The Slavic Society, Washington and Lee’s newest club, aims to provide a community for Slavic students and anyone interested in learning about Eastern European traditions.
Pola Kowalska, ’28, from Poland and Dziyana Paulouskaya, ’28, from Belarus founded the club to introduce their cultures to campus.
“We had been thinking about how there were a lot of communities on campus for other cultures, but there was nothing for the Slavic community,” said Paulouskaya. “And because a lot of students are interested in Russian culture since we have a lot of Eastern European and Russian Studies majors, we were thinking we should have a place to welcome and educate others.”
The society has allowed students that are underrepresented at W&L to connect with others from similar cultures, Kowalksa said.
“It’s really hard to find someone that’s had a similar culture,” said Kowalksa. “I miss my family who are still at home a lot, so just having one hour every week to be able to express myself with people who want to understand where I came from makes me feel less homesick.”
Membership has steadily been growing since the club was started in February. While a large portion of the organization has some sort of Slavic roots, the club isn’t limited to international students.
Tara Trinley, ’25, became interested in Eastern European cultures after learning about the war between Russia and Ukraine during her first year at W&L. After switching her major to Eastern European and Russian Studies, Trinley has been looking for an opportunity to connect with Slavic culture on campus.
“There has always been a thriving international student community on campus from Eastern Europe. We’ve always informally had these [conversation] circles, but it takes self-starters like Dziyana and Pola to make the formal initiative. This is something I would have liked to see when I arrived at Washington and Lee, so it’s great to see in my fourth year,” said Trinley.
The Slavic Society hosts cultural film screenings, facilitates Slavic language games and cooks traditional dishes at their meetings.
Trinley’s experience with the organization has been very memorable, she said, as it’s offered her unique insights by directly engaging with Eastern European culture.
“With my major, I try to do a lot of language immersions and classes as well as some politics courses relating to the field, but really you can’t beat the personal experience of getting to eat another culture’s food and having a more casual environment to speak their language,” said Trinley.
The Slavic Society has ambitious ideas for the future. Later this year, the organization plans to create a festival to teach students traditional Slavic dances and make pancakes for Maslenitsa, a holiday to celebrate the coming of Spring, said Paulouskaya.
“We are so grateful to Washington and Lee for giving us this opportunity to create this welcoming community on campus,” said Paulouskaya. “We just want to foster our culture and expand Americans’ knowledge of the Slavic community.”
