UPMUNC XLIX Secretariat
This guest article was written by Taylor Lewis, Secretary-General of UPMUNC XLIX.
Last weekend, more than one thousand college students gathered in the City of Brotherly Love for the 49th annual session of the University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC). Delegates debated an array of stimulating topics pertinent to issues on the international community’s agenda, and there were many amazing social events outside of committee to round out each delegate’s weekend in Philadelphia. Keynote speaker David Eisenhower, expert in political communication, spoke during Opening Ceremonies, encouraging delegates to engage diplomatically with one another and work together to maintain the integrity of the mission of the United Nations. With those important words in mind, UPMUNC XLIX commenced and an epic weekend began!
This year, UPMUNC proudly offered 21 committees so delegates could be sure to find a forum to passionately debate something of their interest. XLIX ran five General Assembly Committees: DISEC, SOCHUM, SPECPOL, Legal, and Historical IAEA, 1957. In addition, XLIX offered four ECOSOC committees: UNOPS, UNESCAP, UNCSW, and a Historical UNHRC. UPMUNC maintained its crisis prestige with twelve crisis committees, ranging from the International Criminal Court to Catherine the Great’s Cabinet to a committee of the Illuminati. Delegates enjoyed the fast-paced nature of UPMUNC’s crisis committees this year, whether the committees were historical, present-day, futuristic, or fictional.
Delegates in SPECPOL discuss working papers with the dais.
Delegates in Security Council debate current world issues
With high expectations to live up to from previous years of UPMUNC, XLIX was proud to deliver amazing social events to couple the delegates’ in-committee experience at conference this year. On Thursday night, UPMUNC hosted its traditional Pub Night, where delegates and Penn staffers joined together for a night of worldly drinks and good times. On Friday, Cocktail Night was a huge success, with a live DJ and guest performance from Kayvon, as well as lighting, lasers, and a dance floor. UPMUNC’s DelFest changed locations this year to District N9ne in downtown Philadelphia. Delegates joined staffers on Saturday night to commemorate a great conference. A bottle parade, live DJ, and packed dance floor made UPMUNC XLIX’s DelFest the best yet!
Cocktail night at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel
DelFest was one for the records
On Sunday morning, delegates gathered for one last session of debate before Closing Ceremonies. Before awards were announced, delegates and staffers joined in a moment of silence to recognize the tragedies that took place across the world over the course of the weekend. After the moment of silence, awards were given out. UPMUNC XLIX is proud to announce the school awards as follows:
Best New Delegation: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (best new school that has never previously attended UPMUNC)
Outstanding Small Delegation: University of California, Berkeley
Best Small Delegation: University of Miami
Outstanding Large Delegation: University of Chicago
Best Large Delegation: Georgetown University
Congrats to all and UPMUNC would like to thank everyone for an amazing weekend. The UPMUNC Secretariat looks forward to seeing everyone next year at UPMUNC L – the fiftieth session of UPMUNC, which will undoubtedly be even more incredible!
Chief of Staff, Mira Naseer, Secretary-General, Taylor Lewis, Director-General, Alex Sands, and Chief Operating Office, Jialin Zhang, smile for a photo after Closing Ceremonies and celebrate the end of an amazing UPMUNC!
