Shabbat Shalom from BGU President

Dear Friends,

As Shabbat approaches, I find myself grateful that we were able to complete the first week of the semester, even if entirely online. In a moment when so much remains uncertain, there is something reassuring about the simple fact of teaching continuing.

I am equally grateful, as always, for our global community, which continues to surprise and inspire. Last night in London, The Ben-Gurion University Foundation hosted an outstanding event with Noa Argamani that brought together more than 850 participants, the vast majority new to BGU. The energy in the room was remarkable. Noa’s conversation with a graduate of our Halutz program was both moving and thoughtful, and more than once the audience rose to its feet. It was one of those moments that reminds me how deeply people want to connect, not only to Israel, but to what BGU represents.

And this week, I found myself reflecting on another kind of leadership moment, one that took place far from the Negev.

I recently sent a letter to Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff, which I am sharing with you here. President Kotlikoff took a very public and very principled stand in response to a student resolution calling on Cornell to sever ties with the Technion. What was notable was not only his decision, but the clarity with which he articulated it. He drew a firm line between academic collaboration and political endorsement, and refused to allow that line to be blurred under pressure.

In a time when many institutions are navigating similar pressures, often cautiously and sometimes inconsistently, this kind of clarity matters. Not only because of the immediate decision, but because of what it signals to students, faculty, and the broader academic community about what a university is, and what it is not.

As I've written before, the real test is not whether universities hold values, but whether those values are applied consistently. When similar cases are treated differently, what is presented as moral clarity begins to look like something else. This is why stands like his matter. They are educational moments that send a signal to students. They remind us that universities are not only institutions that respond to pressure, but institutions that define boundaries.

I'm sure you all join me in praying for a quite shabbat, one uninterrupted by sirens.

Wishing you a peaceful Shabbat Shalom,
Danny