“We have a somewhat unusual meeting today...” : Transcript from the meeting of rectors of higher educational institutions and secretaries of their Komsomol and party organizations on November 21, 1967 in Dnipropetrovsk

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present and analyze a document from the fund of the Central Committee of the LCLYU (in Ukr. – LKSMU) from the CSAPO (in Ukr. – TSDAGO) of Ukraine – a transcript of the meeting of rectors and representatives of Komsomol and party organizations of “high schools” of Dnipropetrovsk on November 21, 1967, which held at the initiative of the Central Committee of the LCLYU. Research methods: historical-chronological, historical-genetic, comparative, descriptive. Main results. The published transcript recorded a conversation with the participation of one of the secretaries of the Central Committee of the LCLYU, dedicated to figuring out the state of “communist education” of the city's students. The meeting with the heads of universities and Komsomol and party activists was held on the eve of the December plenum of the Central Committee of the AULYCL (in Ukr. – VLKSM), which was supposed to consider the work of Komsomol unions with students. The conditions of the meeting, the main participants, who represented all institutes of the city – metallurgical, medical, civil engineering, railway transport engineers, agricultural, mining and state university were characterized. The specifics of the meeting were determined by the jubilee dates that fell on 1967–1968, in particular the 50^th anniversary of the AULYCL’s founding, as well as ideological crisis of the “exit” from the “Thaw”: the latter significantly strengthened the position of students in the youth movement, reinforced its public and creative activity. Attempts to find an adequate answer to the challenges of the time and to preserve party-Komsomol control over the student body led to the discussion of key issues: concerning the work of Komsomol organizations of higher education institutions in the “formation of the communist worldview”, the scientific-student society, state of studying social disciplines, issues related to labor, aesthetic, physical education, and organizational activities of the Komsomol in universities. Conclusions. The analyzed document reflects one of the difficult periods in the history of Ukrainian higher education and studentship, an important part of the party and Komsomol leadership’s work, reveals the peculiarities of their communication with the heads of higher education institutions, the latter's vision of the problems of the student community. Practical significance: the results of this research will contribute to the expansion of the research topics of local and urban history, history of higher education in certain regions, studentship as an important social category, its role in the development of Ukrainian/Soviet society. The originality lies in the publication and presentation of an archival source on the history of the leading youth organization of Ukraine during the Soviet era – LCLYU, which reveals the features of working with the heads of higher educational institutions on issues of Komsomol activity and student life. Scientific novelty is determined by the problems of studying the Soviet period in the history of Ukraine at the local level, ambiguity, multiplicity of visions of this time on the part of the management of educational institutions and representatives of party and Komsomol organizations. Type of article: archeographical.