State College community members rally support for Ukraine, Zelensky after White House clash
For the second straight week, community members gathered at the Allen Street gates Saturday to show support for Ukraine, though the most recent rally was unplanned before Friday's events in the Oval Office that sent shock waves across the globe.
President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to the White House on Friday turned heated, with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance shouting at him and calling him 'disrespectful' in a televised clash. Many leaders have come to Zelensky's defense, with Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro accusing Trump and Vance of having 'advanced Russia's propaganda directly from the White House.'
The contentious meeting — which upended a planned minerals deal between the two countries — was on the minds of many in the crowd of about 100 people on Saturday. Yuliya Ladygina, a Penn State associate professor of Slavic and global and international studies, said the impromptu rally was to show support for Zelensky and to protest Trump's 'reckless and outrageous' response.
'Part of us getting together today, with students, with community members, is to show our protest to such behavior, to such a disregard for American people to begin with, but also to support Ukraine and show that there is more to the United States than the current administration,' she said.
Ladygina is the advisor of the Penn State Ukrainian Society, which organized Saturday's rally and the others that have been held locally since Russia's Feb. 24, 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Last week's demonstration was held to mark that three-year anniversary.
The crowd last week was a similar size, Ladygina said, but she noticed more non-Ukrainian local residents at Saturday's rally. Several of them took the open mic to share their feelings about the ongoing invasion and Friday's turn of events.
Igor Latsanych, a Penn State senior and president of the Penn State Ukrainian Society, said while the Oval Office meeting was hard to watch and a 'really sad demonstration of what diplomacy has come to today,' Zelensky's response was inspiring.
'Our presence here today goes past words,' Latsanych said. 'It shows solidarity through action, and we hope that we will be able to demonstrate to people that this is still worth fighting for and that this is something that really does matter, no matter what comes up in the news.'
The White House meeting prompted elected officials such as Centre County Commissioner Mark Higgins and State College Borough Council member Josh Portney to attend Saturday's rally, with State College Mayor Ezra Nanes sending a message that was shared with the crowd. Community members came out despite it being State Patty's Day — when many locals avoid downtown — and temperatures in the low 30s.
'To see people out here, to see this group, makes me happy and makes me feel hope,' Portney said. 'I know that there are communities just like ours all across the country that are standing up for their Ukrainian neighbors.'
Expect to see the group at future Saturdays, as well. Ladygina said they plan to meet at the Allen Street gates at 2 p.m. every Saturday until either a peace agreement or security guarantees are put in place.
'This will be an ongoing effort and an ongoing show of support for Ukraine,' she said.
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