All names are in alphabetical order by first name.
Best Chairs and Crisis Directors
Atharva Kulkarni 
University of California, Los Angeles
From competing (and gaveling) in multiple Ad Hocs this year to running back to back never before seen Ad Hocs at LAMUN, Atharva Kulkarni’s appearance on this list for the second year in a row is no surprise. Analyzing the fundamentals of MUN, he experiments with non-traditional rules of procedure to challenge the most experienced Ad Hoc delegates. After spearheading LAMUN XVII’s infamous time-loop animal simulation, which was praised across the circuit, Atharva aimed to raise the bar for LAMUN XVIII. This spring, Ad Hoc delegates became high school secretariat members of a conference that mirrored LAMUN. In real time, they interacted with other committees and staff to solve a complex murder mystery in a heartfelt homage to many of the delegate’s and senior staff’s last conference. While the worlds he creates draw the most attention, Atharva would defer more credit to the staff he’s trained in the past two years. He trains his staff to function independently with delegate arcs, allowing him to focus on the bigger picture. As the collegiate circuit bids farewell to one of its most innovative minds, Atharva will remain part of the UCLA community (but is retired from MUN) to work toward his PhD in Physics.
Bella Newell
Boston University
Over her four years as a part of the Boston University Model UN Team, Bella Newell left an incredible legacy both on the collegiate Model UN circuit, and in the hearts of the MUN@BU Team. She recently graduated from Boston University with a degree in International Relations, and served as the Head Delegate of the MUN@BU Team for the 2021-2022 Year, and more recently as the President of MUN@BU’s parent organization, BUIAA, for the 2022-2023 Year. As both Head Delegate and President, she pushed for progress and innovation for BUIAA, revitalizing the organization in its post-pandemic years. MUN brought Bella many places, from San Francisco, to China, to Boston Logan Airport (at 3am). It is hard to overstate her competitive success, with Bella earning an award at every one of the 24 conferences she attended, with 15 Best Delegate awards to boot (the most in MUN@BU history!). While her gavel cup may be impressive, and her impeccable conference weekend fashion note-worthy (blazer dresses and headbands abound), what is most memorable about Bella’s MUN career is the kindness, passion, and hard work she brought to every committee room, prep session, delegate social, and mock simulation. This spirit of seeing Model UN not only as a competitive activity but a chance for learning and connection made everyone around her better for it. Every conference weekend TikTok, pre-committee coffee run, and themed MUN@BU social will be remembered fondly. The BU MUN community will miss her dearly, but can’t wait to what amazing things she will do (as soon as she overcomes her addiction to Candy Crush)!
Carol Zhou 
University of Southern California
Anyone who has ever met Carol will tell you how she lights up every room she walks into. A member of the Fall 2021 MUNSC new member class, Carol is a successful competitor, a fantastic chair, and a lovely and priceless friend. She is currently in her first year of law school at the University of Southern California, meaning she is (sadly) no longer a member of our travel team, but, despite her busy 1L schedule, she still finds time to lend her expertise to our budding delegates. During her time in undergrad, Carol served as Director of Internal Relations and Director of Team Training for MUNSC. In addition to her fierce commitment to our team, she acted as a Research Associate in the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics, a Senior Advisor for the USC Association of Innovative Marketing Consulting Club, and completed her B.S. in Public Policy while maintaining a stellar GPA and a Presidential scholarship. Any delegate who has had Carol as a chair is lucky, but any person who has been able to compete on a team with her, or have her as a friend, is a better delegate– and person– because of it. We are so excited that Carol can wield the title of “All-Star”, but any member of MUNSC knows that the phrase does not even begin to describe how amazing she is.
Sam Evatt 
Florida State University
Sam Evatt is a junior studying International Affairs with certificates in Emergency Management & Homeland Security and U.S. Intelligence Studies at Florida State University. Known on the team for his uniquely hilarious crisis ideas and a devotion to obscure history, Sam served as the Crisis Director, or Baby Tsar, of NoleMUN II’s “Time of Troubles: A Twilight of a Tsardom” committee. With a passion for chaos, Sam’s “Ashes of an Empire: The Frankokratia” historical crisis at NoleMUN III promises to deliver yet another spectacular delegate experience. Additionally, Sam currently serves as the FSU World Affairs Program’s Assistant Director of Programming, spreading his creative MUN strategies with confidence and compassion. The team is so proud of you, Sam! Go Noles!
Sharicka Zutshi
University of California, Berkeley
Sharicka Zutshi has been the steady rock of UCBMUN. No matter the pickle you find yourself in, UCBMUN’s honorary “MUNMom” has you covered and can solve your problems with professionalism and compassion. She is a beast in committee, and knows General Assembly, Crisis, and Specialized Bodies backwards and forwards, serving UCBMUN as Generalized Head Delegate. Her ability to propel committee is also seen in her success as a Crisis Director. As CD of UCBMUN’s legendary Crisis Ad-Hoc, she led her committee on figurative and real scavenger hunts, weaves together arcs like no other, and infused each session with her infectious energy. Sharicka graduated from UC Berkeley this past spring with a degree in Biomedical Engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD at Columbia University. She is part of the inaugural cohort of Quad Fellows, representing India in this prestigious scholarship programs for the brightest minds in STEM. Congratulations, Sharicka—take on New York but never forget you’re best in the west!
