Thanks to all our MUN friends who submitted suggestions for this video:

This post has been provided by Dana Lea from Southern Methodist University. Dana studied abroad in Ghana and brought Model UN to a school there. 

The Team from Roman Ridge School in Ghana

The impact of Model United Nations (MUN) on the youth of the world is not to necessarily create future employees to the United Nations. Students who participate in MUN go into fields of all kinds including science and technology, finances, peace and security, human rights, health, and politics. The impact MUN has is to create the leaders in these fields. MUN students learn the skills necessary for leadership roles and a future in international relations: debate, diplomatic relations, resolution writing, negotiation, and strategy implementation. The value of these skills is incalculable and shapes these student’s futures. Having participated in MUN for eight years myself, I can honestly say that the experience I have gained molds whom I am, what I study and what job I will get after college.

In much of the developing world there is a need for leadership. Poor national planning, inefficient resource allocation, faulty national financial systems, and corruption in presiding administrations cause many of the hardships developing nations face. Many governments are not being held accountable by their citizens or by the international community. Education is the best way to break free of these inadequacies. The leaders of nations usually arise from the educated elite (unless otherwise from the military). Education thus has the power to create mold future leaders.

However, I do not believe we should rely solely on the established education systems. I believe that spreading Model United Nations organizations in these schools can teach the skills listed above that many of the leaders today are lacking. By playing a role in the international system, solving international conflicts and issues through negotiation, and upholding human rights and international regulations through treaties and resolutions students are coaxed away from conceptions of corruption and nepotism. These students gain an understanding of how the world works outside of the borders of their own nations and how to act in accordance to international law. MUN can even give these students ideas for how to fix development issues within their own countries by implementation of policies created in committee; MUN definitely garners research into what does work and what does not work; and MUN empowers students not only skills and knowledge to implement in international and political careers, but creates a drive in these students to go out, make a difference and become leaders in whatever fields they seek.

When I studied abroad in Accra, Ghana my spring 2011 semester, I wanted to do more than go to school. Through my host sister I met a woman named Deirdre Babalola, a general studies teacher at The Roman Ridge School. She told me how she was interested in creating a Model United Nations team for her upper level students and I quickly volunteered for the endeavor. I began working with her 19 students twice a week during their class period. I taught them the basics of the United Nations, parliamentary procedure, debate, research, bloc formation, and resolution writing.

Delegates voting in committee

Some of the students got really into the Model United Nations sessions and really began to shine as speakers and leaders, while others seemed not to be as enthused. During practice sessions I made sure that every student contributed, despite his or her level of willingness. For our conference to be held in late May, I chose the topic of peace resolution in Cote d’Ivoire. I believed the topic to be best since it was extremely close to home for these West African students and offered room for exceptional debate on how to handle an issue that was still being disputed by nations at the time. For country assignments I tried to really challenge all the students. Some of the best debaters were given P5 nations, while others were challenged with smaller developing nations. I also thought that I could motivate some of the not so eager students with powerful nations with many strong opinions. The counties represented at our conference included Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Egypt, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Senegal, Kenya, Guinea Bissau, Niger, Gambia, South Africa, USA, Russia, China, France, and the UK. These assignments ensured regional cooperation, bloc formation, various opinions and solutions, and P5 resistance.

The week before our conference Mrs. Babalola collected the position papers written by the students, which she used for grades and I used to choose awards and to gage the students’ level of research. On the day of our conference the students were allowed to shed their school uniforms and come to school in western business attire appropriate for any Model UN conference. The level of participation and excitement was much higher on this day than it had been during any of the training sessions. A crowd of students, staff and parents were in attendance to watch the hard work of the class unfold. Debate went splendidly and the students exhibited the skills and knowledge they had gained in the prior weeks.

Overall, I am extremely pleased with the experience I had at the Roman Ridge School. Not only was I able to impart my Model UN skills and international relations knowledge to these students, but also I gained a sense of appreciation for the organization I have been a part of for eight years. I hope that many of these students will be inspired to continue with world politics and international relations. I know that the skills they have learned are tremendously valuable for their futures. From what I saw in the classroom on the day of our conference, I would not be surprised if a future president or minister of Ghana was in the room. These students are the future leaders of Africa and the world, I only hope my lessons in MUN can impart the tools necessary for that future.

