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Sapir Academic College is proud to host a chapter of Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, active at colleges and universities in 17 countries. At a time of religious polarization in Israel, Hillel enables students to deepen their Jewish identity - each in their own way - while connecting with other Jews around the world. A recent visit by the executive director of San Diego Hillel highlighted this global connection. Karen Parry serves over 2,000 Jewish students on four college campuses in southern California.

More than just schools, Israel’s regional colleges are part of an ambitious effort to change society itself. Located in the country’s geographic periphery, institutions like Sapir were deliberately set up to promote social mobility, making higher education accessible to people from underserved communities and excluded social groups. Is it working? A new book by three of Sapir’s leading educators paints a complex picture. Diversifying the Ivory Tower, edited by Drs. Motti Gigi, Sigal Nagar Ron and Tami Razi has started to address this issue.

They think out of the box, they’re creative and they’re making the world a better place. Participants of the Crown Family Social Entrepreneurship Program combine technology and social activism to devise fresh solutions to emerging challenges.  Now, two teams have been awarded grants to operationalize their projects. Out of Mind, a new RPG video game, helps gamers understand people who struggle with mental disorders.

Art can be transformative – if you take it to the streets. That’s what’s happening at the Medarom festival for arts and culture, a unique collaboration between the Negev town of Ofakim and the Department of Cultural Studies at Sapir Academic College. This multidisciplinary celebration of community is taking place in open spaces throughout city. The idea is radical in its very simplicity: break down the barriers that separate artist and audience by partnering with a wide variety of community organizations. When seen this way, art does more than just reflect social realities. It shapes them.

Student’s Personal Report from Sapir’s Delegation Supporting Ukrainian Refugees in Poland  "I am a third-year School of Social Work student. Together with my colleague’s we volunteered as part of a group of ten Israeli’s, made up from volunteers from Sapir and the Israeli nonprofit-Natan. Our delegation included nurses, doctors, and social workers. We worked in the former Tesco superstore in Przemysl, Poland. This site has become the city’s main Aid Center’s for Ukrainian refugees, and it offers beds, toilets and showers, as well as daycare for children.

As we write this, students from Sapir’s School of Social Work are on the ground in Poland, providing urgent support to Ukrainian refugees as they cross the border to safety. They’re part of an Israeli team organized by Natan – World Wide Disaster Relief, stationed at the Przemysl Humanitarian Aid Center. For the School of Social Work, emergency intervention is nothing new. Previous missions have included post-hurricane reconstruction in Guatemala, helping Georgian refugees after the war with Russia, and assisting earthquake victims in Haiti.

A new study by Clalit Health Services, Sapir College and Ben Gurion University shows that the second booster reduces mortality  due to COVID-19 by 78% for  people 60 + The rapid emergence of the omicron variant led to a global resurgence of COVID-19. Israeli authorities approved a 4th vaccine dose (second-booster) for individuals aged 60 and above who received a first booster dose four or more months earlier. This study included all 563,465 members of Clalit Health Services (the largest HMO in Israel) aged 60 to 100, eligible for the second-booster.