News

“An artist has no home in Europe,” said Nietzsche, “except in Paris.” Sapir College’s Daniel Maurer and Omer Stavi, third year Communications students, were awarded a prestigious honor by that city’s Ecole Nationale Superieure Louis-Lumiere.

It was a poignant moment when Meir and Anna Weksler met Eden Samuel at the graduation ceremony of the Communication’s Department at Sapir College. This year’s commencement exercise, held on June 8th, had added significance, as the Wekslers presented Samuel with the college’s first, annual scholarship for outstanding academic achievement, in memory of their son, Yoav.

After a most challenging year that included Covid-19, remote studies and social distancing, followed by the recent rocket attacks, we were overjoyed to finally celebrate in-person Graduation Ceremonies! Outfitted for the first time in caps and gowns, our 1,115 graduates celebrated over two consecutive evening events (June 7 and 8) with their families.   Each evening's main event kicked off by recognizing outstanding students−a total of 41−who received Sapir's Honors Certificate from their Department Chairs, followed by speeches celebrating this year's graduates given by: Gilead Sher, C

If anything defines the Sapir Academic College it is resilience. Sapir resumed operation immediately after the recent round of hostilities ended. Students grabbed their laptops, instructors stepped up to their lecterns and researchers filled the library. From communications to computer science, form marketing to the visual arts, Sapir is abuzz with academic endeavor, as students and faculty race to finish the school year and plan for the next one. Commencement ceremonies will take place on June 6th, 7th and 8th. Everyone here seems to agree on one point:  It’s great to be back.

The microphones and monitors at Radio Focus are standard broadcasting equipment. This studio, however, is not located at a slick downtown office building, but rather at Ayalon prison near Ramle. Radio Focus is a groundbreaking, inmate rehabilitation initiative of the Israel Prison Service, in cooperation with Sapir Academic College. Now in its fourth year of operation, the station broadcasts 24/7 to prisons throughout Israel. At Radio Focus, inmates are in charge of production, content and editing.

Shakespeare famously thought lawyers were the problem. At Sapir Academic College, we think otherwise. A vital and responsive legal system is essential for Israel’s democracy. Legal professoinals must, first and foremost, serve the very people whom law and justice were instituted to protect. As long as every day citizens struggle with a heartless bureacracy or unscrupulous employers, lawyers must be there to step up and do the right thing.

As of this writing, thousands of rockets and other projectiles have been fired at Israeli communities from Gaza and -- as usual -- residents of the Gaza envelope are on the front lines. Hundreds of rockets have landed in and around Sapir Academic College, and the nearby town of Sderot has suffered numerous direct hits – one of which took the life of five years old Ido Avigal. Another rocket landed across the road from the front gate of the College. Located just 2.5 kilometers from the border, Sapir Academic College has operated in the shadow of military conflict for over 20 years.