Sderot’s Sapir Academic College aims to arm its students with tools to rebuild after Oct. 7

SDEROT — The president of Sapir Academic College was thrilled. Smiling broadly in his office on the first day of the academic year, Prof. Nir Kedar reveled in the sound of someone gently playing piano under his window.

“It’s so exciting” to start classes on time after all that the school community has been through over the last year, Kedar said, looking out through his office windows onto a newly clipped grassy campus lawn. “I am very happy.”

At one point during the last year, the grass had grown up to his waist from neglect, Kedar said, indicating the height with his open palm. But now the grass was cut, and the weather-resistant piano made of concrete — a style found in public spaces and train stations throughout Israel that was designed by a Sapir graduate — was back in use.

This seemingly routine first day of classes came after a tumultuous year for the school. The campus, which lies off Route 34 just south of Sderot, was closed and empty on October 7, 2023, a Shabbat and holiday, when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and kidnapping 251. Sapir was ignored by the terrorists, who drove trucks directly past the gates as they moved into Sderot to rampage through the city.

After the war started that day, Sderot and nearby communities were evacuated for months and the campus became a closed military zone. Dozens of students and staff members were murdered on October 7 and many others subsequently became evacuees and/or IDF reservists.

As the war dragged on, some reports in the Hebrew media wondered if Sapir would be able to open again at all. But the administration was able to pull off an abbreviated year of learning and held classes, remotely at first and then in a hybrid format after area residents began to return to their homes in March.

An institute of higher learning with more than 6,000 students, Sapir is known for its robust film and theater school and degree programs in communications, social work, economics and law, among other subjects.

Part of Israel’s academic college system, Sapir is a publicly funded institution that grants BA and MA degrees in specialized areas and holds continuing education courses and professional certificate programs, somewhat like a community college in the US. Many colleges in the system are located in “the periphery,” less-developed locales outside the economically stronger Tel Aviv-Jerusalem center.

Last week, The Times of Israel was on hand to interview Kedar, a Harvard-educated law professor and author who describes himself as a “David Ben-Gurion-style Zionist,” as Sapir began the new academic year with a campus full of students running to class between visits to food stalls and information booths. A portrait of Israel’s first prime minister hangs prominently in Kedar’s office, next to a picture of Winston Churchill and a quote from Nelson Mandela.

The following interview, conducted in Hebrew, has been translated and edited for length and clarity.

The Times of Israel: Thank you for hosting us today. I saw the atmosphere outside — people and students returning. How is it to start the new year, still in the midst of war, after everything you’ve been through?

Prof. Nir Kedar: We’re here, just 3.5 kilometers from Gaza, around two miles. We are the only academic center in the region and we are opening our doors. It’s very important for society here in the region. It shows we are here to stay.

We are starting the year after 47 members of the community were killed [on October 7], after 270 staff members and more than 1,200 students were evacuated from their homes. After that we had to hold classes in seven different locations and over Zoom. We were a closed military area, there was no electricity for a while… Now the square here is filled with people and we are learning again, like it was before.

For someone who hasn’t experienced what we have experienced, it seems normal. But it’s not.

Because of your location, Sapir experienced October 7 and the last year in a different way than other academic institutions. Can you tell us about that, and how the school is addressing what happened?

The whole area was evacuated. Besides the deaths among our students, staff, faculty and alumni, most of our staff live in the area. They were in safe rooms on October 7 and are still traumatized.

We have a resilience center that will deal not only with these specific issues, but also with how to act when you know you are sitting on the edge of a volcano. It’s an active center, with discussion groups and of course private counseling and treatments as well.

[Kedar is referring here to a program created in the wake of October 7 designed to address mental health issues among the students and staff, based around the in-vogue idea of hosen, which means “resilience” in Hebrew. Most institutes of higher learning created such programs, which typically offer a hotline, dedicated on-campus psychological staff, individual counseling and therapy groups.]

We are part of the higher education system in Israel, and there is an understanding among these institutions that there are thousands of people who need [help] and what the municipalities are doing is not enough, even in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.

