Exiled University Graduates First Class
FrontLines - November 2009
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Palina, the highest achieving student in the media and
communications program of European Humanities University
this year, presents flowers to the guest of honor, President of
Lithuania Valdas Adamkus, at the graduation ceremony
on June 27 on the EHU campus in Vilnius.
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VILNIUS, Lithuania—Palina* beamed with pride and happiness. On July 27, she and 113 other young Belarusian men and women tossed their graduation caps in the air to celebrate receiving bachelor’s degrees from the European Humanities University (EHU).
Palina’s class is the eighth to graduate from EHU, but the first to graduate after the university was forced to leave Belarus. The university was founded in Minsk in 1992 as an independent educational institution, and offers an international-standard liberal arts curriculum. However, in 2004, it was shut down by the Belarusian authorities because of its commitment to academic freedom.
“I always wanted to receive a western-type education, but my family couldn’t afford sending
me abroad,” said Palina, a native of Borisov, a small city 70 kilometers from Minsk, the Belarus capital. “So I decided on the European Humanities University in Minsk as I had heard so much from my peers about its high quality education and about its unique atmosphere
of freedom. But then the university was closed.”
With funding from the U.S. government and other donors, and technical assistance from USAID, EHU was re-launched in Vilnius in 2005, allowing Belarusian students
and professors to continue academic studies and research projects, and to develop critical thinking skills.
“When I came across the information that the university reopened, I felt extremely lucky,” Palina said. “Especially since it offers a media and communications
program for which there is no equivalent in Belarus. Moreover, I was happy to learn there was a chance to get a scholarship.”
Since EHU reopened, USAID has also established an online university with more than 100 social science and liberal arts courses serving 900 Belarusians.
Now that she has a bachelor’s
degree in journalism, Palina plans to pursue a master’s degree in public policy and pursue
a career working with media projects, especially those that are youth-oriented.
“Four years at the university prepared me not only as a future journalist, but also as a researcher, a person who understands media processes and knows how to manage
them,” said Palina. “EHU contributed to my future and my understanding that I am in control of my destiny.
“EHU teaches students to take responsibility for their own future. Our society often seems oppressed and inert, and one that can not define its future. By bringing back this experience, we [Belarusians] can contribute to transforming it into the society where common values are shared and critical thinking is encouraged.” ★
*Palina’s last name has been withheld for security reasons.
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