For old universities, memory is part of their essence. It lives in the architecture, academic traditions, and people who continue the history of their Alma Mater year after year.

At the end of June, this memory comes alive through Convocation, which once again brings together everyone for whom the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy has become a part of life. This year, the atmosphere was particularly touching — diplomas of higher education were awarded to a generation that studied during a great war.

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Long before the start of the celebrations, the courtyard of the Academy filled with young people in black gowns. They laughed and eagerly took photos with parents, professors, and friends. Many of them vividly remember the morning of February 24, 2022. Before the ceremony began, silence fell over the courtyard. The Mohyla community honored its fallen students, graduates, professors, and all defenders of Ukraine, thanks to whom the university could once again celebrate life on this day.

This year, the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy graduated 1,275 young professionals: 769 bachelors and 506 masters. Behind these numbers are hundreds of stories of people who decided to build their future together with Ukraine. Later, one of the speakers would call this decision a "leap of faith." And it's hard to find a more accurate definition. The Chairman of the NaUKMA Supervisory Board, Hennadiy Zubko, thanked the graduates for the choice they made in 2022. "You made a very mature, strong, and responsible choice," he said, simultaneously thanking an entire generation of young Ukrainians who did not lose faith in their country.

Particularly warm words were addressed to the professors who walked this difficult path alongside the students: lectures under the sounds of sirens in shelters, work during long power outages, new learning formats, and support for students when it was most challenging. One of the lecturers from the Faculty of Law touchingly recalled her current graduates. In the fall of 2022, she worried whether the course could even be completed due to constant shelling. But it was the students who then said, "We want to study." From such decisions, the future of the country is born.

At the Faculty of Law, diplomas were awarded to young people who will soon have to defend the rule of law in a country undergoing the toughest test in its modern history. This year, the faculty graduated 93 bachelors of law, 15 of whom received diplomas with honors, and 77 masters, among whom 22 completed their studies with honors. The graduates of the public administration and administration programs, future specialists who will work on reforming state institutions and developing local self-government, became a particular pride.

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At the Faculty of Humanities, Convocation traditionally begins with a remembrance of those who will no longer return to university classrooms. This year, the Memorial Scholarship named after Mykola Rachko, a philologist, warrior, and Mohyla graduate who died defending Ukraine, was awarded. For the first time, the Academy also awarded the Zahaikevych Family Prize for the best master's thesis in Ukrainian studies. University awards are proof that Ukrainians invest in their culture, humanities, and national memory.

This year was also special for the Mohyla School of Journalism. It celebrates its 25th anniversary. A quarter of a century ago, it was a bold idea to create a European-level journalism school in independent Ukraine. Today, its graduates work in leading Ukrainian and international media, document Russian war crimes, cover events at the front, study social processes, and shape the country's information space.

No less eloquent were the stories of the Faculty of Informatics and the Department of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Not so long ago, many Ukrainian applicants dreamed of working in international IT companies, and today they are creating technologies that will help Ukraine win. At Mohyla, the study of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, mathematical modeling, aerospace technologies, and rocket system physics is becoming a priority. These are the areas on which the state's security and its competitiveness in the world depend. That is why more and more young people are choosing fundamental science, combining it with modern digital technologies.

The special atmosphere of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School could not be overlooked.

The Convocation of the Kyiv-Mohyla Business School – kmbs traditionally differs from the classic university graduation. Here, diplomas are awarded to people who already have professional experience: company executives, entrepreneurs, civil servants, managers, and leaders of public organizations. Among the kmbs programs, the Strategic Leadership Program in Ukraine's Security and Defense Sector, which unites representatives of law enforcement agencies, state institutions, and the defense industry, is significant.

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The ceremony of awarding certificates to graduates of the fourth cohort of the "Leadership and Resilience" program of the Center for Leadership of Ukraine's Defenders, one of the most important educational projects of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, was also significant. NaUKMA President Serhiy Kvit emphasized that this program is primarily a space for personal development, a place where veterans find answers to important questions and implement their ideas. Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Tetiana Berezhna said that education teaches a person to dream boldly and turn dreams into reality. The Chairman of the NaUKMA Supervisory Board, Hennadiy Zubko, emphasized: "Leadership begins with the willingness to go beyond the usual and take responsibility for change."

