Jerusalem’s Mayor Nir Barkat visited the Mount Scopus campus of Hebrew University yesterday and addressed the student body, as approximately 40,700 students of higher education in Jerusalem began their academic year.
“Despite the security situation, I am pleased to see the university filled with students and full of life,” said Mayor Barkat during his address on Sunday evening, October 18. “Being a student in Jerusalem is an incomparable special experience. The students’ success is our success.”
Jerusalem recorded a significant increase this year in the number of students who were planning to attend the city’s higher education institutions. About half of the approximate 40,700 students will be studying at Hebrew University, with a third enrolled in academic colleges and the rest in education colleges.
During his address, Mayor Barkat placed emphasis on the uniqueness of being a student of higher education in Jerusalem. “Being a student in Jerusalem is a special experience unequaled in the country, and we in the municipality are doing everything to make the student experience in the city interesting, challenging and enriching as much as can be offered,” said Barkat.
Barkat also touched on the mutual contributory relationship between the city of Jerusalem and its higher education students. “The youth and students in the city are the driving force that influences and shapes its image, and Jerusalem for its part, offers its young people a wide variety of options in entertainment, culture, recreation and employment,” noted Barkat.
In that vein, Barkat called upon the students to take advantage of everything that Jerusalem has to offer during the academic year. “In addition to attending school in the capital, I invite you to spend time in Jerusalem, to discover it, enjoy it and take an active part in the construction and design of this unique city in the world,” Barkat added.
During his visit to the Mount Scopus campus, Mayor Barkat also took time to meet with representatives of the Student Union and Hebrew University President Professor Menahem Ben-Sasson.
Hebrew University opened on Mount Scopus in 1925, under what was then the British Palestine Mandate. After the War of Independence in 1948, the Mount Scopus campus was closed off as Jordan took control of the eastern sections of Jerusalem. Hebrew University then built an additional campus in the western neighborhood of Givat Ram. After the Six Day War in 1967 when Israel took control of all of Jerusalem, Hebrew University was able to once again use its original Mount Scopus campus.
