On the third anniversary of the devastating Oct. 7 terror attack, it is a moment to remember the terrible human cost of that day – and to consider what we are building in its aftermath.

Sapir College sits less than two miles from the Gaza border. On Oct. 7, 2023, the reality we had known was shattered. Fifty members of the Sapir community – students, alumni, faculty, and staff – were killed. More than 1,000 students and hundreds of employees were evacuated. Around 1,000 of our students were called up for reserve duty. Our campus became a closed military zone, with armored vehicles stationed on the grounds and soldiers occupying classrooms. For a time, even something as basic as electricity was uncertain.

When the attack began, I was hiking with my family in Canada. For three days, I tried to manage the crisis from Montreal while I sought a means to return to Israel. The college was closed for the Simchat Torah holiday that morning, but terrorists drove past the campus on their way into nearby Sderot. As communities across the region were evacuated, our immediate task was to find our students and employees, many of whom had been displaced across the country, and make sure they had the basic support they needed. 

At the same time, there were some who doubted whether Sapir would recover at all. I told those who expressed concern that Sapir would reopen and become a central engine of the region’s recovery and growth. We decided to do everything we could to open the academic year alongside Israel’s other higher-education institutions. With the region still evacuated and the campus inaccessible, we began online, supporting faculty, staff, and students scattered across the country and providing additional assistance to more than 1,000 students serving in........

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