Courtney Toretto is the new director of CUlanu, the centre for Jewish student life in Cambridge, funded by UJS-Hillel.

Hey y'all, my name is Courtney Toretto, and I am the new director of CuLanu (the centre for Jewish student life in Cambridge, which is funded by UJS-Hillel).

I graduated from University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2007, with a degree in Political Science with an International Relations emphasis. While at UCSB, I was very active in the Jewish and Pro-Israel community. My senior year, my peers elected me president of American Students for Israel (ASI). Through ASI, I was also able to help found an organization called Students for Understanding in the Middle East (SUM) which attempted to facilitate dialogue between all viewpoints of the situation in the Middle East.

Growing up, I was a strong leader in the Jewish community. As a child, I led my fellow Jewish campmates in often mischievous hi-jinks, such as a summer camp-wide battle of the sexes when I was 9 years old. With age came a more focused and proactive outlet for my motivational and leadership skills and I joined my temple's youth group. My role in the youth group grew from member to publicity chair to social action vice president.

I am super excited to move to Cambridge from Orange County, California and I look forward to getting to know all of you in the Cambridge community. You can contact me on 07970 444 327 or 01223 307 755, by email at courtney AT culanu D0T org and I also encourage everyone to stop by CUlanu to say hey (and maybe eat a piece of candy or two).