Professor Mykyta Vasylenko was fired from Kyiv National University: what scandals he was involved in (photos, video)
27 December 2024 21:44
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv has fired its lecturer Mykyta Vasylenko. Information about this appeared on the university’s official website, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
The report says that the leadership of the national university decided to terminate the contract with Mykyta Vasylenko, a professor at the Department of Printed Media and History of Journalism at the Educational and Research Institute of Journalism of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
The reason for this is the conclusions of the Academic Council of the Institute of Journalism, the Standing Committee of the University’s Academic Council on Ethics and other collegial bodies, which found that the professor violated the norms of the Code of Ethics of the university community, the terms of the contract and general ethical standards.
The contract with the professor will be terminated on December 30, 2024.
Why Mykyta Vasylenko was fired from the university
Since 2020, students of the Institute of Journalism have been demanding that the rector dismiss Mykyta Vasylenko for sexism and pro-Russian propaganda in his lectures, but even collective complaints have not yet yielded results.
A few days earlier, the professor was involved in a new scandal. During a broadcast for the Russian media outlet politnavigator, access to which is blocked in Ukraine, Vasylenko said that “the appearance of foreign military in Ukraine will improve the demographic situation.” In his opinion, foreign peacekeepers would be of interest to “thousands of hungry Ukrainian women” who “did not have time to leave or whose husbands were killed or injured at the front.”
After that, students of the Institute of Journalism demanded that the professor and lecturer be dismissed.
on December 23, the IJ student parliament released a statement.
“In connection with the systematic speeches of Mykyta Kimovych Vasylenko, a lecturer at the Institute of Journalism of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, on pro-Russian platforms, sexist statements and promotion of Russian narratives, the Student Parliament of the Educational and Research Institute of Journalism announces a boycott of the institute’s administration,” it read.
In response, the university administration promised to conduct an internal investigation.
“In order to study the situation in detail, the rector of the University appealed to the chairman of the Academic Council of the Kyiv National University, who by his decision instructed the Standing Committee of the Academic Council on Ethics to conduct a thorough analysis of the facts set forth in the appeals,” the post on the official Facebook page of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv read.
Even the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, reacted to the scandal.
“Today, a video was circulated on social media where an odious professor of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv voiced his opinion about Ukrainian women, which outraged society. This is the second time I’ve responded to his statements – I’ve written letters to the Ministry of Education and Science to exercise state supervision (control) over the activities of the educational institution and to the university to demand an internal investigation. I also see the need to contact the SBU,” Lubinets wrote on his official Telegram channel.
Minister of Education and Science Oksen Lisovyi called Vasylenko’s words “unacceptable”. He emphasized that as a minister, he has no right to interfere with the autonomy of an educational institution, but he has the right to express his opinion.
“The statements by the teacher that I saw in the information space are unacceptable. Especially if they are broadcast in the enemy’s information space. I know that this is not the first time the ethics commission has met for this reason… The reaction to such statements and responsibility for them must be strict,” said the head of the relevant ministry.
Lisovyi added that the Ministry of Education and Science is currently working to change the culture of the educational environment in universities, and such behavior does not fit into these changes.
In addition, it turned out that Mykyta Vasylenko once had a political career, but the party he had belonged to for many years was banned at the beginning of the great war as pro-Russian. He also regularly appeared on the channels of Viktor Medvedchuk and Yevhen Muraiev, who are now under sanctions.
The professor himself called the events around him a “provocation” and apologized for his statement.
“This is a literary expression, and I apologize for this wording. But do you agree with the meaning? Do you think that I am a sexist based on this publication and should be fired from the university?” Vasylenko said.
How and why the students of the Institute of Journalism opposed Vasylenko’s lecturer
In the summer of 2023, the students sent a letter to the then director of the Institute, Volodymyr Rizun. In particular, the students complained about Vasylenko’s “openly pro-Russian and sexist position” and asked him to be dismissed from his position as a teacher at the institute.
“The teacher abuses sexist comments towards female students. During Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, this teacher tells students about the “greatness of Russia” in class,” the letter, signed by more than 170 students of the institute, read.
At that time, Mykyta Vasylenko was given his first reprimand by the Ethics Committee of the Academic Council of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
In February 2024, the situation repeated itself: students again demanded the dismissal of the odious teacher. In addition, the students said that in the years before the full-scale invasion, Vasylenko allegedly agitated them during classes to join the ranks of the OPFL party, which was banned by the National Security and Defense Council in November 2022 due to threats to national security.
What is known about Professor Mykyta Vasylenko
Mykyta Vasylenkowas born on July 19, 1956 in Sumy.
In 1978, he graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, specializing in Ukrainian language and literature. In 1983, he defended his PhD thesis on “Social Factors of Moral Education of a Personality in a Team”. Since 2002, he has been a doctoral student at the Institute of Journalism of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. In 2007, he defended his doctoral dissertation on “Dynamics of development of informational and analytical genres in the Ukrainian press.
Career:
- 1978-1981 – worked as a journalist at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Ukrainian SSR;
- 1981-1984 – researcher at the Institute of Art History, Folklore and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR (Kyiv);
- 1985-2024 – Assistant (1985-1990), Associate Professor (1990-2012), Professor (2012-2024) of the Department of Periodicals at the Educational and Research Institute of Journalism.
- april 2024 – Professor of the Department of Printed Media and History of Journalism at the Educational and Research Institute of Journalism.
Mykyta Vasylenko is also known in professional circles as the publisher of the ECO magazine and the newspapers Student Newspaper, Volunteer, Kyiv Newspaper, and Soldier; as well as the author of the novels Martha and Death (Globus, 1991), The Last Colonel (Fact, 2006), and the historical novel in two volumes War with the Goths (Folio2, 2021).
He is the author of more than 150 scientific works. Vasylenko is a Doctor of Philology, Candidate of Philosophy, Professor. He is also a member of the National Union of Journalists.
Mykola Vasylenko is the father of the well-known Ukrainian journalist Sonia Koshkina (real name: Ksenia Vasylenko).
