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EESTI ELU reedel, 12. juunil 2020 — Friday, June 12, 2020
Nr. 23
Tartu College adapts to social and operational challenges posed by the pandemic Vincent Teetsov Tartu College is 50 years old this year. Normally, our com munity would be allowed to celebrate the memories and impact of this community institution. However, in the postponement of several of the anniversary celebrations, we can still take stock of the current situation and plan ahead. That way, the commu nity will be able to celebrate even more anniversaries to come. Recently, Tartu College had its annual Board of Directors meeting, via Zoom, with a majority of its 28 volunteer members present. Following the customary presentation of the 2019 financial statements and the election of Directors and the 2020 Auditor, an in-depth question period took place. Jaan Meri, Chair of the Board, has noted that this year has been the most challenging of his entire 11 year tenure. There are many unknown fac tors that are difficult to forecast. As Tartu makes a majority of its revenue from its student resi dence, the biggest and most obvious question was how many students will live in the residence this September. Tartu is currently booked for autumn. But how many people will reside in the end is a ques tion that we don’t have a defini tive answer to. University of Toronto President, Meric Gert ler, has stated “The University of Toronto is preparing for a
Mahtra matters (Continued from page 8)
lated into, among other lan guages, Russian, Finnish and Latvian, allowing for our neigh bours having similar fates. But alas, not yet into English. As Vilde notes, the manorial system, run and effectively governed by landed German nobility while ostensibly fol lowing tsarist law, entirely ignored all attempts to emanci pate the peasantry. While out right slavery was abolished by an ukase in the second decade of the 1800’s, it was replaced by indentured slavery, which was even worse. A second re form was attempted, declared, taking decades until being ap proved, yet once again not im plemented. The barons, whose lives ofluxury depended entire ly on their enslaved Estonians, were loath to concede anything to them. The Mahtra uprising was the result, for all the Germans – from churchmen to the barons themselves, refused to explain the document to a befuddled peasantry. While lit eracy was gaining hold, schools were few (for the barons had to build and fund them, begrudg ing the expense), and docu ments were written in Russian, not understood by most. Trans
gradual, safe return to our cam puses, with as much on-campus activity as is practicable, sensi ble, and safe... Plans are being developed for a fall term that mixes smaller, on-campus cour ses, seminars, labs, and ex periential learning, with larger online and remote courses and lectures.” If other universities and colleges in Toronto follow suit, then even students without lab courses will have reason to be nearby, as they take part in smaller seminars. But this is not optimal for learning. A one- dimensional university and col lege experience, without normal socializing and networking, could trigger a decrease in the number of students entering higher education and living in residences, at least for the next year. Jaan believes that the way programs continue is something that the provincial government will have to provide input on. If there is a second wave of this pandemic, how can resi dences like Tartu College re spond? It’s a matter of learning on the go, observing how others act, and listening to the re commendations of the Ontario government and the University of Toronto. The residence has been im pacted beyond the academic year from September to April, however. During the summer months, Linda Karuks has suc cessfully marketed English as a Second Language courses in Toronto. Tartu College has con tracts with several schools from Latin America, for example. In
the summer of 2019, there were some months where Tartu had an average of around 80% capacity. This has brought in a lot of revenue. This year, that capacity is at about 25%. In response to that, Linda has found $370,000 of financial support from the Government of Canada this year, to offset some of these losses. Tartu has a long-term stra tegy in making capital improve ments to the building. This in cludes both infrastructure and suite renovations, with the goal to renovate all of the suites. Air conditioning is being added to all rooms that are renovated. The elevators were completely replaced in the past five years. This is all achieved by borrow ing money and ensuring that finances are in good shape. Last year, Tartu College reached over five million dollars in revenue, which was a new high. The Tartu College Executive Committee, made up of four people from the Board, careful ly monitors the monthly cash flow and budget, so that action can be taken if changes need to be made. For example, with the future being uncertain, cash and credit has been measured pru dently and renovations have stopped for 2020. Above all, Tartu College’s main goal has been to ensure that their employees are safe. Employees are only going into the Tartu office as required. Personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer are used. Temperatures are taken of