I would like to send great thanks all the way to Ghana to Mrs. Babalola and her wonderful and bright students. I would also like the chance to recognize the winners of awards at our conference. Many of the students did wonderfully, but these are the students who reached beyond. The Best Delegate award went to Murvi Babalola (USA). Our Honorable Mentions went to Marciyah Gyan (France), Funbi Makinde (Ghana), and Abishek Raghavan (Gambia). The Best Position Paper award went to Matilda Williams (Guinea Bissau) and the Honorable Mention for Position Paper went to Eugene Brown (UK).

Best Delegate spent this past weekend liveblogging from MUNUC and Surf City Model United Nations. Be sure to check it out. Best Delegate is now offering summer camps! Click to Learn More about Model UN Summer Camps!

Conference Recaps

Delegates caucus in the OAS

Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC)

Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC) is the largest conference in the Midwest with 2,500 delegates descending upon Chicago to participate in a weekend of learning and fun. The conference, which has an emphasis on education, serves a vital role in the Midwest where Model UN conferences are not as widely available as in other parts of the country — many Midwestern delegates see this as their biggest conference of the year.

Surf City Model United Nations

Over 700 delegates from 8 Southern California schools attended this weekend’s Surf City MUN Conferencehosted by Huntington Beach High School. The Best Large Delegation awards went to Mira Costa and Edison, and Palos Verdes and Gahr received the Best Small Delegation awards.

Conference Preview

The LIMUN Secretariat

LIMUN

LIMUN is the largest annual university-based Model United Nations conference in Europe. It has a reputation for an exceptional standard of debate, set in London’s unique and cosmopolitan atmosphere. Each year, we welcome more than 800 delegates from across the world to London to debate some of the most pressing problems on the global agenda.

Upcoming Conferences

• Alabama Model United Nations (ALMUN)
• Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference (JHUMUNC)
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology Model United Nations Conference (MITMUNC)
• Prague Model United Nations (PragueMUN)
• London International Model United Nations (LIMUN)

Community News

Best Delegate News

• Click to Learn More about Model UN Summer Camps!
• Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC) Liveblog: Educating the Midwest
• Surf City Model United Nations 2012 Liveblog
• THIMUN Qatar and Northwestern University in Qatar Launches the Inaugural Qatar MUN and Film Leadership Conference
• New Conference: HenMUN Hosted by the University of Delaware
• Advisor Guest Post: Redefining “Best Delegate” — The True, Most Necessary Skills of the 21st Century “Problem Solver”
• North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN) Featured Series: Programming All the Fun That Goes On Outside of Committee

Model U.N. News

• Aspen High students get global with Model U.N. Club
• 1500 “model” UN participants hear message of challenge and responsibility from the Met publisher McGill conference third largest next to Harvard
• Fifteen International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools & Mumbai Dignitaries Conclude a Successful Model United Nations (MUN)
• Students to compete in Harvard Model UN Conference
• Students Recognized at YMCA Model United Nations Conference
• Gulf Coast High School “Model United Nations” team ranks in top 10 at national competition
• Model UN: Success from BC to France
• “Life-Changing” Model U.N. Conference Run Entirely by Earlham Students
• Georgetown kicks off Seventh Model United Nations Conference
• Model United Nations participates in international conference
• Longview ISD Foster students continue winning ways at Model UN
• Model UN Club Finds Success at Yale
• UF’s Model United Nations to hold GatorMUN conference this weekend
• Model UN Conference Opens World to Students
• Model United Nations Wins Best Small Delegation at Yale Conference
• Hundreds of New York City’s Most Dedicated Students Participate in Model United Nations Conference

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Delegates caucus at MUNUC

Model United Nations of the University of Chicago (MUNUC) is the largest conference in the Midwest with 2,500 delegates descending upon Chicago to participate in a weekend of learning and fun. The conference, which has an emphasis on education, serves a vital role in the Midwest where Model UN conferences are not as widely available as in other parts of the country — many Midwestern delegates see this as their biggest conference of the year. Check out our liveblog of the conference!

