At Israel’s universities, students grapple with an uncertain future

Most college students beginning a new year have a few typical hurdles to navigate.

Where will they live? Will their new roommate be a nightmare? Is their professor a fair grader?

However, these challenges, albeit significant ones, pale in comparison to the experience of countless Israeli students as they start the 2024-25 school year: balancing their studies with military service. These students spent the past year grappling with a war on their country’s southern front, and more recently, its northern front. And now they are doing it all over again.

Orjwan Ghraba, an Arab Israeli studying sociology and human services at the University of Haifa, is worried about the safety of commuting to the university from her village of Reineh in northern Israel, considering that Hezbollah had been launching rockets at the border on a nearly daily basis.

“I’m very nervous. I think this year is more difficult than the last one,” she lamented.

“We’re still unsure if our studies will be in person or over Zoom, but I’m prepared for all scenarios.”

As a first-generation student enrolled in higher education, Ghraba takes her studies seriously and will not let the war interrupt her academic ambitions. Still, she acknowledges a sense of unease has permeated the atmosphere, as students don’t know what the future holds.

“If our studies are in-person, I’m prepared to carefully map out where the closest bomb shelters are to each of my classes. But school must continue. Life must go on,” she asserted.

At most Israeli colleges and universities, the current school year began on November 3. However, the University of Haifa, began a week later due to the continued threat of Hezbollah rocket attacks and the ever-present scenario of being forced to flee classrooms for bomb shelters within a matter of seconds.

Unlike Gharba, Afeka Academic College of Engineering student Regev Hodorov is not even sure he will have the option of attending in-person classes, even though they will be available, since he has spent the past year back and forth from reserve duty. Since Oct. 7, he has been stationed in Gaza and along the Lebanese border, which is constantly under bombardment. Completing assignments as rockets rain over one’s head and sirens blare has been a harrowing experience, but Hodorov is committed to completing as much of his work as possible.

“I was able to catch up on my courses and labs and reports. Even though it was very hard to concentrate,” Hodorov said in an interview from his base, where he has been for more than 250 days of service, with no clear end in sight.

The one obstacle in his way? He has yet to complete his final project; and if it is not completed, he will not be able to graduate with his peers.

“I don’t see how I can finish the school year when I keep being called up,” he said. “I was looking forward to finishing my degree with my friends, but it doesn’t look possible.”

Hodorov is not alone in that regard. Some 30% of Israel’s 300,000 registered students are reservists in the IDF. As such, universities have spent the past year fine-tuning how they can still teach when their faculty and students are constantly plucked out of routine life and sent to the front lines and army bases to protect the country.

The University of Haifa also has a unique demographic challenge, as 40% of its students are Arab, adding a layer of complexity when conducting instruction at a time of war.

As a first step, the university’s Interdisciplinary Clinical Center has opened a hotline for anyone who needs professional assistance in Haifa and neighboring areas. The hotline’s staff is manned by members of the University of Haifa’s Center of Psychotherapy Institute, which includes clinical psychologists, social workers, and psychotherapists. Each clinician is prepared to offer support to anyone feeling depression, anxiety, or helplessness.

On a financial level, the university is continuing last year’s policy in which student-reservists do not have to pay student housing fees.

Moreover, to ensure that the campus remains a beacon of tolerance, the school’s Division for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is gearing up with a comprehensive set of initiatives designed to enhance inclusivity and support for all community members. While the initiatives are dependent on the evolving security situation, the division is offering specialized academic courses and training, as well as workshops and professional development opportunities for staff.

The university offers special programming for under-served populations, such as a course for Ethiopian students that will provide them guidance and support in navigating campus life and managing academic challenges; a mentorship program to encourage haredi female students to pursue doctoral studies; and a preparatory academic program for Arab students, scheduled to launch in the next academic year.

“These initiatives encapsulate the University of Haifa’s dedication to social justice,” said university president Gur Alroey. “Despite the dark cloud of gloom hovering over our heads since Oct. 7, 2023, we’ll continue to be optimistic and pave the way for our students to create a brighter future for all.”

For Gharba, while she appreciates what the university has offered students in under-served populations, she said it is ultimately the students’ responsibility to receive the kind of education they want.

“I’d tell [Arab students] to have courage. Nobody will advocate for you – you have to do that yourself. They need to be able to step onto campus and not be afraid of who they are. Once there, they should be friendly, ask questions. Nobody will bite if you’re genuinely curious. I’d tell them not to be afraid of those different from you. You only live once, and every minute should count,” she said.

