On May 7, Americans for Ben-Gurion University (A4BGU) is hosting “Remarkable Resilience. Excellence in the Face of Adversity,” a special virtual experience showcasing Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s (BGU) transformative role in a post-Oct. 7 Israel.
During A4BGU’s fifth annual signature virtual event, attendees will journey through BGU’s three campuses in Beersheva, Sde Boker and Eilat, discovering a story of overcoming adversity in challenging times. BGU is helping spearhead the nation’s recovery from the Hamas attacks through the institution’s four pillars: education; research; building up the Negev; and community service and social justice.
BGU students and faculty will join the virtual experience to tell the story of the university’s excellence in the face of adversity, rooted in the unique roles of all three campuses. The Beersheva campus is the “brains” of BGU, home of its world-changing research and innovation. The university’s “heart” is the Eilat campus, hub of its community-service initiatives. The Sde Boker campus is BGU’s “soul,” where its namesake and Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, began implementing his blueprint for the nation’s future by working to make the desert bloom.
“Through this deep dive into Ben-Gurion University’s brains, heart and soul, our program will powerfully demonstrate that BGU is leading the way forward not only in the south but also for all of Israel through its excellence in the face of adversity,” said Doug Seserman, CEO of A4BGU.
Event attendees will hear inspiring stories from across the university’s campuses, such as the firsthand accounts of professor Reli Hershkovitz (Beersheva), the dean of the BGU Faculty of Health Sciences, who played a critical role in supporting medical students post-Oct. 7; Sharon Chemweno (Sde Boker), a student whose fertilization research is revolutionizing sustainable agriculture in her home country of Kenya; and professor Nadav Shashar (Eilat), a coral reef restoration pioneer who gives students hands-on opportunities in marine conservation.
For the second consecutive year, the A4BGU event will be hosted by Tel Aviv-based digital and television journalist Natasha Raquel Kirtchuk, a lead anchor for i24 News. In its first three years, A4BGU’s annual virtual event, “Celebrating the Remarkable,” had spotlighted BGU’s latest innovative breakthroughs in science and technology. Today, the event has pivoted to reflect the university’s renewed mission in a post-Oct. 7 world.
BGU was directly and disproportionately impacted by Oct. 7 compared to other Israeli academic institutions in terms of the number of students, faculty and staff who were killed, wounded, kidnapped and called to Israel Defense Forces reserve duty. Yet in no way did that stop BGU’s community from leading the recovery from the attacks, both regionally and nationally, through a wide array of volunteer and community-service efforts.
“Remarkable Resilience. Excellence in the Face of Adversity” takes place on Wednesday, May 7, at 12 p.m., East Coast time. Register to attend at: a4bgu.org/remarkableresilience.