The Director of the Center, Yana Chapaylo, and the Director of Development, Mariya Savrun, spoke about how, after completing their studies, the story is just beginning, and graduates become part of the "Community of Action," a network of people who continue to support each other. And it is here that a new Ukraine is born.

For readers, this story has another dimension. It would not have been possible without people who live thousands of kilometers from Kyiv but sincerely believe in the power of Ukrainian education. It was the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America, led by President Marta Farion, that supported the creation of the Center for Leadership of Ukraine's Defenders from the very beginning. Our donors helped accomplish what seemed like a bold idea just a few years ago. This spring, the Center's team visited Chicago, Washington, and New York, meeting with benefactors, the Ukrainian community, and friends of the Academy.

Especially symbolic was Convocation-2026 for the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education (KMA_PRO), which this year awarded diplomas to graduates of three master's programs for the first time: "Urban Governance Policy," "Education Management," and "Business Diplomacy and GR Policies." These programs are designed to prepare a new generation of managers capable of acting responsibly in the face of modern challenges and working on Ukraine's modernization.

Addressing the graduates, the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Tetiana Nahorniak, urged: "Create. Influence. Change yourself and your surroundings."

The emergence of KMA_PRO once again confirms that the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy is a modern educational center open to people of different ages, professional experiences, and life paths, and that continuous education forms a community of leaders capable of taking responsibility for Ukraine's future.

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One of the priority areas of faculty development is public service, which involves strengthening ties with the Ukrainian diaspora, creating joint educational, enlightening, and research projects, and promoting Ukrainian education and the brand of the National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" worldwide. It was with this goal in mind that at the end of June, on the eve of the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence, the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Tetiana Nahorniak, visited the Consulate General of Ukraine in Chicago together with the leadership of the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America — President Marta Farion, Executive Director Mariya Klymchak, and Board members Motrya Melnyk, Danylo Hryhorchuk, and Borys Trofimov. During the meeting, the Consul General of Ukraine in Chicago, Kostiantyn Vorona, highly appreciated the long-standing activities of the Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America, its contribution to the development of
 NaUKMA, and support for Ukrainian education. He confirmed the Consulate General's readiness for further cooperation in implementing educational, cultural, and public initiatives aimed at strengthening the Ukrainian presence in the United States.

One of the outcomes of the meeting was an agreement to initiate a joint study on the development of Ukrainian schooling in the U.S. in the context of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine and current socio-political changes in the United States.

It is especially symbolic that this meeting took place in the year of the 150th anniversary of Ukrainian presence in America. This year, the Ukrainian community in Chicago and other U.S. cities demonstrated the strength of their unity by raising $50,000 for scholarships for children affected by the war.

The funds will be directed towards the implementation of the "Individual Leadership Trajectory" program, implemented by the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education (KMA_PRO). The program helps young Ukrainians form their own educational trajectory, develop leadership competencies, and acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for Ukraine's future reconstruction. The Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America sincerely thanks the Ukrainian community in Chicago and other U.S. cities for their trust, continuous support, and investment in the future of Ukrainian youth.

Convocation-2026 was not only the culmination of another academic year but also evidence that the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy continues to develop dynamically. Today, the university unites the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Social Sciences and Social Technologies, the Faculty of Economic Sciences, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Informatics, the Faculty of Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Health, Social Work and Psychology, the Kyiv-Mohyla School of Professional and Continuing Education (KMA_PRO), and the world-renowned Kyiv-Mohyla Business School (kmbs). Soon, the Faculty of Health Sciences, whose concept was recently approved by the NaUKMA Academic Council, will join this academic family. Created in partnership with the "Dobrobut" medical network and the "Dobrobut Academy," it will become the first example in Ukraine of strategic cooperation between a public university and a private medical ecosystem, opening new opportunities for training a new generation of doctors.

The Kyiv-Mohyla Foundation of America sincerely congratulates the National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy," its graduates, faculty, and the entire Mohyla community on the occasion of the 2026 graduation!