As usual, we try to capture different photos of delegates and staff in action:

The Prairie School is excited for MUNUC

The Cranbrook Kingswood School takes a team photo before Opening Ceremonies

Secretary-General Ben Smithgall encourages delegates to learn from this weekend's MUNUC

A delegate from the Aqsa School asks the keynote speaker a question

The Sixth Legal Committee

Seychelles (Cambridge-Isanti School) and the Czech Republic (Valparaiso High School) discuss their thoughts on a draft resolution in 6th Legal

Sweden (The Prairie School), India (Warren Central High School), Israel (Cathedral and John Connon School), and Nepal (Culver Academy) present their draft resolution in Sixth Legal

Sweden (The Prairie School) is active during unmoderated caucus in WIPO

Israel (Cathedral and John Connon School) debates an idea during unmoderated caucus in WIPO

Canada (Liberty Public Schools) speaks with another leading delegate in WIPO

Ghana (Keith Country Day School) leads a caucus bloc in WIPO

Jordan (Valparaiso High School) makes a speech in WIPO

Barbados (Edina High School) makes a speech in UNESCO

The co-delegates representing the Republic of Congo (Mundelein High School) address UNESCO

Delegates caucus in the International Labor Organization

A delegate speaks during unmoderated caucus in the International Labor Organization

Turkey (St. John's High School) tries to convince another delegate of his solutions in Interpol

Delegates exchange ideas with each other in the Ethiopian Derg

Delegates listen to ideas in the Ethiopian Derg

The dais of the Organization of American States is having fun at MUNUC

The co-delegates of St. Kitts and Nevis (Lake Forest Academy) work together in the OAS

Canada (Liberty Public Schools) listens to other delegates during unmoderated caucus in the OAS

Delegates caucus in the OAS

The USSR makes a speech in the Historical Security Council

SPECPOL in action

The sponsors for a draft resolution read off their ideas in DISEC. I couldn't catch all the sponsors but I believe Venezuela, Uzbekistan, Madagascar, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Myanmar are on there along with the lead sponsor, Ethiopia (the delegate reading the resolution).

Oman (St. George's School) asks the sponsors a question in DISEC

Qatar (Illinois Math & Science) makes a speech in ECOFIN

The Philippines are enjoying their time in ECOFIN

Undersecretary-General for Specialized Agencies Clara Spera roams the halls to make sure all delegates are having fun in her committees

India (Warren Central High School) makes a speech in the G8/G20 Summit

Germany (Cambridge-Isanti High School) makes a speech in the G8/G20 Summit

Singapore (Glenbrook South High School) gets some feedback from the dais in the G8/G20 Summit

The awesome dais of the G8/G20 Summit

Qatar (Illinois Math & Science) criticizes flaws in a draft resolution in in UNHCR

Spain (Carl Sandburg High School) thinks the draft resolution is too vague

Undersecretary-General of ECOSOC Committees Karissa Woienski poses with Fluffy, the mascot of MUNUC

Portugal (Chicagoland MUN Club) speaks in COPUOS

The Russian Federation (The Blake School) obviously has some opinions on space-related issues in COPUOS

Delegates in the European Defense Agency caucus with each other

Another bloc of delegates share their working papers with each other in the European Defense Agency

The leaders of the the JCC - Germany cabinet negotiate a secret agreement in preparation for an invasion of Poland

A general speaks to the JCC - Soviet Council of People's Commissars

Delegates in the JCC Soviet Council of People's Commissars strategize outside the committee room

A delegate tries to pitch her ideas to the rest of the Office of Strategic Services 1940s

Delegates get into a heated debate in the Office of Strategic Services 1940s

Undersecretary-General of Continuous Crisis Committees Gabriel Panek announces the awards for JCC - Soviet Council of People's Commissars

Undersecretary-General for Specialized Agencies Clara Spera announces the awards for COPUOS

MUNUC Closing Ceremonies are always an emotional affair. Chief Operating Office Aash Anand and Secretary-General Ben Smithgall share a hug here.

Delegates get in their team photos at the beautiful Palmer House Hilton after Closing Ceremonies

Awards Analysis:

MUNUC is meant to be an educational conference so competition is de-emphasized. Nevertheless, they do give out individual Outstanding, Honorable Mention, and Verbal Commendation awards. According to my unofficial tally of weighted scores, Liberty Public Schools and Deerfield High School seemed to be the top two performing delegations.

Culver Academy, Cambridge-Isanti School, Wayland Academy, The Blake School, Cranbrook Kingswood School, and Glenbrook South High School also put in outstanding performances. The following schools also saw a good number of their delegates win awards: Jefferson Area High School, Neuqua Valley High School, American Heritage School Plantation, Illinois Math & Science Academy, Edina High School, Walter Payton College Prep, Berkshire School, Cathedral and John Connon School, and the Chicagoland MUN Club.

Note that the Cathedral and John Connon School from India was competing on back-to-back weekends; they had successfully defended their Best International Delegation award at Harvard HMUN last week. Using their performance at both conferences to serve as a barometer, it goes to suggest that although many of these other Midwestern schools do not get a lot of press because they don’t have as many local conferences to attend, they are nonetheless excellent in committee and should not be overlooked when it comes to national recognition.

