When it comes to BYU's Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, no news is good news, and right now the going is great. That's essentially the message program director Eran Hayet conveyed during an interview in his office at the Jerusalem Center, which is situated atop Mount Scopus and endowed with an idyllic view of the Old City.
"We are following more or less the same model that we always have," said Hayet, who has worked at the center since 1994. "We might change a field trip here or there … but these are minor changes. All in all we are following the same model."
The Jerusalem Center, closed from 2001 to 2006 because of safety concerns, welcomes a new group of about 80 university students every four months.