BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2026

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BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY OF THE NEGEV

SARAB ABU-RABIA QUEDER VICE PRESIDENT FOR DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION Prof .

Efforts to promote the campus as a shared space are based on the principle of multi-level partnership . Throughout the year, the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion deepened its collaborations with academic faculties and key units, including the Dean of Students’ Office, the Student Union, and the Unit for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning Quality. In parallel, we continued working in partnership with civil society organizations with expertise in social cohesion, including the aChord Center – Social Psychology for Social Change, AJEEC–NISPED, Co-Impact – Partnership for a Breakthrough in Arab Employment, and the Benjamin de Rothschild Ambassadors Program. This network of partnerships serves to sensitively integrate academic knowledge with applied practice, enabling the translation of shared living from a normative vision into a sustainable and actionable campus reality. STUDENT PROGRAMS FOR SHARED LIVING A central focus this year was the consolidation and expansion of student programs that bring together Jewish and Arab students from across faculties and degree levels. These initiatives strengthen mutual understanding, reinforce students’ sense of belonging, and create structured and supported spaces for dialogue and expression. Key programs include: Shared Lives Ambassadors Program (third cohort): A student leadership initiative grounded in partnership, entrepreneurship, and leadership development. Participants engage with issues of campus belonging, shared responsibility, and understanding of the lived

The Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion continued to advance the University’s mission of fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable academic environment, while responding to the social and institutional challenges that followed the events of October 7 and the ensuing war. While the end of the war brought a measure of relief, it also exposed more clearly the depth of social fractures, pain, and mistrust between different groups in Israeli society. These dynamics have permeated campus life, shaping interactions among students, faculty, and staff. Against this backdrop, the University faced a dual challenge this year: sustaining existing initiatives that promote shared living on campus, while developing sensitive, context-aware responses to tensions that accompanied the return to routine academic activity. THE CAMPUS AS A SHARED SPACE The concept of the campus as a shared space seeks to ensure that all members of the University community – students, academic faculty, and administrative staff – experience the campus as a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment. This approach is grounded in four interrelated components: (1) Sense of belonging: the degree to which individuals feel they are an integral part of the academic and organizational community; (2) Social closeness: built on familiarity, trust, and willingness to cooperate individually and across groups; (3) Voice: the ability to express personal and collective perspectives, identities, and experiences; (4) Fairness and equity: perception of the organization as acting in a just, equitable, and difference-sensitive manner.