Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Official website of the State –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On February 17, 2004, the All-Russian youth public movement "Russian Student Brigades" was founded at the All-Russian Forum of Student Brigades in Moscow. For many years, it has united over 400,000 students from 85 regions into a large, friendly family with shared ideas and goals!
The RSO traces its roots to 1959, when Moscow State University students went to the virgin lands of Kazakhstan, initiating the movement of voluntary student construction brigades. Over the following decades, the movement became nationwide, with new branches emerging: teaching, agricultural, service, and guide brigades. By the mid-1980s, the All-Union Student Brigade had over 800,000 members.
Students from the State University of Management, then known as the Moscow Engineering and Economics Institute, also participated in construction teams. Among them were future SUM employees: Vladimir Godin, professor of the Information Systems Department; Alexey Lyalin, rector; Nikolay Nesterov, deputy chairman of the primary trade union of SUM employees; Alexander Raichenko, professor of the Department of Management Theory at the Institute of Public Administration and Law; and others. It was they who, through their own efforts, built our modern campus!
Today, we congratulate the members of the student and teaching teams of the State University of Management, all the participants and veterans of the movement, on this holiday! We wish that your work in the movement and in the virgin lands brings you joy, inspires you to new achievements, and unites you even more strongly with the team! After all, you, like no one else, understand that being its honor is a great pride and responsibility!
Thank you for your tireless work and example of responsibility, leadership, and hard work!
On this holiday, we'll tell you about some of the movement's interesting traditions that remain to this day:
Wearing virgin lands. On the back is a design including the name of the unit, educational institution, nature of activity, unit emblem, and the name of the administrative territory in which the unit was formed. On the front of the virgin lands are patches distinguishing the unit's rank, unit profile, virgin lands, and unit badges. Holidays. New Year's Day is celebrated on the virgin lands on the night of July 31st to August 1st, Defender of the Fatherland Day is celebrated on July 23rd, and International Women's Day is celebrated on August 8th. Symbolic weddings are most often a tradition among construction workers, who work side by side throughout the season. Soldiers are assigned roles—bride and groom, best men, relatives—which are performed throughout the evening. Songs accompany the boys during joint work or rest, and are sung around a campfire with the accompaniment of a guitar. The Eaglet Circle is formed during singing: one hand is placed on the shoulder of a neighbor, the other on the waist, and no one can leave the circle at this moment.
Subscribe to the "Our GUU" Telegram channel. Publication date: February 17, 2026.
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.