The Aquilian
March 2022 Volume 83 Number 5
Gonzaga College High School Men For Others Since 1821
19 Eye St, NW Washington, DC 20001
Map By: Peter Oryshkewych, Grandfather of Mr. Oryshkevych
From a Gonzaga Perspective: War in Ukraine By: JP Felmlee ‘22 Foreign Affairs Contributor Mr. Oryshkevych, a first generation Ukrainian-American, is a valued member of Gonzaga’s faculty. After graduating from Gonzaga in 1999, he taught 5th grade at Resurrection School in New York City for two years and for eight years at St. Peter’s Preparatory in Jersey City, NJ. Feeling a personal call to return to Eye Street and teach students the beauty of European History and the faults of totalitarianism, Mr. Oryshkevych became a beloved mentor and teacher to many Eagles in his past eight years of teaching here on campus.
WJA Science Fair, 2
Q. What are your general thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine? A. I think there’s no other way of putting this invasion into words except for the fact that it is unjust, it is unprovoked, and a true crime against the people of Ukraine that Russia invaded a sovereign nation. But I guess that it is not necessarily a surprise given that the conflict started many years ago, so this isn’t anything new; it’s just that a lot of people thought that they would never go to this extent to invade, and yet here we are. It is very sad to watch as it all unfolds before your eyes.
Q. What exactly are Ukrainian migrants going through right now as over a million have fled major cities into NATO-aligned countries? A. Well it’s very difficult for them. A lot of people have come across the western borders of Ukraine to nations like Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Moldova with the vast majority of those people going towards Poland. And one of the things that has been most difficult for people moving across that border is that their phones don’t always work. So when they try to communicate or use the internet, it’s very difficult for people to reach out to somebody to find food and simply
a place to stay. But it is March there and while it is a little warmer here seasonably, it is still late winter - early spring - there, and in some cases there is still snow on the ground. The men are not allowed to leave, especially if they are between the ages of 18 and 60, I believe. So you see a lot of women and children crossing the border just trying to figure it out.
Winter Olympics, 5
Senior Reflections, 7
2022 Albums, 12
Q. Do you have family currently in Ukraine or have fled to a bordering country? If you would not mind me asking, how are they and what are they going through right now? A. I think when COVID happened, communication
kind of broke off with them. They are in the western part of the country and they are more distant now - not family that we see very often. It is more of a “hello” phone call for Christmas and Easter and that sort of thing. They are in one of the small villages outside of the major cities. So my assumption is that they are okay; I doubt that they have fled because they are also older. But we haven’t heard from them, even with all of this going on. Not that I’m immediately worried, but I have actual friends that are on the ground there, and they are preparing for the danger that possibly lies ahead. They Continued on p. 2