Delegates discussed how to reunify the Korean Peninsula in Surf City's joint cabinet crisis

One highlight of the conference was the joint crisis between the cabinets of North Korea and South Korea discussing reunification of the Korean Peninsula. The crisis staff had access to a green screen and made liberal use of it to create crisis videos. The two cabinets merged during the last committee session to have a joint negotiation on how to reunify the Koreas.

Click below to see more pictures from the conference!

Thank you to advisors Shaun Haney and Bill Harmicar and Secretaries-General Tianne Nguyen and Monica Vergara for having me visit!

This post has been provided by Ann Rogers, THIMUN Coordinator – Qatar

The THIMUN Foundation and Northwestern University in Qatar will launch its first annual international Film Festival in March 2012.  Visit http://www.thimunqatarfilmfestival.org/ for more information.  The Film Festival, to be hosted in Doha, is designed to encourage MUN delegates to engage in video advocacy on the issues they debate in MUN conferences. Selected student film makers will take part in a three day festival where they will take part in workshops, meet industry leaders and take part in a gala awards evening.

The mission of the THIMUN Qatar-Northwestern Film Festival is to encourage a better understanding of and appreciation for cinematic arts, to foster those arts, to help to put a human face on the contemporary issues facing the world today.  The Film Festival provides a platform for high school students to showcase their work to a wider audience through the power of film integrating video into advocacy work.

THIMUN Qatar will be hosting along with Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar, part of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, the first Qatar MUN and Film Leadership Conference in September 2012. The conference will provide high school students and teachers with quality workshops designed to provide them with leadership skills and tools to run successful MUN and Film studies programs and an annual meeting place for MUN and Film leaders to exchange ideas and develop partnerships.

THIMUN Qatar Regional MUN Conference was created as a joint project between Qatar Foundation and the THIMUN Foundation.  This conference brings young people from the Middle East and North African region to an annual conference in Qatar to seek, through discussion, negotiation and debate, solutions to the various problems of the world, sharing ideas from a diverse set of experiences and backgrounds.

The University of Delaware just announced the launch of its HenMUN conference for high school students. We’re always supportive of new conferences and we’ve re-posted their invitation letter for the 2013 inaugural session below. 

Dear Delegates and Advisors,

It is my distinct pleasure, honor, and privilege to invite you to HenMUN I, the inaugural Model United Nations Conference at the University of Delaware.  Over the past few months, my Secretariat and I have been working diligently to put together the beginning stages of what promises to be one of the most unforgettable Model United Nations conferences for high school students to date.  HenMUN I will be held from March 1 through 3 of 2013 on the beautiful campus of the University of Delaware.

The conference will simulate riveting committees and host social events for delegates that will be unparalleled by other events on the Model UN circuit.  Through our all-inclusive crisis organ we will run committees ranging from JCC: The South American Diplomatic Crisis-The Conflict between Colombia and Venezuela and FARC, to Historical Security Council, 1994: Preventing a Genocide in Rwanda, to the United States National Security Council, September 11, 2001.  With mid-night crises, multimedia incorporation, and full theatrics in all crisis committees, we are confident that the committees hosted at HenMUN I will be among some of the best you have ever seen.  Our General Assemblies, Economic and Social Councils, and Regional Bodies promise to provide great experiences for delegates as well, with committees such as Historical General Assembly, 1979: The Iranian Revolution, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and the European Union, 2020: A Region in Crisis, Militarize or Divide.  Outside of committee delegates will have the opportunity to “Scoop with the Secretariat” at an Ice Cream Social hosted by our own on-campus creamery, UDairy, and attend a reception and informational session with the UD Department of Political Science and International Relations.

Delegates and Advisors will be given exclusive hotel rates at a variety of hotels within walking distance of campus, but the conference will also provide daily busing.  Security will be provided, as will all else, by our large and committed staff of undergraduate volunteers.

Early Registration will open in early March of 2012 and can be accessed through the website at www.henmun.org.  If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact myself or any other member of my highly dedicated Secretariat.  Contact information for other members of my team can be found at our website as well.  With that, I welcome and hope to see you at HenMUN I in the First State in March of 2013.

Sincerely,

Max Kramer
Secretary-General
HenMUN I
sec-gen@henmun.org

June Gorman is an educational theorist and the co-founder of the Transformative Education Forum

I’m happy to share the first Best Delegate guest post written by a Model UN advisor. June Gorman is an educational theorist and the co-founder of the Transformative Education Forum. She has been involved in Model UN as an education chair for UNA-USA and as a member of the IMUNA board.

