Lanita Warner

Lanita was a youth exchange student in Israel when she first learned about the Hebrew University (HU). At the feet of Har Ha’tzofim (Mount Scopus), her tour guide pointed up and said, “look, at the top of that in HU: the Harvard of the Middle East where Nobel Laureates are born”. Those words struck a chord with her. Lanita was already deeply attached to Israel and wanted to return, so she decided to attend HU. The following year she studied at the Rothberg International School at HU (RIS) for a semester, after which she enrolled in an M.A. degree program.

It was RIS’s dynamic learning experience that encouraged her to return for her masters. “When I consider my experience at RIS, the buzzword that comes to mind is”well-rounded”. I learned for the RIS faculty, staff, internships, day trips, Shabbaton getaways, and my peers. “She, like many of her peers, chose RIS for its academic and experiential learning opportunities. “HU utilized the land of Israel as a classroom itself, which is why every student leaves with a wealth of knowledge”.

A RIS M.A. graduate of Jewish Studies, and the 2013-2014 recipient of the Dr. Sarah Mekler Weisz Prize for Outstanding Students, Lanita wishes to support her alma mater in an administrative role.  She joined American Friends of the Hebrew University as their Alumni Relations Coordinator. “I am grateful to be joining the AFHU family, because I desire to reinvent skills that I developed as a student at RIS”. Her central focus is “to kick-start a domino effect of alumni support, one that fuels and reignites alumni passion for the HU, and ensures the continuation of education and research at HU.”