The opening day of the academic year is usually supposed to be a happy day, certainly after a three-month postponement, but in today's reality, it is a particularly complex day for students, many of whose friends are still in deep fighting in the Gaza Strip or in military operations near the Lebanese border.
Yoni Rikner
This mixed feeling, of joy mixed with sadness, can be felt today (Sunday) at the opening of the school year at Ben-Gurion University in Be'er Sheva, since the largest academic institution in the Negev suffered many losses during the months of the war.
89 faculty, students and family members of the university community were murdered or killed in battle. Fifteen of them are still wounded and there are four abductees who have not yet been released from Hamas captivity and have been counted for 15 days by murderous terrorists.
In addition, more than 6,115 lecturers and students are being recruited and about 150 faculty and students are being evacuated from their homes.
"This morning we will open the school year. A complex year, more complex than anything we have known to date. We will begin the morning with a joint gathering aimed at uniting and remembering the dead, the abductees, the wounded, the evacuees and those who are currently still on active duty," Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President Prof. Daniel Haimovich said after the harsh data was published.
"We are opening the school year, with the reservists at the top of our priorities," Prof. Haimovich added, adding, "Only by opening the school year now will we have the flexibility in the future to give each and every one of them the answer and solution that will help them finish the school year together with everyone. Our ultimate goal is that no one will be left behind and everyone will have the opportunity to finish their degree on time."
It should be recalled that the start date of the academic year in higher education was changed several times and postponed to different dates, before the decision to embark on the journey despite the harsh reality in Israel. According to the outline, the school year begins in two phases: today all students who are not in reserve duty will return to study. In a few weeks, when the reservist students are discharged, they will return for "completion week," and their friends will take a week's vacation. After that, everyone will go back to school together. The original date is January 28, 2024, but there is no certainty that everyone will return to school by then.
"We are starting a school year when more than 89 members of the university community have fallen and are no longer with us, and their absence is felt. Dozens of employees and students are being evacuated, and we also take care of them and help them. But we're starting the year, because it's the right thing to do. Together we will learn, together we will explore. And together, only together, we will win." This is the message that Ben-Gurion University of the Negev President Prof. Daniel Haimovich wanted to convey to students.
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