After spurning UPenn, donor gives $1 million to Jerusalem College of Technology

The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) — Lev Academic Center has received a $1 million donation from US philanthropists Debra and David Magerman to expand their international programming for English speakers, the college announces.

The grant comes after David Magerman, a prolific donor to Jewish and Zionist causes, halted donations to the University of Pennsylvania in December over the administration’s handling of antisemitism issues on campus.

“I had originally had a multimillion-dollar gift that was supposed to go to Penn, and I’ve decided to halt that gift. So instead of just saving the money, I decided to reinvest it in Israeli colleges… We’re doing $1 million grants over five years to JCT, and we’re looking to do similar programs with four other universities,” Magerman told the eJewishphilanthropy site in an article this week.

The gift to JCT, made in partnership with the Magerman’s Tzemach David Foundation, is to develop a new program where international students will take classes in English during the first years while simultaneously learning Hebrew, and then finish their degree learning in Hebrew, equipping the students “with the ability to integrate into the Hebrew-speaking workforce if they opt to remain in Israel,” the statement says.

The Jerusalem College of Technology, which has some 5,000 students, “combines high-level academic degrees and rigorous Torah study” and focuses on teaching “high-tech engineering, industrial management, business administration and life and health sciences.” The college’s Selma Jelenek Nursing School has graduated half of Israel’s working nurse practitioners, the college notes.