A Tour of Ben Gurion University by Eden Saltzman
As rising juniors, and especially as rising seniors, there is one word that is an omnipresent ringing in our ears: college. Today, after a lecture at the site, the WOFIites were led on a tour of Ben Gurion University by a sweet woman named Aya. We bounced from building to lawn to building, learning about the history and culture of the university.
Q: What is the population of the university?
A: There are about 20,000 students.
Q: What are some attractive features of the university?
A: Ben Gurion University is the fastest growing university in Israel! Also, it is the youngest university in Israel, which provides the university with a vibrant culture developed by the youth of the college.
Q: What are some of the areas of study?
A: There is a large emphasis on the sciences and technology. In fact, the IDF and many major companies from all over the globe, including from the United States, use the research from cyber protection program. There are also many other areas of study, including the humanities, social sciences, the arts, and many more.
Q: We are in the Negev and it is extremely hot. [Most of us were fanning our friends and ourselves during the tour.] How does the university cope with the climate?
A: [Pointing to the library] There are many clever architectural designs meant to keep these buildings as cool as possible. The library, the first building on the campus, has windows facing north, which allowed sunlight in without the sun heating up the space directly. In addition, the architecture has formed many natural wind tunnels which allow for cheaper air conditioning bills.
Q: What is the university's role in the Negev?
A: The university was built to help the Negev area. The Negev is very undesirable compared to central and Northern cities with more vibrant city lives. However, the Negev is much cheaper than any other area. In addition, the culture and society is developing greatly due to the university's arrival 43 years ago.
Q: Are the students involved in the Negev community?
A: Ben Gurion University has an extremely large community action program. 8,000 students are involved in community service. In addition, the university is the only in Israel to have a free-standing building solely for the purpose of service. The students are very aware of the surrounding villages, and often have Shabbat dinners with the local families or with their own student community. The students can take part in an open apartment program, where they can live in apartments in the less fortunate surrounding neighborhoods for free in order to enrich the society, as well as various other opportunities.
Our tour of Ben Gurion University was an enriching experience. Learning about an institution that is found in both America and Israel really revealed the differences between the two cultures. As a girl who has been on many college campus tours, I have to say this was very distinctive from the normal "on your left you will see our football field" type of display. Poetry was posted on the exterior walls of the buildings, paintings that fused art and science hung in atriums, and a dinosaur fossil dug up by a previous student lay under a glass box in the science building. Aya expressed her desire for more students to stay in the Negev area after they graduate, as this is the purpose of the university. However, she does agree that there are more opportunities presented to these bright young adults in the center and northern regions of the country.
Perhaps one of our very own will join this elite body of students at Ben Guirion University in the future.
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