I was standing on the steps of Sproul Hall on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, my alma mater of some 30 years prior. It brought back warm memories of past causes strong enough to have me gather on these very steps with other students of that time, to discuss, learn about, argue and protest these issues of world importance – such as South African Apartheid and the divestment movement to stop US financial support to that unsustainable, racist model.

But this time I was there for a different way to learn/teach about those world issues that everyone was now beginning to see were critical for all truly thoughtful citizens of any nation in the 21st Century to know and discuss. This time I was waiting for students I helped bring to the 65th Berkeley Model United Nations Conference from two Monterey/Salinas schools completely new to Model UN – Pacific Grove and Alisal High Schools.

Waiting on these nostalgia-inducing stone steps below the Classical architecture Administration building with it’s white, imposing, Greco-Roman pillars, I listened to the students around me, eavesdropping on their impressions of this MUN conference so far. Near me were other MUN clubs and school advisors gathering for the lunch break. Behind my back, I felt a rush of excited motion as one of these other school’s students ran up to his apparent advisor gushing, “There were 7 other resolutions being written and supported but I managed to get them all voted down until mine was the only Resolution left!” To my surprise, he got the enthusiastic approval from his advisor he was clearly expecting – he had won! Looking up, I caught the eye of one of my Alisal students, Fernando, brand new to Model UN and at his first conference ever. Together we shared a knowing smile.

Flash back to pouring rain, me driving way too fast on the Freeway from where I live to Salinas, CA – breadbasket still, farm land still, home of John Steinbeck and strong necessary populations of Hispanic migrant workers. In unusual heavy rain I was clearly hydroplaning and dangerously so, but I had to get there, to Alisal High, to a fledgling barely started Model UN club and the 8 students who had signed up with their new advisor to attend Berkeley’s MUN, raised the money for the trip 100 miles North, but were now according to their advisor, fearfully backing out. They were not sure that they could do this daunting thing, with their inexperience, their admitted lack of preparation, their cultural distance from the elite academy that was Berkeley, looming frighteningly in their minds

June and her delegation at the Berkeley MUN Conference

I got there alive but with only 30 minutes left to convince the 8 scared, literally pale and silent students in front of me who knew now that this was far more than they had expected or had even known to get ready for and I sensed that biggest fear of all humans and certainly all students was raising its powerful head: the fear of humiliation and shame, of not “knowing” what you were supposed to and thus being exposed to all as “stupid.” Nonetheless I, too long sensitive to what that emotional fear can do to actual learning, felt I knew exactly what to tell them.

After introducing myself and learning all their names, I began:

“Your advisor tells me you are feeling unprepared for Berkeley’s Model UN, as your first ever MUN conference. Your advisor tells me that you all are pretty certain you want to back out, give up your deposit and not attend at all. But I am here to tell you why that would be a mistake.

“The beauty of Model United Nations is that it is unlike most other things we teach and grade in school, unlike the ‘competition’ to win and show yourself ‘on top’ and better than others. The beauty of Model United Nations is that it is a simulation model that allows you, encourages you, to learn as you go. Just like life itself.

“In Model UN, unlike most of all other American classroom learning, you are not constantly tested, graded, exposed for what you do not yet feel confident about knowing. You can remain completely silent the entire time in your committee and none will be the wiser.

“But those true ‘Best Delegates’, those true complex, well taught, listeners and encouragers of broadening the discussion and thus the true best ‘Problem Solvers’ — your best experience in MUN will be had in looking for those ‘Best Delegates.’

“Ignore the ‘shark in the water’ competitors for awards – they are also incredibly easy to spot by their arrogance and the way they shut down wider discussion. In many MUN Conferences to this day, they will often be the ones rewarded as ‘Best Delegate’ but I, and now you, know better.

“Look for those true ‘Best Delegates’ who indeed have done their work and can model for you how to present it in the most inclusive not arrogant voice, who can pull from everyone else their contribution to make the best resolution/solution and who can make all of the committee feel like ‘winners’ because they encouraged all gifts, diverse viewpoints and abilities to communicate together in order to truly problem-solve.

“They will teach you far more than you could ever learn alone or they could ever learn alone and they will make it a pleasure to do so. And this is perhaps the most critical skill set of all the skill sets for sustainable problem solving in a complex, interdependent, diverse world.”

