Rector of the Ukrainian Free University Visits Manor College

Rector Larysa Didkovska and President Jonathan Peri outline collaboration in academic research, cultural preservation, and international advocacy for Ukraine.

From left to right: Curator of the Manor College Ukraine Heritage Museum, Chrystyna Prokopovych, Tetjana Danyliw, Project Resilience Librarian, Jon Peri, President of Manor College, Prof. Larysa Didkovska, Rector of the Ukrainian Free University and Alona Babkevych, Student Records Assistant.

On September 17, during an administrative visit to the United States, Dr. Larysa Didkovska, Rector of the Ukrainian Free University (UFU) and a professor in the Department of Psychology at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, visited Manor College in Philadelphia. She met with the college’s president, Dr. Jonathan Peri. They outlined potential areas of cooperation, including advocating for Ukraine’s interests on the world stage, pursuing academic and research projects, and preserving cultural and archival heritage in Ukrainian diaspora communities.

President Peri led a campus tour and described the college’s academic programs, highlighting the popularity of its dental and veterinary programs. The college currently enrolls approximately 600 students pursuing professional training and undergraduate education.

Prof. Didkovska visited the dental center, veterinary clinic, and athletic facilities. She learned about the library’s work and its Ukrainian collection. Tetiana Danyliv, the Ukrainian studies archivist, discussed the cataloging of the late Dr. Oleksandr Luzhnytsky’s archives. The collection includes valuable printed works, periodicals, and rare books.

Chrystyna Prokopovych, curator of the Ukrainian Heritage Studies Center at Manor College, led a tour of this unique center, which preserves the spirit of Ukrainian culture in the diaspora. She introduced the guest to the center’s history and selected thematic exhibits drawn from private donors’ collections.

In the college chapel, the two academic leaders prayed together for an end to the war and for opportunities to advance academic research in Ukraine and the United States.

Prof. Didkovska expressed her deep gratitude to Dr. Peri for the opportunity to establish a partnership and voiced her hope for fruitful cooperation between the two institutions.

The UFU rector is visiting the United States at the invitation of St. Sophia Religious Association of Ukrainian Catholics in the USA as part of an educational and administrative mission.

Press Office of the St. Sophia Association, USA