Meanwhile, at Afeka, where an overwhelming 42% of students from the institution were called to active military duty since the October 7 attacks, the college has developed a comprehensive support package to address students’ diverse needs. Last year, it introduced teaching all courses through its synchronous hybrid model, an innovative approach allowing students to attend in-person classes if they are able to do so, while those who cannot be physically present can participate remotely.

Afeka’s support package also provides additional course sections and summer courses so that students do not fall behind their classmates; academic counseling and tutoring; financial aid; and mental health services.

To ensure the continuation of these supportive services, the school launched its AsOne campaign, whose initial goal is to raise NIS 15 million ($4 million). The college has committed NIS 5 million ($1.35 million) from internal resources to the student support initiative, and it is now seeking external donations to fund various initiatives under the campaign.

Bar-Ilan's unwavering support for students

At Bar-Ilan University, there are currently about 1,500 students serving in the military — with some already on their third rotation since October 7, according to Dean of Students Binyamin Shmueli.

The university describes its wartime student support package as an “academic armor,” which includes an array of academic, administrative, and emotional components. Student-reservists benefit from recognition of reserve service as an activity entitling academic recognition points, with credits equaling up to three courses; a “pass” grade for up to two courses that does not affect their grade point average; alternative test dates or the option to take an exam twice, with the final grade being the higher of the two; academic assistance, such as designated special lectures and exercises, review sessions, and guidance meetings with course instructors and top students; grants to offset tuition; and a personal adviser for each reservist who oversees the academic, managerial, and emotional support that they receive.

“Unfortunately, for the second time, many of us students began the school year not on campus. However, that hasn’t stopped Bar-Ilan from supporting us in every way,” said Ofira Aharoni, a second-year student in mathematics and economics. “I honestly couldn’t imagine a better university for reservists. I feel like the campus really has my back. Everyone tells me, ‘Take your time, don’t worry. When your reserve duty is over, come to campus and we’ll work everything out.’ And I know we will, because that’s what happened last year.”

Aharoni managed to achieve top marks in her courses last year despite her absences, she said, “thanks in large part to the university’s amazing faculty, who genuinely care about us reservists and appreciate what we’re doing.

They all get in touch with us personally, and they make sure we have all the tools we need to succeed.”

Like most Israelis, Hodorov has experienced the gamut of emotions since October 7. A few days before that tragic day, Hodorov was on a road trip in the United States with his girlfriend when he proposed to her. A few months later, they were under the huppah as they looked into each other’s eyes and wished for a better future.

The next day, Hodorov learned that a good friend of his was wounded, and two soldiers who were in Gaza to secure the area were killed.

“Nobody wanted to tell me the day of the wedding to risk ruining our mood,” he said.

“When I found out the next day, I was so confused by what I was feeling. What was supposed to be the happiest time of my life has been marked by such deep tragedy.”

In many ways, Hodorov believes the last year is reminiscent of the transition from grief to joy many Israelis experience as Memorial Day becomes Independence Day. At sundown, the solemn songs on the radio suddenly are switched to ones of joy and celebration, and the tears are wiped away and the smiles shine through.

As such, Hodorov experienced this feeling in reverse, as he got married on Thursday and buried his friend on Friday.

“Sadly, we got used to living this way,” he said.

Most administrators and students agree, though, that life must go on – not only for the students but for Israel itself, which is relying on its early influx of new students eager to join the workforce.

This is particularly true of engineering, as the country is experiencing an acute shortage of skilled workers in that field. As such, Afeka College of Engineering President Prof. Ami Moyal said, “With Israel’s hi-tech industry as a pillar of economic stability and national security, especially during these critical times, the need for skilled engineers who can innovate and develop cutting-edge technologies with transformative impact has never been greater. Israel’s young engineers are the future – the future of the hi-tech industry, the future of the Israeli economy, the future of society, the future of the country.”

As for Gharba, she faces a unique set of circumstances as an Arab student at a time when Jewish-Arab relations have experienced tension due to the war. However, at the University of Haifa, she feels that the shared society cultivated on campus has helped mitigate this challenge.

“The University of Haifa was a dream. The hope was always that some day I’d study there. I heard that it’s an institution where every culture is represented and it’s genuinely diverse, where Muslims, Christians, and Jews, and foreign students from China, Germany, and even Kazakhstan can all come together and study in peace,” she said. “That’s the life I want to have. As someone who gets my energy by surrounding myself with people, I knew that being exposed to so many different viewpoints would make me happy.

“In general, this has been a hard year, but I’m optimistic about the future,” she added.

“What other option do we have?”