Another Carpatho-Rusyn is finding great success in the college sports world. Bob Chesney is the new Head Football Coach at UCLA, coming off a spectacular two-year stint at James Madison University. Following Curt Cignetti’s departure from the JMU Dukes to coach Indiana University to a NCAA National Championship, taking the top 13 players with him, Chesney recruited a whole new roster and still recorded a 21-5 record. The Dukes won their first bowl game in Bob’s first year and then the Sun Belt Championship in his second year, including a record setting appearance in the College Football Playoffs. Even before UCLA’s first game has been played, Chesney has infused the Bruins program with an energy and winning attitude. Chesney grew up in Kulpmont, Pennsylvania in the heart of the Anthracite Coal Region. His Polish American father, Bob Sr., was a well-known and successful high school football coach and now acts as an unpaid UCLA defensive assistant for his son. His mother, Claudia Yonkovig Chesney, is the paternal great-granddaughter of Lemko immigrants from Swiatkowa Wielke and the maternal granddaughter of a Ukrainian grandfather and a Lemko grandmother. John Yonkovig, Bob’s paternal 2nd great-grandfather, was one of the founders of Transfiguration Catholic Church in Shamokin, Pennsylvania, which was first a Ruthenian parish which shifted to the Ukrainian fold under circumstances that Carpatho-Rusyns know too well. Coach Chesney graduated from Transfiguration Elementary School along with his brothers Vincent and Nicholas as well as his mother, his Aunt Alexa, his Uncle Mike, and his Great Uncle Zen. Please follow UCLA college football to watch a Carpatho-Rusyn coach of a major university build a program based on winning with honor, integrity, commitment and values. His proud Godfather is Dr. Mike Yonkovig, a Carpatho-Rusyn Society member and 2025 alumnus of the C-RS Studium at Presov University. Photo: Kenneth C. Zirkel, “Holy Cross head football coach Bob Chesney closeup,” via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Our People–A Monthly Publication of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society
Each month, Our People brings you what's exciting and important in Carpatho-Rusyn culture. Featuring member interviews, event announcements, book reviews, and more, Our People is sure to be the highlight of your inbox.
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Recent Articles
Rusyn Pop Music – An Interview with Myter Erdeli, Creator of Rusyn Music Playlists on YouTube
Christine HrichakPublished: July 29, 2026 The Carpatho-Rusyn Society is pleased to share information about a creative endeavor by a Rusyn from Ukraine, Myter Erdeli. His YouTube channel features Rusyn music playlists in various genres. C-RS: Welcome! Please introduce yourself to the Carpatho-Rusyn Society. Myter: First of all, thank you for the opportunity to speak on such an interesting topic. I am Myter Erdeli, a Carpatho-Rusyn from Subcarpathia. I was born and raised in a Rusyn village Bilky in the Old Country, so Rusyn is my mother tongue. However, I came to my Carpatho-Rusyn identity on my own through literature, music, and social media. At home, a sort of national indifference prevailed, caused by decades of the Rusyn identity being banned. In this sense, I share something in common with the diaspora, as I discovered and rebuilded my Rusyn heritage practically from scratch. C-RS: You have a number of playlists containing remixes of Rusyn music, categorized by genre. What inspired you to create these playlists? Myter: If you ask how many Rusyns read books, the answer will be quite pessimistic. But if you ask how many listen to music, that would be the absolute majority. Nevertheless, there is a deep-seated stereotype that Rusyn music, or music in the Rusyn language, is nothing but folk or something trivial. I love music myself, both folk and contemporary, and I am always looking for modern Rusyn music. I realized very quickly that Rusyn music does exist and is even represented across various modern genres, but it is typically amateur and scattered across different platforms. Most importantly, up to two-thirds of these tracks are unavailable or unlicensed on streaming platforms like Spotify or Apple Music, which is where young people usually spend their time. My first impulse was to gather Rusyn music in one place just for myself. Very quickly, this evolved into building a library of modern Rusyn music on my channel, including curated playlists so that people can discover this phenomenon for themselves without spending hours searching for it, the way I did. C-RS: How long have you been creating playlists like this, whether on YouTube or elsewhere? Myter: I launched my YouTube channel back in 2016, and that was around the time I uploaded first Rusyn songs. For me personally, this interest in Rusyn music and the search for something new within it has been ongoing for a decade. The creation of […]
Spivana Prohul’ka
On March 14th , Martina Leňová Kobanová delivered a presentation to the Carpatho-Rusyn Society on her newest project—Spivana Prohul’ka. This project’s mission is to bring the Rusyn language closer to children, and there is no one more qualified to accomplish this than Martina. Martina was born in the Carpatho-Rusyn village of Klenova, in the Snina District of Slovakia. She describes herself as “a proud Rusyn, who loves our nation, language, and culture above all.” Martina has the distinct honor of being a teacher that has taught at the only Rusyn school in Slovakia. While on maternity leave, she devoted her spare time to further study of the Rusyn language and literature. Always passionate about serving children, the idea of Spivana Prohul’ka was born. Martina and her team have organized a variety of modern children’s songs in the Rusyn language, with the goal of bringing the Rusyn language to children in a way thatis relatable, modern, fun, and “at the same time show that this language has its place in contemporary culture.” The songs will be performed by famous Rusyn singers and artists, as well as children. After production, the songs will be put on a CD, which willprove to be a treasure for all Rusyn households. Perhaps the most exciting development in this project has been the confirmation that Štefan Štec, who is considered the most popular Rusyn singer, will be participating. In Martina’s words, “this project was born from the conviction that the Rusyn language should not only be a memory of the folklore and traditions of the past, but a living language that speaks to children and today’s young generation.” Today, the Rusynlanguage faces greater challenges than ever before. In many areas, the language is disappearing, and younger people are not using it in their conversations with one another. Spivana Prohul’ka presents a fantastic way for the language to connect with children, meeting them where they are, in a modern format. Additionally, the CD will be an excellent educational resource both at home and in kindergartens and grade schools. Like all projects of importance, Spivana Prohul’ka has financial necessities that must be met in order to achieve success. Some of the services they will need to purchase include: professional music production, musical backing, and arrangements; legal and licensing matters; fees for singers and musicians; studio recording, mixing, and mastering; production and release of the CD; and promotion and […]
