When Master’s student Hadas Kurmesh Belisha became the first woman in the University’s history to be elected chair of the Student Union, she determined that her primary goal would be creating a sense of community.
At first, that meant reaching out to audiences that are traditionally less involved, such as English-speaking olim (immigrants) and other students from abroad. (“Ours was undoubtedly the largest Chinese New Year celebration in the Jewish state,” said Kurmesh Belisha.)
She also appointed the union’s first coordinator for Arab-speaking students and began planning the first-ever Accessibility Day event to raise awareness of disabled members of the student body.
But when war broke out in response to Hamas’ attack on October 7th, Kurmesh Belisha and her team shifted to a new strategy for encouraging student engagement.
“Within days, and even before the academic year began, we were able to organize hundreds of student volunteers for a range of war-related needs,” explained Kurmesh Belisha. “Students who had little in common or hadn’t interacted before were coming together to collect donated supplies and raise funds for hundreds of soldiers and evacuees.”
The union also “adopted” four army bases at Israel’s southern and northern borders, raising funds for tactical equipment, clothing, and hot food, and organized a series of solidarity events for Israel’s hostages.
Finally, Kurmesh Belisha’s request to represent students on the University’s Resilience Committee, responsible for shaping Bar-Ilan’s multi-faceted response to reserve soldiers’ return from war, was welcomed by the Vice Rector and Bar-Ilan leadership, who wanted to hear students’ perspectives on the numerous challenges they faced.
“The test of any true community is whether it comes through for its members in difficult periods,” Kurmesh Belisha said. “The Bar-Ilan Student Union aims to make the university a place not just for learning, but also for enjoying a meaningful social experience. And as we’ve shown in the last few months, it can be and is a place that supports students as people facing challenges, with creativity and empathy.”
