is difficult to see this city devastated. The guest remarked that Lithuania has been entrusted with a great responsibility to take care of the Ukrainian children’s future: to provide the youths running from war with the chance to learn and study in our country. The new MSU Centre at VMU will also contribute to these aims.
“I believe that this centre will become a very productive platform for cooperation between two universities and help develop educational, scientific and cultural relations, support mobility of lecturers and students and development of innovations”, Šiugždinienė said.
The centre’s opening is a historical moment
The Rector of Mariupol State University Prof. Mykola Trofymenko thanked VMU for the establishment of the centre and for acceptance to the Transform4Europe Alliance, which unites eleven European universities. According to him, this is a historical moment.
“We are writing history: with the opening of this centre, we are expanding competences, building relations with students who are studying in Kaunas and Vilnius. We are preparing double diploma programs to help Ukraine integrate into the EU faster. This is all very useful. It was interesting to meet Ukrainian pupils in Lithuania and hear that they associate their future with Ukraine. In order for Ukraine to have a future, young people need to come back after studying in Lithuania and to help create a modern, European Ukraine”, MSU Rector said. In his speech, he introduced MSU activities in detail and emphasised that he sees the renewal process not as a rebuilding but as a creation of a new university, one of the best ones in Ukraine.
MSU is an associated partner of the European university alliance Transform4Europe (T4EU). This alliance currently consists of universities of Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia. The Lithuanian representative is Vytautas Magnus University. Transform4Europe aims to implement the idea of a European university: to creatively and innovatively transform areas of studies, research and community life. The alliance’s institutional coordinator, VMU Professor Ineta Dabašinskienė talked about T4EU activities in more detail at the event.
“This is a different, closer and deeper cooperation based on shared strategies and aiming for innovative results. This is not a project. Great ambitions cannot be implemented in a strictly defined time period. This is a transformative process”, the professor said, underlining that, in the alliance’s activities, it is important to cooperate not just between universities but also with the countries’ governments, city municipalities and other partners.
Discussed the role of universities on societal transformations
After the signing of the agreement dedicated to the opening of the new centre, the event’s participants were invited to attend academic forum Academic Communities in Transformations. The focus of the discussion was on the role of universities on the transformations of societies and the progress of Lithuanian universities while participating in European university initiatives such as the Transform4Europe Alliance.
During the event, rectors exchanged insights about the similar history of both universities, noting that VMU and MSU both contributed to the transformations of the cities’ communities after the soviet times, by bringing back the humanities and social sciences to Mariupol and Kaunas; during the soviet occupation, these cities only had technical universities. According to the rectors, the role of universities will remain important in the future.
“After the victory, Ukraine will be the country of opportunities. The entire Europe will help us create a new economy and universities will play an essential role: they will be the centres of community transformation. It is planned that each city will have one large university”, Prof. Trofymenko said.
The MSU rector observed that Mariupol State University was established primarily as a university of European values, in spite of the fact that geographically the city is just 50 km away from the border with Russia. “In 2014, MSU students were surprised why President Yanukovich did not sign the accession agrement with the EU. We are educating students that we belong to Europe. This is why we are fighting, this is why the entire Ukraine is fighting. We are building the Mariupol University for Europe”, MSU Rector explained.
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Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, VMU has accepted over three hundred Ukrainian students. By the initiative of the first ladies of Lithuania and Ukraine, Diana Nausėdienė and Olena Zelenska, the Centre of Ukraine was opened at VMU: a space of humanitarian aid and education which has already been visited by over 24,000 Ukrainians. VMU was also one of the first ones to offer aid to Mariupol State University. Thanks to the efforts of the university’s Prof. Ineta Dabašinskienė, Mariupol State University joined the European university alliance Transform4Europe as an associated member in May of 2022.
