Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the University of 91³Ō¹Ļ has expanded its academic, religious and cultural partnerships with the Ukrainian Catholic University () in Lviv. In March, 12 91³Ō¹Ļ masterās in business administration students and four UCU counterparts traveled to Wroclaw, Poland, to advise UCU on how to set up a cultural center for Ukrainian refugees there.
This trip was offered as part of the Mendoza College of Business interterm week ā an intensive mid-semester course where teams of students work with companies or nonprofits on a specific challenge. For the first time, the spring 2023 interterm projects expanded to include projects in Mexico City, Dublin, London and Poland.
Students aimed to help UCU strengthen its center in Wroclaw, which generally would be similar in purpose to a 91³Ō¹Ļ in encouraging global collaborations and scholarship. While UCU has a center in London, the university has only one employee in Wroclaw. Figuring out what the new center could accomplish there was the central challenge of the interterm project.
āThe scope of this project was for UCU to set up a foundation in Wroclaw to help these refugees adapt to Polish society, but also from the other lens, too ā itās how do you help Polish citizens welcome the Ukrainian refugees?ā said Jack Joswick, a ā23 MBA student. āHow do you handle that tension and pull between the different parties, but have a center like this actually be beneficial to everyone?ā
Joswick grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and studied finance at Michigan State University. He worked for a large medical tech firm in his hometown before deciding he wanted to get an MBA to change his focus to marketing. He chose to go to Poland to embrace the values of 91³Ō¹Ļ and āuse the talents and skill sets gained here to help a community thatās in dire need.ā
āThe Poland interterm was a way for 91³Ō¹Ļ and UCU to learn about each other a little bit, to build a relationship and for our students to be of service,ā said Joe Sweeney, academic director of the MBA program and assistant teaching professor of management and organization, who led the trip. āAt some point, the fighting will stop and there will be a whole country to build a new Ukraine. Weāre starting to think about that already and what that could look like.ā
Sweeney teaches in the collegeās Program, which offers unique experiential learning courses where students use the dynamic skills of business to address issues including post-conflict rehabilitation, poverty, illicit economies, isolation and prejudice. The trip served as an opportunity to explore projects for future Frontlines teams who conduct more in-depth research as part of their innovative approach to problem-solving in post-conflict countries and regions.
Wroclaw in southwestern Poland, the third-largest city in the country, already has a large population of Ukrainian refugees. The cityās 1,000-year history speaks to the fluidity of borders in the region; itās been part of Prussia, Bohemia, Hungary, Austria and Germany before returning to Poland in 1945.
Since the war started, Wroclawās refugee population has doubled to more than 200,000. A large majority are college-educated women and their children because the men were required to stay behind in Ukraine to fight. In a city of about 700,000 residents, the impact has been substantial.
The students flew in on a Sunday and only had four days to present a strategic plan. After ensuring they understood the project needs, the team used the social and online networks of the UCU students to survey what people in Wroclaw would want from a UCU center.
Maureen Bullis, a ā23 MBA student, grew up in Pennsylvania and attended the University of Scranton before going into the U.S. Army for seven years as a logistics officer. She came to 91³Ō¹Ļ to transition into marketing after leaving the military.
āWhen I saw the mission of the Poland trip, I felt called to do it with everything thatās going on,ā Bullis said. āIt just spoke to me and I felt like thatās where I needed to be.ā
She said the survey returned more than 150 responses and demographic data within a day. To find a niche for UCU, the group also interviewed students, refugees and Ukrainians who already owned businesses. Respondents said they were interested in language courses and cultural, educational and entertainment events.
āThe Ukrainian Catholic University is really trying to figure out ā who is our audience?ā she said. āWhat help do they need? What support can we give them? What does that look like?ā
Bullis said the group wanted to provide Roksolyana Voronovska, the head of the UCU Foundation in Poland who would lead the center, with a series of steps (without a timeline, given the drastic uncertainty of the current situation) from setting up a website and social media to identifying Ukrainian businesses that would post flyers or host fundraisers.
Jack Huigens, a ā23 MBA student who studied engineering at Baylor University and worked at an automotive company, said he appreciated working with and better understanding the Ukrainian students.
During the course of the day, while working and socializing, the Ukrainiansā cellphones would all suddenly erupt with air raid warnings of Russian rockets streaking toward their hometowns.
Joswick compared it to the jolt of receiving a loud Amber Alert on a daily basis. āAnd they just end up silencing the siren,ā Joswick said. āSeeing their reaction and how theyāre just so used to it. Their heads pop up, but itās another thing within their daily occurrence. Itās astonishing to see.ā
āTheyāre very impressive ā an amazing group of young women, incredibly talented,ā Huigens said. āOne of them is in charge of the acquisition of drones to help their front line soldiers find and detect enemy movements. It was a real privilege to hear their stories and work with them.ā
The UCU Center has already started implementing the teamās recommendations, like planning events and compiling contact information for Ukrainians in Poland. As for a continued partnership between Mendoza and UCU, itās only a question of where and when, Sweeney said. Much of that will depend on Ukraineās security situation.
Joswick agreed that building relationships with the Ukrainian students and refugees was as important as their 34-page report offering research and recommendations for how to bring the Ukrainian community together. āJust being there and showing support probably meant more than what we presented at the end of the day,ā he said.
Originally posted on .