Ball State undergraduate Andriy Kurasov and graduate student Svitlana Kominko didn't expect to collect $325 last week to send to Ukraine, where it will assist fellow citizens who have been protesting the country's recent presidential election.
"We really didn't expect that it would be this much. I didn't expect anything," Kurasov said with a smile. "This is really great."
Kurasov, who is from Berdyansk in eastern Ukraine, and Kominko, who is from Ternopil in western Ukraine, ran a donation table in the Atrium Tuesday through Friday to receive money from students, faculty and Muncie residents. The money will be transferred to Ukraine to provide food, medicine and clothing for protesters, particularly students, who are standing on the streets of Kiev.
Ukraine's massive street protests began when Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, who has an Authoritarian leadership style, was declared the winner of Ukraine's presidential election Nov. 21. Opponent Viktor Yushchenko, who has more of a Democratic leadership style, said massive vote fraud had taken place and claimed the election was rigged, according to CNN. A repeat runoff vote will be Dec. 26 between Yanukovych and Yushchenko.
Kurasov and Kominko's donation table was covered Friday in an orange cloth, the color of Yushchenko's campaign and the color of opposition toward Yanukovych. In addition to providing pictures of Ukrainian protesters, the table supplied newspaper articles about the country's orange revolution and a laptop that featured live broadcasts of the demonstration. Several signs hung above the table, including one that read "Dear American Friends, Please Support the Orange Revolution in Ukraine" and "Dec. 3-13th Day of the All-Ukrainian Political Demonstration."
Kurasov and Kominko displayed a letter of support that more than 72 Ball State students and faculty signed throughout the week to support the protesters in Ukraine.
"We wanted to support them how we can," Kurasov said. "I wrote to my friends before we did this to show them that we wanted to support them."
Kominko said she was glad the table attracted students' attention and allowed her and Kurasov to draw support from the Ball State and Muncie communities.
"It's like an orange island of freedom at Ball State University and Muncie, Indiana," she said.
Kominko said the attention and support the Ball State community gave her and Kurasov last week was overwhelming. On the first day, many students were interested in simply learning about Ukraine's revolution.
"A lot of people just stood by here and asked us about it," Kominko said. "On the first day, I even had to tell students where Ukraine is, and I had to start by saying it is the largest country in Europe."
Kominko said she was excited to see supporters not only willing to learn about the revolution, but also willing to donate to the cause. On the first day of the donation drive, she and Kurasov collected about $116.
"We got attention from a lot of people. The students have been very supportive, and we even had support from people who are not even Ball State students and faculty," Kominko said. "We even got an e-mail from a guy who's not in Muncie but wanted to donate."
Cecil Bohanon, professor in the department of economics, said he decided to give $50 to support Ukrainian students who are participating in the massive protest because Ukrainians deserve to live in a Democratic society.
Korean graduate student Hyeon-Nyeon Lee said she was willing to donate because the Ukrainian crisis reminded her of the crisis that took place in the past in North and South Korea.
"That's why I also decided to come and sign a letter of support to Ukrainian students," she said.
Kominko said several supporters even provided her and Kurasov with printouts updating them on the status of the Ukrainian revolution. Kominko and Kurasov even attracted attention from Ball State's Indiana Public Radio and WIPB-TV, which helped to inform the community about Ukraine's massive protests. Students also led discussions about Ukraine in their classes, Kurasov said.
Kominko said she hopes students do not forget about Ukraine and that she was glad so many people have helped to make a difference.
"We needed free people who understand and appreciate the democracy they have here to help us," Kominko said. "We were not able to fly home, but we were glad we did something here."
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