Rising from the ashes: After Oct. 7, Sapir College hopes to be a global trauma research center

Sapir College, located just 3.5 kilometers from the Gaza border, faced unprecedented challenges after Oct. 7, 2023. Its president, Nir Kedar, a legal historian often portrayed as the “last Ben-Gurionist,” found himself at the helm of an institution grappling with tragedy, trauma, and an uncertain future. 

Yet, amid the devastation, Kedar and his Sapir community are determined not only to rebuild but also to transform the college into a beacon of hope and innovation for Israel’s periphery.

Founded in the mid-1990s as part of a government initiative to expand higher education access, Sapir College has long been at the forefront of Israel’s academic revolution. “We were one of the pioneers,” Kedar reflected, “leading the charge in what became known as the ‘college revolution.’” This movement dramatically increased the percentage of Israelis with academic degrees, propelling the country into the ranks of the world’s most educated nations.

Before this “college revolution,” 77% of high school graduates had no spot in university classrooms. “After exhausting a night-school solution, a network of public colleges across the country was created, from Tel Hai in the North to Sapir in the South,” explained Kedar. “This expansion transformed Israel’s educational landscape, making it one of the most educated countries in the world, with over 50% of the population holding academic degrees.”

However, Sapir’s mission extended beyond education. “We’ve always been deeply involved in our surrounding communities,” Kedar emphasized. The college initiated numerous social and environmental projects, ranging from supporting small businesses to organizing cultural events along with local residents from Sderot and the surrounding area. “Our goal was not to impose ‘Tel Aviv culture’ on Sderot,” he said, “but rather to build something authentic with the community.”

‘Dozens from the community perished’

This commitment to local engagement took on added significance in the aftermath of Oct. 7, 2023. The college, although spared direct damage, found its community shattered. “Forty-three students, staff members, and alumni were murdered, and four other students and alumni were killed during the battles in Gaza,” Kedar recounted, his voice heavy with emotion. “When you include the losses suffered by family members, the toll rises to dozens more.”

Among the victims was Ofir Libstein, head of the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council and member of Sapir’s board of trustees. “We spoke every week,” Kedar said, “and suddenly, at 9 a.m., the news hit that Ofir had been murdered. It was a total shock that’s impossible to downplay.”

The immediate aftermath was chaotic. With the college grounds transformed into a military zone, Kedar and his team had to manage a dispersed community while dealing with their own trauma. “We were all processing personal losses while trying to function,” he recalled sadly. “Every day brought new heartbreak – another hostage, another casualty.”

Kedar, who was out of the country when the attacks began, found himself coordinating emergency efforts from afar. “I was managing a crisis center from a nature reserve in the middle of nowhere,” he said, “working with our student union president, who was in Sri Lanka, and anyone else we could reach in Israel.”

Upon his return a couple of days later, Kedar faced the daunting task of accounting for every member of the Sapir community. “We had to send people to fill generators with fuel so we could have electricity to power computers to access student and staff lists,” he explained. “We called everyone one by one, mapping who was alive and who wasn’t. Each of us knew dozens who had been murdered, wounded, or kidnapped, from the college and from the neighboring communities, and we all had to function through it.”

The emotional toll was immense. Kedar described a Zoom meeting in the days following the attack: “I opened the call, and it’s not taken for granted that we’re all here and alive; 100 to 200 people just sat and cried,” he said, his voice breaking. “We couldn’t even start for a minute.”

Operating under trauma

Despite the challenges, the Sapir community rallied. They established emergency funds, organized evacuations, and provided psychological support. The broader academic community also stepped up, with universities offering office space, computers, and financial assistance. “The solidarity was overwhelming,” Kedar noted. “It gave us strength during our darkest hours.”

The Association of University Heads played a crucial role in this support. “They reached out to me and our CEO personally,” Kedar said, lauding them for their help. “They asked about help with rooms, offices, computers to pay salaries – and the Council for Higher Education helped, too. Their support has been ongoing.”

