The University of Alberta is returning a donation made by the family of the Ukrainian Nazi veteran at the centre of political firestorm.
The Edmonton university reviewed the $30,000 endowment established in Yaroslav Hunka’s name following following controversy over his recognition in the House of Commons Friday.
The 98-year old Hunka received a standing ovation from members of parliament and visiting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky when he was introduced by Speaker of the House Anthony Rota as a “war hero” who “fought for Ukrainian independence against the Russians.”
Hunka served in the SS’ 14th Waffen Grenadier Division during the Second World War, a unit under direct Nazi command.
In 2019, Hunka’s family donated $30,000 to the University of Alberta’s Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies to establish an endowment named after Yaroslav and wife Margaret.
In a statement to True North Wednesday evening, the university said it is returning the donation.
“After careful consideration of the complexities, experiences, and circumstances of those impacted by the situation, we have made the decision to close the endowment and return the funds to the donor,” wrote Verna Yiu, the university’s interim provost and vice-president of academics.
“The university recognizes and regrets the unintended harm caused.”
Endowment funds are reserves universities use as investments to fund their operations, often in keeping with the wishes of a particular fund’s donor.
The Hunka endowment fund was intended to “support research related to the Ukrainian Catholic Church, with preference given to investigations of the lives and work of Metropolitan Andrei Sheptysky and Metropolitan (Cardinal) Iosyf Slipyj and the history of the underground church.”
The Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, established in 1976, has 91 endowment funds listed on its website, with values ranging from a few thousand dollars into the millions.
Endowment funds can be established in anyone’s name, Yiu said, noting that the university will be reviewing its naming policies “to ensure alignment with our values.”
In the statement, she reiterated the University of Alberta’s opposition to antisemitism.
“On behalf of the university, I want to express our commitment to address antisemitism in any of its manifestations, including the ways in which the Holocaust continues to resonate in the present,” she wrote. “The university’s core values include a commitment to academic integrity and to inclusivity in its research, teaching, and community-building efforts.”
