News

Yesterday (Tuesday), Sapir College’s senior staff visited Yeruham. Prof. Nir Kedar, President, Ms. Orna Gigi, CEO and Dr. Omri Herzog, Academic Director visited the Kulna School for Traditional and Creative Arts and Music, our partner for music studies and the city’s Mayor, Ms. Tal Ohana. They discussed the various collaborations between Kulna, the Yeruham municipality and the College. Sapir’s vision is to provide an excellent and relevant academic education, which creates dynamic leadership that has the capacity to strengthen Israel’s society and democracy.

The Student Center at Sapir radiated a cool purple against the night sky of the Western Negev. No, it wasn’t the background to a rock concert, but a declaration of solidarity. Sapir joined 150 institutions around the country who lit up their buildings in striking color to recognize the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, first proclaimed by the United Nations 30 years ago.  A million and a half Israelis have some form of disability.

Think of our response to war, famine, or natural disaster. Fire fighters, evacuation teams, and emergency shelters come to mind.

Last Friday, the new Helmsley Mechina Complex was inaugurated at Sapir College, in the presence of Mr. Sandy Frankel, trustee of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and his wife Ruth. The Mechina will serve thousands of students. In the moving ceremony, the Frankels, together with Sapir’s senior staff, unveiled the Helmsley Mechina Complex sign. Mr. Frankel and Prof. Kedar affixed the mezuzah together with a moving ‘Shehecheyanu’ blessing for this new beautiful space.

After nine years of planning and meticulous construction, a magnificent amphitheater has come to life at the heart of Sapir’s campus. Thanks to generous funding from JNF-Germany, the College engaged the services of the Urbanof Studio for Landscape Architecture to create a central, public space for students and faculty.  Nestled in the undulating terrain, the amphitheater emerges naturally from the landscape, its stone benches melding imperceptibly with grassy terraces and shady trees.

Sapir has just launched three, exciting new programs to mark the start of the 2022-23 school year, while appointing a slate of top-notch academic leaders to take the College forward. On October 23rd,  we launched the academic year welcoming some 8,000 students to Sapir’s campus.  New study offerings include an MA program on Innovation and Entrepreneurship; a MA in Art Therapy; and an MSW program for students with bachelor’s degrees in other fields. Meanwhile, our leadership team welcomes Dr.

The Israel Academy of Film and Television has awarded a prestigious prize to Sapir faculty member Shlomi Alkabetz for his documentary Black Notebooks, a poignant tribute to Alkabetz’ late sister, the talented actress screenwriter and director Ronit Alkabetz.The Ophir Prize, commonly known as the Israeli Oscars, is a standard of excellence for the country’s film industry. Alkabetz is a senior lecturer at Sapir’s School of Audio and Visual Arts.