Latest news with #Marah
Irish Times
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Times
Education infrastructure another casualty of Gaza war, TUI conference hears
A motion condemning 'the continuing genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people' and calling on the Government to impose sanctions was carried by delegates on the final day of the Teachers' Union of Ireland conference in Wexford. The event was addressed by Palestinian sisters Tamar and Marah Famaz Nijim who asked delegates 'to keep standing for Palestine, and talking about it, because every word counts'. Tamar, previously a teacher in Gaza , has just completed a degree in applied linguistics at Mary Immaculate College in Limerick while Marah, who was only evacuated from Gaza last Friday, is due to start studying there over the coming months. Marah talked about the challenges of living in the region while the war, and Israeli bombardments, continue. READ MORE 'Imagine walking two hours for water,' she said. 'Three or four hours to get medical attention. Being displaced from your home. Living in a tent for a year and a half. I can't call myself a war survivor because none of us survives inside'. 'I want to thank you for listening to me. And thank Ireland for helping me to finish my studies and fulfilling my dreams,' she said. Tamar, who is working as a senior invigilator at Mary Immaculate as well as doing translation work, thanked the delegates for passing the motion supporting the Palestinian people who, she said, had one of the highest literacy rates in the world before the war began. 'We were proud of our education system but now all the universities have been completely destroyed or are being destroyed,' she said. Referencing the description of the conflict by Helen McEntee on Wednesday as 'a war on children', she said 15,000 of an estimated 51,000 Palestinian dead are minors. Those numbers, she said, would proportionally equate to 37,000 and 127,000 if the Palestinian population was the same as the Irish one. The region now has more child amputees per capita than any other area in the world, she said, and hundreds of thousands of people of all ages are traumatised by what they have lived through. 'Can you put yourselves in our position?' she asked. She thanked the Irish for their continuing support but asked people to ask themselves: 'Am I doing my best to stop this?' People would look back, she suggested, and think 'it was a shame for educated people to allow something like this to happen'. In the meantime, she asked people to continue protesting for the people of Palestine, and she called for a boycott of Israel. While Palestine was in constant danger of slipping down the international agenda in the face of competing crises elsewhere, she said 'we need your help'. Responding to Ms McEntee's address on Wednesday, TUI president David Waters, who had previously emphasised the union's condemnation of the events of October 7th, 2023, said: 'the Netanyahu government has long abandoned any civility or moral compass as evidenced by the continued murderous bombing of Gaza'.
Yahoo
26-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Jacobson named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Bemidji State
Feb. 26—BEMIDJI — Bemidji State University recently named Marah Jacobson as its next provost and vice president for academic affairs. Jacobson currently serves as the associate provost for academic and student affairs and Title IX coordinator at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. BSU and Northwest Technical College President John Hoffman said he selected Jacobson for the position based on her wealth of experience as a student-centered institutional leader. "Dr. Jacobson is an outstanding academic leader with a proven track record of shaping institutions that truly serve their students," Hoffman said in a release. "She brings a deep understanding of higher education's evolving landscape and the ability to turn vision into action. Her leadership has strengthened academic programs, expanded student opportunities and fostered innovative solutions to complex challenges." Jacobson said she is honored to join the BSU campus as well as the Bemidji community. "It was immediately obvious to me that BSU is a distinct place with many special people," she said. "I'm excited to get up there and start working on our strategic priorities, identifying and addressing challenges and capitalizing on our opportunities. This is an amazing opportunity for me to lead and give back to the Minnesota State system, where I completed my education." Jacobson holds a bachelor's degree in community psychology and master's and doctorate degrees in higher education administration, all from St. Cloud State University. In her associate provost role at Augsburg, Jacobson has served as senior advisor to the provost and vice president of academic and student affairs. She is responsible for operational and administrative processes in Academic and Student Affairs, serves as Augsburg's Title IX coordinator, oversees the college's Registrar's Office and Career Services, and is the Provost's Office liaison with the university's Office of Planning and Effectiveness, Human Resources, Chief Financial Officer, Information Technology, Enrollment Management, Grants and Sponsored Programs and all academic programs. In addition, she has helped oversee approximately $20 million in the university's academic affairs budget and served as primary administrative liaison to Augsburg's union of adjunct faculty members. Paula O'Loughlin, Augsburg's provost and senior vice president, said Jacobson has been a valued and trusted leader. "Marah is well-known for her tenacity, creativity, commitment to inclusion and deep belief in the gifts of our students," O'Loughlin said. "In addition to her significant responsibilities within academic and student affairs, Marah has been a key leader on major university-wide initiatives over the past several years, from the pandemic to a new general education curriculum to co-leading our successful reaffirmation of accreditation in 2024. "We are excited to see how a sister school in Minnesota will benefit from her leadership." Prior to her tenure at Augsburg, Jacobson oversaw Title III grant compliance at Inver Hills Community College and served in several roles at Russel Sage College and Sage College of Albany in New York and at the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University in Minnesota. As provost, Jacobson will serve as BSU's senior academic affairs officer, establishing and administering academic budgets, policies and priorities and overseeing curriculum and student research. She also will oversee several academic support units including grants administration, the Center for Professional Development, the A.C. Clark Library, and BSU's honors, general education and McNair Scholars programs. Through BSU's administrative alignment with NTC, Jacobson will collaborate with NTC's executive vice president and senior academic affairs officer to enhance and expand the collaborative relationship between the two institutions particularly in the development of academic and educational programs that serve northern Minnesota's industries, workforces and economies. Jacobson will succeed Jeff Ueland, who has served BSU as interim provost since September 2024. Her appointment begins on Monday, April 7.
