Afeka College of Engineering in Tel Aviv has inaugurated the "Quiet Tent," a dedicated campus space for its students to help them cope with mental health challenges following the recent years of conflict, the school announced in a statement last week.
"The Quiet Tent was created in response to the growing mental health challenges facing students in Israel since the October 7 attacks and the continued reserve duty that has impacted much of the Afeka student body," the statement said.
"The space is intended to provide a quiet, calming environment where students can step away from the intensity of daily campus life, decompress, and regain a sense of balance."
The program was created in response to an Afeka student who had tragically died by suicide.
Through conversations with family, friends, students, and faculty, the community collectively recognized the need for a dedicated space that would provide a quiet, calming environment in which they could process their experiences.
Some 42% of the student body has been called up for reserve duty
Afeka College is unique in that a significant number of its students are IDF reservists who have been balancing their studies and reserve duty. As much as 42% of the student body has been called up for reserve duty, "reflecting the extraordinary challenges the college community has faced throughout the war."
“Over the past year, we have seen firsthand the emotional burden many students are carrying,” said Prof. Yossi Rosenwaks, President of Afeka College of Engineering.
“The Quiet Tent was created out of a simple but important understanding: resilience is not only about pushing forward. It is also about knowing when to pause, when to ask for help, and having a safe place to do so.”
This initiative was made possible by a generous donation from Prof. David Seidman, Professor Emeritus of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, and his wife, Shoshanah, to support student well-being during the ongoing war.
“David and I are deeply honored to be part of bringing Afeka College’s Quiet Tent to life,” said Shoshanah Seidman.
“This is a truly meaningful initiative because it recognizes the importance of providing students, especially those carrying the burdens of trauma, with a place where they can feel safe, find moments of peace, and reconnect with themselves and others. We hope this special space will offer comfort, strength, and healing to all who use it, and we wish the Afeka community continued success, resilience, and good health.”
Afeka College commits to the health and well-being of its community
Afeka College has deepened its efforts to support the community's mental and emotional well-being by expanding counseling resources, peer support initiatives, faculty mentoring programs, and wellness activities.
The college believes that maintaining continuity, routine, and connections is essential to resilience and to the community moving forward.
“Early in the post-October 7 war, we formulated and implemented a plan to ensure that no student would fall behind because of disruptions caused by the conflict,” Rosenwaks said. “Today, we continue to carry out and expand that institution-wide commitment, which reflects our responsibility to not only educate engineers but also to support the people behind the degrees.”
While Afeka continues to cope with these immediate challenges, the college is also looking to the future by developing its new campus in Tel Aviv’s Yad Eliyahu neighborhood, which is intended to expand academic, research, and student support opportunities for the next generation of Israeli engineers, but also help revitalize south Tel Aviv, an underserved area long in need of investment.
Afeka College of Engineering, based in Tel Aviv, ranks among Israel’s leading academic institutions of engineering and science and is accredited by the Council for Higher Education. The college was founded in 1996 and has since graduated over 10,000 bachelor’s and master’s degree alumni in engineering and science. Afeka graduates have taken on key industry roles in the Israeli and global high-tech, research and development, defense, electronics, software, medicine, machinery, and management sectors. The college’s alumni contribute $2 billion annually to Israel’s GDP.