St Andrews for Ukraine: How have students been involved?

Kyiv is located exactly 3,164 km (1,966 miles) from St Andrews, yet only hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on the 24th of February 2022, the student community in St Andrews was already exploring ways of expressing their support. In the past four weeks, students have initiated and participated in fundraising events such as bake sales, speeches, and marches – all of which have had an overwhelmingly positive turnout.

One such event, a march organised by the student-run St Andrews for Ukraine page, brought students together to show their support for Ukraine with banners, posters, and flags. Walking down to the pier with our posters, the blue and yellow of flags catching the sunlight, one student commented that up until that point, when scrolling through endless tragedies on the news, she had felt completely out of control and alone. Attending these events helped her feel like a member of the community, actively facing fear of the conflict instead of passively waiting for the next news article. 

I sat down with the students behind the St Andrews for Ukraine page to ask them about their experience in organising the march. The motto of the march, “let’s lead the war from its beginning to the end” spoke to a desire to stand up in solidarity from the entire community. They wanted the event to have a symbolic meaning; to make people continue the conversation about Ukraine. They felt that in the community, students have been the ones to step up the most in support of Ukraine, sharing posts and donating, no matter their background. Another student spoke about their experience going to protests in Edinburgh, and the feeling of being able to do something concrete with their hands, such as making posters, helped them to feel like they were participating in current affairs rather than being subjected to them.

At times, it feels like keeping up with the news is a full-time job, and each passing headline creates a feeling of powerlessness, especially for students. As St Andrews has shown however, students have formed a community in support of Ukraine, in turn actively stepping up to provide aid for Ukraine and fighting this feeling of powerlessness.