Financial challenges were immediate and pressing. As the largest employer in the region, Sapir needed to ensure it could continue paying salaries to its 1,300 employees. “How do you pay salaries when there’s no electricity or network connection?” Kedar asked rhetorically. The solution was a combination of emergency fundraising and support from partner institutions and the Council of Higher Education.

“We received a million dollars from the Jewish Federations of North America, and raised other philanthropic funds,” Kedar said. “We established an emergency assistance fund that distributed money to students and staff members who had been evacuated, and trauma treatments for students and staff. We raised more money to buy laptops so that we could maintain contact with students while the college was a closed military zone,” he recounted.

“Sapir College aims for the integration of its students in local communities, and these are spread between apartments in Sderot and young neighborhoods at the kibbutzim,” Kedar continued, elaborating on the staggering scale of displacement among students and staff. “Twelve hundred evacuated students and close to 270 evacuated staff members needed care. A week later, it began to rain, and they didn’t even have winter clothes for their children. We had 1,000 reserve soldiers to support as well.”

Build back better

As the immediate crisis subsided, Sapir faced the daunting task of rebuilding – not just physically, but also emotionally and academically. Kedar’s vision for this revival rests on three pillars: community involvement, practical education, and research development.

The first pillar builds on Sapir’s existing strengths. “We want Sderot and the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council to become a university town,” Kedar explained. This involves expanding educational programs for local youth and establishing Sapir as a national, and perhaps even international, center for trauma and resilience studies. “We’ve accumulated 23 years of knowledge living under fire,” he said, stressing that Sapir is probably the only educational institution in the world to have existed for over two decades under rockets with rocket-proof classrooms. “Now we can export that expertise to the world,” he added.

Kedar envisions Sapir becoming a hub for scientific education in local schools, youth science programs, and art and culture initiatives. “We want to be a national center for resilience and trauma within our Department of Social Work,” he said. “We can use the knowledge we’ve gathered here over 23 years and export it to the world.”

The second pillar focuses on bridging academia and industry. “Most of our graduates don’t stay in academia,” Kedar pointed out. “We need to prepare them for the real world.” This includes fostering entrepreneurship and expanding internship opportunities. “Many students from the social and geographical periphery can’t even imagine themselves as potential entrepreneurs,” he observed. “We strive to change that mindset.”

Kedar recalled taking first-year law students to the Supreme Court and large law firms in Tel Aviv. “I told them, ‘You can do this too,’” he said. “In the periphery, people often don’t see themselves as entrepreneurs; they don’t believe they’re capable. We need to teach that.”

The third pillar aims to transform Sapir into a hub for applied research. “We have excellent faculty members,” Kedar said, “but currently there are almost zero resources for research at colleges.” Kedar added that he envisions Sapir, located geographically in Israel’s main agricultural hub, becoming a center for applied research in fields crucial to the region’s development, such as agritech, renewable energy, and water management.

“The area demands this from us now,” Kedar emphasized. “We need to grow from catastrophe. Wherever there’s a need, we’ll open departments.” He outlined plans for faculties in agricultural technology, renewable energy, and advanced engineering, all with a practical focus on connecting with local industries and their needs.

To realize these ambitions, Sapir is embarking on ambitious expansion plans. These include establishing new faculties for engineering and health sciences, often in collaboration with established universities. “We’re not looking to compete with research universities,” Kedar clarified, “but to complement them with our focus on applied community-oriented research.”

One of the most innovative initiatives is a mandatory course on the challenges facing Israel’s peripheral regions. “From next year, every student will participate in community projects,” Kedar explained. “It’s not just volunteering – it’s a non-elective, integral part of their academic curriculum.”

This program, called Working for the Future at Sapir and supported by Bank Hapoalim, will make Sapir the first academic institution in Israel to require students to take a field course in the Gaza border area and Western Negev region. “Students will learn about the industrial, social, economic, and cultural challenges of the area,” Kedar said. “They’ll develop a set of skills through more than 100 community projects, some of which will be their own initiatives within our entrepreneurship center.”

