Inauguration of the Helmsley Mechina Complex

Last Friday, the new Helmsley Mechina Complex was inaugurated at Sapir College, in the presence of Mr. Sandy Frankel, trustee of The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and his wife Ruth. The Mechina will serve thousands of students.

In the moving ceremony, the Frankels, together with Sapir’s senior staff, unveiled the Helmsley Mechina Complex sign. Mr. Frankel and Prof. Kedar affixed the mezuzah together with a moving ‘Shehecheyanu’ blessing for this new beautiful space. Participants toured the new site, and examined in detail the MaMaD protected rooms with steel doors, metal shutters and air filtration systems.

Joining the Frankels were: Attorney Gilad Sher - Chairman of the Executive Committee, Prof. Nir Kedar - President, Ms. Orna Gigi - CEO, Ms. Kamila Milner Landskind - Director of the Mechina & Professional Development Center, Dr. Edo Eshet – Dean of the Law School, Mr. Assaf Amar – Building Manager, Zarta Studio - the architects who designed the Helmsley Mechina Complex, College staff and students.

Attorney Gilad Sher, Chairman of the Executive Committee, said: "Sapir College continues with an unprecedented momentum of campus construction, alongside vigorous academic development. Two weeks after the inauguration of the new Amphitheater, the College launched the Helmsley Mechina Complex with its new and renovated buildings."

Prof. Nir Kedar, President, said: "Israel's success in maintaining a strong democracy, a stable economy and becoming an important world power in academia, technology, agriculture, and the fields of culture and art, is not the result of the actions of a small elite group; but a consequence of the success of Israeli society in providing high-quality academic education for hundreds of thousands from all avenues of society. Sapir’s Mechina and degree programs enable thousands of talented young adults -- who would have not chosen academic studies -- the opportunity to attend college, obtain a degree and create a better future for themselves and Israeli society. The Helmsley Mechina Complex is an important symbol of this academic and social achievement."