How the war in Ukraine is impacting New School students

New School students with ties to Ukraine balance academic work with advocating for those impacted by the invasion.

As the world focuses on the devastation Ukrainians are facing, New School students with ties to the country are grappling with the effects of the war on their everyday lives.

Ihor Andriichuk, a student at The New School for Social Research pursuing a doctorate in politics, is just one of many students impacted by the war.

“I get a lot of support from friends,” Andriichuk said. “I can’t count how many are still supporting me, feeding me, bringing me coffee, doing everything. Then there’s faculty and NSSR too, it’s a lot of support.”

Andriichuk is from a small town just outside of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. He said his hometown has now been demolished and his father, who still lived there, is now displaced.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has resulted in 2,361 civilian casualties in the country and  3,389,044 refugees, according to the United Nations. At least 67 Ukrainian towns and cities have been attacked, according to the New York Times.

Kai Asia Fritz, a second-year global studies student at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, went to high school in Kyiv, where their parents served as diplomats. They are concerned by their professors’ willingness to quickly “move on” from discussing the invasion in classes now that it has been occurring for a few weeks.

“I understand that there are valuable things you could learn about politics in the situation, but it’s still ongoing,” Fritz said. “Not treating it like subject material would be nice sometimes, even though there are things that can be valuable about it.”

Both Andriichuk and Fritz were disappointed by a university-wide email sent by President Dwight McBride on March 9 titled “Solidarity and Support in Response to the Crisis in Ukraine.”

“As the unfolding crisis in Ukraine enters its third week and the path to peaceful resolution remains unclear, the impact — political, economic, and humanitarian — is being felt around the world,” McBride wrote in the email.

The students took issue with McBride’s description of the war as a “crisis.”

“Language is important, it shapes how you understand things, and it might feel confrontational to always call it a war, but you have to,” Fritz said. “I feel like it requires action when you always call it a war rather than calling it a crisis, which for some people can be difficult, but it’s also what people need and want.”

It might feel confrontational to always call it a war, but you have to.

— Kai Asia Fritz, second-year global studies student at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

The email does not contain the words “war” or “invasion,” except in the title of one resource, “The Politics of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine,” listed at the end.

In a statement sent via  email from Merrie Snead, Communications and Community Affairs senior manager, the university did not respond to concerns about McBride’s word choice, but did describe the situation as a “war.”

“We are aware of the serious impact the war in Ukraine is having on our community, especially those from Ukraine and Russia who are experiencing this conflict in deeply personal ways,” the university said in the email.

Artem Shuliak, a third-year studying architecture at Parsons School of Design, is originally from Belarus but spent most of his life — including the semesters online during the pandemic — in Kyiv. His parents, who both managed to get out of Ukraine last week, are out of work as a result of the war. Shuliak is not sure where he stands financially with the university and is uncertain about his future.

“It would be helpful if they had a general information session for people who are impacted by the situation in order for them to connect or to have a meeting so they can talk about what we need,” Shuliak said. “I felt like I needed to reach out in order to figure out what’s going to happen in the next year or for the future.”

Some Ukrainian students found it difficult to focus on their coursework over the past few weeks, and were appreciative of the professors who offered them accommodations, especially during midterms.

“A couple of my professors know what I’m going through, so they reached out to me,” Shuliak said. “They told me we can accommodate in some way.  But in general, in a lot of my classes, the professors don’t know about the situation or they don’t know what nationality the students are.”

According to Snead, the university is supporting students impacted by the war through resources such as International Student & Scholar Services, the Student Emergency Assistance Program, Student Health Services and Student Support & Advocacy, which students can reach by emailing studentsupport@newschool.edu.

“​​In addition, ISSS will continue to monitor the immigration information that may affect students from the European region that is impacted by the invasion of Ukraine,” said the statement from Snead. It was the only resource that specifically mentions Europe or Ukraine.

Ukrainian members of the New School community said there’s a number of ways for people to show support.

“You can write to representatives or call representatives,” Fritz said. “For Americans, specifically, showing more support for concrete action would be great.”

Fritz shared a document of resources that they compiled to help others keep updated, take action and educate themselves on the war. 

Shuliak suggested that the email from President McBride could have provided more sources on how to help those being affected by the war.

“I feel like there could be a little bit of information about if people want to donate for that, they could have services or links,” Shuliak said. “They can have information about what is happening for Ukraine, because there are protests happening in New York City. It would be helpful if they sent an email like that to the whole school community in order for them to participate in the issue.”

Andriichuk shared a link to resources that came from an email sent by NSSR. The resources include information on a charity concert, news articles, a podcast and more. He recommended finding local ways to support Ukrainians, rather than trying to donate directly to groups inside the country.

“For example, yesterday there was a concert by Gogol Bordello,” Andriichuk said of a concert held on March 10 at City Winery’s Manhattan location. “The frontman is from Ukraine, so it was a charity concert. They can affiliate it with a local Ukrainian community organization, which coordinates it for basically any Ukrainian community in the state, city wise, state wise and also federal.”

Andriichuk and Fritz also shared the Instagram account @ukrainians_in_nyc, which often posts about rallies and fundraisers.

The Transregional Center for Democratic Studies, which is housed within NSSR, is publishing essays about the war on their website, and encourages community members to submit their own.

For students living in such an uncertain time, having community support is especially important.

“Everything is up in the air, and when you have the support, it feels a little bit easier,” Shuliak said.

A version of this article appeared in the Spring 2022 International Issue of The New School Free Press. Read more stories from the print issue here.