lations were into German or Estonian were, for obvious rea sons, unclear and not reliable. In effect, the barons held all the cards. After the Mahtra uprising, where the peasants, fearing cor poral punishment – 80 lashes with a salt soaked switch, so as to make the wounds inflamed, was typical – justice, as it was known, was meted out. Many peasants from neighbouring parishes and manors had joined the men of Mahtra. Those found guilty of participating were tried and sentenced. Running the gauntlet, while re ceiving a thousand(!) blows from a cudgel was the price to be paid by the leaders of vio lence. If they survived and re covered, they were sent to Siberia for life. Interestingly, my copy of Vilde’s classic was published in 1947 in occupied, yet again en slaved Estonia. As the book is highly critical of Germans, this is not surprising, it was propa ganda. Yet in the next decade, when a film of the book was proposed, censors banned it. The Iron Curtain was firmly in place. What did the Soviets have to fear, but the truth? Now they, not the landed Germans, were the deporters and en slavers. And the people knew it. Life-long, euphemistically
called settlement, banishment from one’s land of birth result ed in death far from loved ones. Estonians have long held dear memories of their parents, ancestors, having an admirably beautiful cemetery culture that is reflective of this. Graves are well tended, sand or gravel on plots raked, flowers planted, candles lit there on Christmas Eve. We hold a surnuaiapüha – an open-air church service in the summer to commemorate the dead. Due to the wisdom of political leaders, this will not take place for all in Toronto, for cemeteries are locked. Why boggles the mind. Cemeteries are peaceful, quiet places, where it is very easy to physi cally distance, to stand by the family plot or gravestone of a loved one. Even visiting the same on the anniversary of her passing is denied. While thou sands ignore physical distancing rules, blatantly and absurdly, protesting other lives lost. Finally. During the Singing Revolution that returned free dom to us, independence to our nation, a musical was written about Mahtra, featuring Ultima Thule with singer Siiri Sisask: Mis maa see on, What land is this. Exquisite lyrics are by Peeter Volkonski (the descen dant of a Russian Imperial Prince). The CD with that name
Photo: booking.com
employees and contractors who enter the building. When clean ers go into a suite, they knock on the suite door and tell the residents that they are there, so that residents will move into their rooms and self isolate during the cleaning period. Communication with em ployees and residents is para mount, to make everyone aware of what has to be done. At the moment, there are no known cases of COVID-19 at Tartu College. The closure of Tartu’s event and meeting spaces, which continues until June 15th and may continue for longer, has impacted community events. Estonian organizations like Amicitia, Vironia, and Filiae Patriae are having regular Zoom meetings, with numerous people on at once. There might be
more of those to come, as the size of gatherings is limited. Tartu College, the Estonian Studies Centre, and the Chair of the Estonian Studies Foundation are all affected by this. While most of Toronto has progressed to “Stage 2”, where groups of 10 are allowed to congregate, the GTA will do so at a later date. Even when we do reach further stages, we could be in a position where seating in the main hall has to be two metres apart, and visi tors have to wear masks. If you do go to Tartu College in the coming future, it’s important that you follow the procedures that are requested of you. Try to take part in virtual gatherings; and soon enough, hopefully we’ll be ready to celebrate Tartu College’s 50th year in person.
is excellent, Sisask’s own haunting version of the title song from a solo album is available online. Greatly re commended. The Baltic people have lost, by unlawful means, because of deportation to Siberia, corporal punishment, which was a death sentence, executions, hundreds of thousands of people. Ir
replaceable, important lives over the centuries. All of sig nificance to others. And are not allowed to remember Soviet crimes against humanity with a church service, as those, too, are banned in 2020. Mahtra matters, June 14th, 1941 matters, March 25th 1949 matters. Let us never forget.
Excelling…
difficult to view struggles as a meaningful journey, but maybe that is what helped Estonians persevere. The very sharp contrast be tween that era and the social change that Estonian women work for today exemplifies how coping as a strategy to thrive adapts. Our challenges change. Our strategies change, as well. But the spirit endures. In our next installment of this collaborative series, we will talk with Kia Puhm, the founder of DesiredPath and a leading professional in the field of soft ware Customer Success. We’ll learn about her experiences in the IT sector, and how she has used coping as a strategy to thrive in business. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Aaron_Antonovsky 2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Salutogenesis
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example, the metsavennad (Forest Brothers), who fought against occupying Nazi and Soviet forces during and after the Second World War, were supported by their loved ones. Just as Ilse Saaliste lived with her husband Artur, a Forest Brother, in the wilderness, driven by a belief in freedom. In Estonia’s history, women were usually not in the spot light, but persevered nonethe less. Perhaps the struggle for de mocracy and freedom was sup ported by mentally imagining how they would eventually make it through. Maybe it was supported by an understanding of available resources. In the midst of adversity, it seems
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