BGU | PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2025

41

PRESIDENT'S REPORT 2025

Participants in the Hebrew Key to Success program

several initiatives designed to rebuild trust and facilitate constructive dialogue among diverse campus groups. The Shared Lives Ambassadors program was established to create a sustainable student-led framework for strengthening intergroup relations on campus. Now in its second year, the program provides student leaders from across the University’s different faculties with training in three fundamental areas: partnership, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Participants engage in structured dialogues on complex social issues and receive tools for effective and empathetic communication. In the applied phase, they develop initiatives to promote a safe, inclusive, and cooperative campus environment. The program is supported by the Rothschild Ambassadors Program and funded in partnership with the Blaustein Foundation and SVF, the Social Venture Fund for Jewish Arab Equality and Shared Society. We also established a Shared Space Forum for faculty members dedicated to promoting inclusivity. Throughout the war and the return to academic life, the Office for Diversity and Inclusion played a crucial role in supporting students and faculty. We facilitated online open forums for Jewish and Arab students separately, providing safe spaces for expressing emotions, concerns and expectations, and we established a leadership group

for Arab students to help them navigate conflict-related challenges. To further support campus resilience, we trained dormitory representatives to act as mediators between students and housing management, provided faculty with training on mediation and restorative justice skills, and published clear campus guidelines on freedom of expression in accordance with legal standards. To further advance our commitment to equity, we are implementing anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practices, and we arranged specialized training sessions for senior and junior academic faculty on teaching in diverse classrooms during emergencies. These efforts aim to create a more just and inclusive academic culture. In May 2024, the Office of the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion conducted an extensive study among BGU students to assess their sense of belonging, satisfaction, and motivation for shared living in the wake of October 7. Supported by the UJA, this study provides crucial insights into evolving campus dynamics and informs the development of targeted interventions, including those described above. Ben-Gurion University remains committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and resilient academic community, even in the face of significant challenges.