‘Zionism 2.0’

Kedar sees these efforts as part of a broader mission that he dubbed “Zionism 2.0.” This involves not just educating students but actively working to revitalize the entire region. “We’re collaborating with pre-military academies, volunteer programs, and the army itself,” he said. “Our goal is to make this area a magnet for young people.”

This vision includes providing educational programs, revitalizing local communities, and establishing a youth village in the area. “We’re offering tens of millions in scholarships to encourage students to study at Sapir with community volunteering,” Kedar explained.

The college’s ambitions have attracted attention and support from various quarters. Jewish federations have provided crucial funding, while government initiatives like the Tekuma (rebirth) administration are beginning to recognize Sapir’s pivotal role in regional development. “We’re larger than all the surrounding communities combined,” Kedar noted. “Our growth is crucial for the area’s revival.”

Kedar had to advocate for Sapir’s inclusion in these initiatives. “Initially, they were focused primarily on residents and communities,” he explained. “I had to push to be invited to meetings with the managers. I told them, ‘I’m bigger than all the communities combined – more people enter our campus daily than most communities in the area.’”

He emphasized Sapir’s role in attracting students from central Israel and encouraging them to stay in the region. “We’re revitalizing the area,” Kedar said. “The food scene, the pubs, the nightlife, the culture in Sderot, Netivot, and Ofakim – all of these are fueled by our students.”

This vision of Sapir as a catalyst for regional development is gaining traction. “When you view the map of Israel, you find that Sderot is, in fact, located in the geographical center of Israel, close to a big port, industrial areas, and the central agricultural basin,” Kedar explained. “For the area to jump two to three levels forward, Sapir needs to develop too.”

Yet, amid these grand plans, Kedar remains acutely aware of the ongoing trauma within his community. “We’re still living with the aftermath,” he admitted. “Every day, I talk to staff members who break down, reliving their experiences and still processing what they’ve been through.” He recounted a recent conversation with a longtime employee that began as a casual chat over coffee but quickly turned into a half-hour discussion about her experiences on Oct. 7.

The approaching winter, with its earlier sunsets, brings fresh anxieties for a population still haunted by the events of Oct. 7, 2023. “I read that daylight saving time returns at the end of October,” Kedar said. “This means workers leave work earlier and lock themselves at home. These are things we deal with on a daily basis.”

Despite these challenges, there are signs of hope. In the next couple of weeks, students will return to campus to attend their courses, which Kedar deemed a powerful statement of resilience. “We believe we can turn this place back into a paradise,” Kedar said, his voice filled with determination. “Sapir will be a crucial anchor in these efforts.”

THE COLLEGE’S plans for the future are ambitious and far-reaching. Kedar envisions new campuses, a faculty of health sciences in collaboration with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a faculty of advanced technologies, and a research institute for trauma and resilience. “We’re not just dreaming,” he insisted. “We’ve started a strategic process of developing a five-year and a 10-year plan in light of these goals.”

As the interview came to a close, Kedar’s multifaceted vision for Sapir College became clear: a vision that encompasses everything from comforting traumatized staff members to establishing new research institutes, and from revitalizing local culture to reimagining Israel’s academic landscape. In the face of unimaginable tragedy, Sapir College is not just rebuilding – it’s reinventing itself as a model for 21st-century higher education in Israel’s periphery.

“From catastrophe to growth,” Kedar summarized, encapsulating the spirit of resilience that defines not just Sapir College but the entire region it serves. As the college moves forward, it carries the memory of those lost, the strength of those who survived, and the hope for a brighter future rising from the ashes of tragedy.

Kedar’s closing thoughts reflected both the weight of the past and the promise of the future. “We’re constantly working on all these layers,” he said. “I have multi-focal glasses – from hugging workers who are breaking down and still living in trauma to planning new faculties and research centers.”

In this delicate balance between healing and growth, Sapir College stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of education. As it embarks on this new chapter, the college is not just rebuilding; it’s reimagining what an academic institution can be in times of crisis and beyond, playing a crucial role in the revival of Israel’s southern periphery, turning tragedy into an opportunity for unprecedented growth and development. 