But here there is something different because most of the people who live and work here have been under fire for 23 years, from Kassams [rockets]. And there are hundreds who were in their safe rooms [on October 7] for six, seven, 11 hours. Some of them for a day or two! They know dozens of people who were murdered. Everyone here knows dozens of people, so it’s very, very difficult.

It was hard to bring people back. And there is a belief that something like October 7 can happen again. These fears are still with us.

What do you see for the role of Sapir, going forward? There is a lot of effort, discussions and actions around rebuilding the south.

It’s clear that the rebuilding of the area passes through Sapir, our students and what we do here.

Almost every family in the area, not just in Sderot, has someone who went to Sapir. We are ingrained in this area. People here are proud of Sapir. We are very, very close to the locals. Around 70% of our students are from the nearby areas. And for those who come here to learn, the rate of people staying [to continue their lives] is much higher than a normal university.

We are the largest employer in the area and pay 1,300 salaries. We have around 4,500 students studying for degrees, and 1,000 in the engineering school. And another thousand or more taking night classes and professional development courses.

That’s why I am happy to be back. We aren’t an ivory tower. You need that, for research, for academic freedom, it’s important. But I think the country needs colleges, with a very high academic level, that are involved with and contribute to society. Sapir has been like that and will be even more so.

How will that look?

We have a national mission to renew this area. It’s a moment like 1948; it’s really a new birth for Israeli society, and we have a role to play.

We are starting this year a first-of-its-kind program with Bank Hapoalim, which donated NIS 10 million [$2.67 million]. First years students will study our area deeply, about the challenges here, and they will go out to learn about industry, society, agriculture, and more. And then in the second year, they will be involved with projects on the ground, as part of their studies, to make an impact in the area. These projects will vary depending on the faculty.

There is a real need for resilience and wellness, and we have one of the best schools for social work in the country. We want to open a research center in these areas, maybe a national center. We have a lot of experience. There is an international resilience center in Sderot, and we can take part in research there.

There is also a huge need for professionals in the medical field, especially in the south and north. We are working together with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem to open a new faculty or school for medical professionals. The first stage will have physical therapy, then pre-med and other areas. We are to open this next year.

We also want to advance in areas of science and technology, [especially] agriculture and food tech. This region is the breadbasket of the country; most of the agriculture is here. But there is a big lack of research and development in this area. A year from now, we will start a program in agrotech, as part of our Department of Advanced Technology and Engineering, which will have strong connections to local industry.

I hope that most of those who learn in this program will stay here and participate in the industry, certainly in agrotech, but also in other areas. In connection with this, the state intends to build a “mega R&D center” in the Gaza envelope area, for the fields of water, energy, agrotech etc. The intention is that the researchers there will also be connected to Sapir.

That’s a lot of plans! All of these are from after October 7?

The medical faculty, yes. The others, no, but after October 7 the need became a lot greater.

Is there an idea to change Sapir into a full research university, like what is planned for Tel Hai Academic College [a similar college in the Galilee]?

This is a sensitive question and a political question. There are a lot of discussions, among the colleges and in the Council for Higher Education, about colleges becoming universities or academic institutions of applied sciences. We are talking about it.

Sapir is not only a regular academic institution; we are also a symbol of the academic college revolution that changed Israeli society in the 90s.

Before that, enrollment in universities was limited — there wasn’t enough room. Once they opened the academic colleges, Israel became one of the most educated countries in the world, in terms of degrees, and Sapir was a big part of that.

But I think the state is missing an opportunity with the colleges. Our faculties, everyone has doctorates from the best universities in the world, but the colleges only grant BA degrees and a few MAs. All the colleges have great potential for practical research… with a very high academic level but also a clear connection to society.

I do think Sapir should become a university. But we don’t want to be another ivory tower, another research university. There are enough of those. We want to be a new kind of university, based on three principles: a focus on applied sciences and practical results, an educational philosophy that prepares students to be productive citizens from day one, and an institutional integration with the surrounding community.

It’s challenging, coming here. You work hard, you help, you give of yourself… During these years students will participate in rebuilding a whole region, something that is happening at no other institution. I want every student to be a part of this.