January 25, 2025

President’s Emergency Fund Annual Report

JCT and Defense of the State of Israel
The Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) is the second largest academic institution in Jerusalem. It is fully accredited by Israel’s Council of Higher Education and specializes in high-tech engineering, computer science, industrial management and health sciences, combined with a Jewish studies program.
Over its 55 years, JCT has contributed to the defense of Israel, by producing high quality engineering and management professionals. Many JCT alumni spend their careers contributing to the defense of Israel in research and development of Israel’s defense systems and in their management. Despite representing only 2% of Israeli academia, JCT produced 16 Israel Defense Prize laureates in the past 20 years.
JCT is disproportionately represented at the highest levels of the Israeli defense establishment and has had an outsized role in keeping Israel safe and secure.
Since the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War, over 800 students and faculty have been mobilized in the defense of our State. Many have served over 200 days in the reserves and are still serving. Most have done more than one stint in the reserves and presently approximately 240 students are currently serving in the IDF.

President’s Emergency Fund
In October 2023, JCT established the President’s Emergency Fund. In the immediate months following the war, JCT provided emergency housing to educational institutes and families (over 400 people) who were evacuated from southern Israel. JCT hosted entire Yeshivot (inc: Yeshivat HaDarom and Merkaz Shapira / Or Etzion).
Once the school reopened support was provided to students, faculty and staff who were conscripted to the reserve and those volunteering in emergency medical services and hospitals.
Two, 13-week semesters were shortened into two, 11-week semesters. Yet the students serving in the IDF continue to face major challenges in catching up as they are both distracted by their service and regularly called back into service; in many cases those calls are unscheduled and in the middle of the semester.

President’s Emergency Fund Allocations
To meet our ironclad commitment to providing every reservist student with every opportunity for success, and in acknowledgement of the many women students who are either serving in the national medical corps and/or whose husbands have been called away, the President’s Emergency Fund has provided:
•Scholarships & emergency living stipends for those impacted by the war
•Personalized mentoring and supplementary tuition
•Online learning videos were prepared for students to make up missed material
•Psychological and emotional support to students returning from the war
•Food vouchers to reservist students
•A special evening for the wives of reservist students
•First-aid and mass casualty treatment trainings by JCT’s Selma Jelinek School of Nursing
•Dissemination of EMT kits to medical professionals, enabling them to handle casualties until emergency
services can arrive

Presidents Emergency Fund Annual Budget, 2023-2024