Mykhailo Poplavsky celebrates 32 years of rectorship: what reforms he has implemented

The faculty and student body of the University of Culture congratulated the rector on the holiday: on April 21, 1993, he headed the Kyiv State Institute of Culture.

Students made a pleasant gift to Mykhailo Poplavskyi – they presented the film "Be the director of your life!", in which his thoughts from archival interviews reflected 30 years of rectorship in 10 minutes. The video digest, which Mykhailo Poplavskyi posted on his Instagram page, features sayings that have stood the test of time from 1995 to 2025.

"My team and I have made a big leap to create the University of the Future. I dream that young people will study in Ukrainian universities! THIS IS MY UKRAINIAN WAY AND MY MOST SUCCESSFUL PROJECT! Thoughts that have stood the test of time from 1995 to 2025. They help to look at life differently, taking into account the challenges of the time and the realities of today.

Believe in yourself!

Attack life!

Realize your creative healthy ambitions!

Be leaders and directors of your life!

Let's hold the Ukrainian wave together."

Some of the statements became fateful for Mykhailo Poplavskyi and characterize him as a top manager, visionary, innovator with extraordinary strategic thinking, and a radical reformist vision for the development of education and culture in Ukraine.

The first ten years of Mykhailo Poplavskyi's rectorship were marked by the rapid development of the university, structural reorganization, and the beginning of radical reforms in the system of training specialists for the socio-cultural sphere.

The rector developed the "Concept of Prospective Development of the University", according to which new competitive and promising specialties were opened, an elite scientific and pedagogical staff was formed, and the educational process was modernized. Mykhailo Poplavskyi became the initiator of the development of the analytical model "Higher Education Institution of the XXI century" - one of the first experimental projects of higher education. And already in 1999, the Kyiv State University of Culture and Arts was granted the status of National.

The establishment and development of the university became the life's work of Mykhailo Poplavskyi, who constantly strives to be ahead of the times. Mykhailo Poplavskyi's thoughts, collected over 30 years, are still relevant today. Among them:

"Culture is great politics. Without culture, there is no nation, and without culture, there is no state" (1996).

"Life is a great show, directed by the person himself. You don't have to think that fate will smile somewhere, someone will help there. Today, everyone's fate is in their own hands, and a person must fight for their life. Set some goal, although it is difficult, but go to it. Be persistent in its achievement" (2001).

"Each of us is a builder of our country, and each personality is measured by specific projects. We need to ask: what have you done for Ukraine, and not what has Ukraine done for me? It is we who must do for Ukraine. And when we put these "bricks" together, there will be a strong, independent, beautiful, free Ukraine" (2010).

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