Simon Guevara-Ponce
Concordia University
Simon is a dedicated Chair known for his unique and creative ideas for Ad Hoc committees. With multiple years of experience, Simon has served as Creative and Alumni Director of the Concordia Global Affairs Association and as a head delegate for Concordia External Delegation. Without his knack for out-of-the-box crisis arcs, his energy on the team and his mentorship, our team would not be where it is today. Needless to say, Simon has been our all-star for years! Old is good, but our Simon is platinum (blonde?)
Tarun Sreedhar 
University of California, Berkeley
Tarun Sreedhar is a prized member of UCBMUN that the team already dearly misses. This past May, Tarun graduated with degrees in Computer Science & Data Science and, unsurprisingly, served as the conference’s Director of Technology aka the resident tech boy (shoutout to the app that finally made it to the app store). Tarun’s involvement throughout his four years led him to become a confidante, a mentor, and a brother to many in our club. While we already feel the hole his absence has left, we couldn’t be prouder to celebrate “Tweakin’ Tarun” for being one hell of a Chair. The Breaking Bad committee was not only lucky but beyond grateful to have him, as evidenced by the glowing feedback and high praise that Tarun and his dais got at every Head Delegate feedback (and we all know how brutal those can be). As we await his eventual visit back home to the Bay, in the words of Skinny Pete, we want him to know: “Dude, you’re my hero.”
Vedant Vamshidhar 
University of Southern California
If there was ever a committee that lived up to and exceeded the hype of its real life counterpart, it was Death Row Records at TrojanMUN 2022 and it couldn’t have been made possible without Vedant and his incredible job as Crisis Director. From carrying out incredible crisis updates to having his delegates make a literal diss track as a resolution, Vedant made sure that there wasn’t a dull moment in the studio and made death row records one of the best committees we have seen in recent years.
Outstanding Chairs and Crisis Directors
Amritha Ramalingam
Georgetown University
If you’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Amritha Ramalingam in the past four years, you’re one of the luckiest people- both on and off the Model UN circuit. Amritha is not only an incredible Chair with an uncanny ability to bond with her delegates in the matter of a few days, but she’s also a formidable GA delegate and an unshakeable leader at Georgetown. As the Chair of NCSC 50’s pathbreaking Ad-Hoc Committee of the Secretary-General- one of the first to feature an all-woman matrix- Amritha was nothing short of spectacular. However, Amritha’s lasting contributions to the Model UN circuit, to me, will forever be her steadfast leadership of the 49th National Collegiate Security Conference and her pivotal role in bringing back in-person NCSC after the pandemic. She also served as the last CEO of the Georgetown International Relations Association, where she led our organization to a year of significant financial and program success. Above everything she has done for the circuit, everyone on the GUMUN team will forever remember Amritha for her never-ending support, kindness, and friendship. We wish Amritha the best of luck as a 1L at Georgetown University Law Center this year!
Emilie Parry
Florida State University
Emilie is a rising senior at Florida State studying International Affairs and Theatre, contributing to the fun and fresh perspective on Model UN that she enters committee rooms with (if you’ve ever been in committee with Emilie, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about – she’s a force to be reckoned with). Forever willing to spice up a conference social or a team meeting, Emilie truly was the heart and soul of FSU MUN – she served both as the Vice Director and as one of the Head Delegates for FSU’s team this year, proving herself to be a strong and brilliant leader, constantly gushing about how proud she was of FSU’s delegates. During conference breaks, you could always find her helping others on the team, working through the weekends to eventually earn the most points on FSU’s team (tied with Kelly Zhang, GA Genius and best friend) including three gavels at AIRMUNC, VICS, and ChoMUN. She also CD’d her first committee at NoleMUN II, Eat or be Eaten (which she often called her ‘baby’) and put everything she could into running the room. Model UN has been the highlight of her college career and she has found so much joy in the last three years, with MUN conference weekends being some of her favorite memories. Although we’re heartbroken to see her leave the circuit, we cannot wait to see the heights to which life takes her! We love you Emilie!!! Go Noles!
Georgia Steigerwald 
Harvard University
Georgia Steigerwald, in just about every possible way, has been the heart and soul of Harvard ICMUN for as long as we can remember. Both the team “daddy” and the self-proclaimed “momager,” it would be hard to find somebody at Harvard—if not the entire Model UN circuit—who has not had some wonderful-but-absolutly-crazy interaction with Georgia. Bringing, without fail, some of the wackiest crisis arcs to the UNSC circuit, Harvard ICMUN could not think of somebody more deserving of this award. Georgia, on more than one occasion, has taken on the near-impossible task of crisis directing two committees at once, so Georgia was well equipped to take on the UNSC at HNMUN. No matter the situation thrown at her—which, in her seemingly endless time at Harvard ICMUN, it seems as if every possible situation has—Georgia composes herself with charm, chaos, and a positively-infectious smile on her face. Harvard ICMUN Is lucky to have a supporter as remarkable as Georgia, and the Model UN world could never have been ready for what Georgia would bring to the table. Harvard ICMUN will never be the same without Georgia, and we are so fortunate that we are able to spend one more semester with her. Enjoy your last few conferences, daddy—get ready to bring home some gavels!
Helen Yang
University of California, Berkeley