The true Best Delegates will "teach you far more than you could ever learn alone or they could ever learn alone and they will make it a pleasure to do so."

Now, having caught the amused dark brown eyes of Fernando as we listened to the young man behind me, I felt validated. Fernando had been one of these very Alisal students who had most feared coming but had, trusting me, done so and already told me that despite the “competitive ones” he had done as I had suggested and aligned himself with true “Best Delegates” that had unknowingly taught him far better and made him enjoy the entire experience of that complex learning, far more.

It was the young man behind me that I actually felt more sorry for; he had done everything he had been taught to win “Best Delegate” but I was certain that Fernando had learned more that was most important about the entire exercise of Model UN. And life.

And it was my hope that one of these days, we would recognize and reward as truly ‘Best Delegates’ those who were most instrumental in sharing that knowledge and learning with Fernando and the others, to make the entire committee and all its students trying to learn to complex problem-solve for the best overall solutions, altogether better. And thus far more prepared to do the very same thing in their own lives and their wider world.

It’s why as an lifetime educator looking for that better problem-solving model, I truly love Model UN and the real “Best Delegates”, often unrewarded, from whom I too get to learn and enjoy the most.

How do you define “Best Delegate?” Let us know in the comments below!

Note: This article is Part 2 of a five-part featured series on NAIMUN XLIX. Learn more about the series here. 

Georgetown Bhangra performed at Hilltop Madness. The Friday night event is one of many social and educational experiences outside of committee at NAIMUN.

Located in the nation’s capital, NAIMUN has many opportunities to provide delegates an unparalleled out-of-committee experience. For this reason, there are two people on the NAIMUN Secretariat who commit themselves entirely to planning that experience. The Director and Deputy Director of Programming are responsible for ensuring that delegates take away not only new friends and a better understanding of global issues from the conference, but also a sense of what an impact they can have on the world around them.

Director of Programming Randy Crooks and Deputy Director Jennifer Zink have spent the last few months organizing a host of different events: tours at major D.C. venues, speakers who have specific knowledge on NAIMUN’s committee topics, trips for delegations to the embassy that delegates represent in committee, and Hilltop Madness and the Delegate Dance.

At NAIMUN, delegates have the opportunity not only to participate in debate, but also to learn directly from the representatives who the delegates are modeling. By far one of the hardest jobs that Randy and Jennifer had to do was to get in contact with the dozens of embassies in Washington, in an attempt to organize visits. While it might seem rather simple to set up these events, many embassies answer the phone in foreign languages, or simply have difficulty understanding what exactly Model United Nations is. NAIMUN is, as always, excited to offer to its delegates such an enriching opportunity, and hopes that delegates who have the opportunity to use their visit as a boost to their committee preparedness.

NAIMUN offers two of the most fun nights on the High School Circuit: Hilltop Madness, and the NAIMUN delegate dance. These events also allow delegates to get to know one another outside of committee, and contribute to a sense of community among the delegates that will last throughout their MUN career. Hilltop Madness, which comprises performances by many of the most talented groups on campus as well as NAIMUN staffers, is a particularly memorable event for both staff and delegates. Additionally, the delegate dance especially allows for delegations to enjoy a nice time together and with their newfound friends.

Director of Philanthropy Audrey Atencio was given the task of searching out an official “Conference Charity” that fits with the particular mood and feeling of that year’s NAIMUN. This year, NAIMUN selected charity:water as its charity for the conference. NAIMUN has set an ambitious fundraising goal of $25,000 for charity:water, which will allow us to fund a clean water supply for an entire village in Ethiopia. This fall, NAIMUN hosted a staff service project, in which nearly many staffers participated. NAIMUN hopes that staffers and delegates alike can help NAIMUN reach its goal.

Another aspect of NAIMUN philanthropy is the Social Justice Symposium. This new event (only in its second year) offers delegates the chance to see how they can apply their desire to do good in the world. This year the Social Justice Symposium will feature NGOs and non-profits that focus particularly on youth engagement. The Social Justice Symposium is still growing and changing, but hopefully delegates will be able to take advantage of this unique opportunity. For those delegates interested in pursuing internships in the NGO and non-profit world, the Symposium also offers a chance to speak to people who have made careers in the field.

NAIMUN is so much more than a “just another Model United Nations Conference,” and one of the ways NAIMUN stands apart is through its commitment to the out of committee experience. While delegates may spend most of their days debating serious international issues, NAIMUN’s out of committee experience allows delegates to bridge the gap between simulation and practice, and between work and fun.