This is a guest post submitted by Raina Kadavil from the BarMUN Secretariat. If you have just had a conference and would like to feature your article on bestdelegate.com please email an article with at least two pictures to aaron@bestdelegate.com
From New York City gangsters to the cabinet of Putin’s right hand man, the ninth annual Boston Area Model United Nations Conference (BarMUN IX) kicked off this season of MUN with – not a bang – but a coup, a terrorist invasion, and several illegitimate marriages. It took place in the newly renovated Questrom School of Business
for the very first time this year, giving the conference a new spin. With the theme of “Toward Peace,” BarMUN IX’s fourteen committees covered Koch Industries, the Office of the Russian Prosecutor General, the Indonesian Intelligence Services, the Dubai 2020 Expo, and the JCC Peruvian Mining Coalition vs. Observatory (in the Modern track) and the Court of Emperor Tang Xuanzong, the Five Families of New York, Richard the Lionheart, The OSS 1944, and the JCC Coastal Divides vs. Death Row Records (in the Historical track). It also featured its very first Specialized committee, the International Court of Justice, and a very special AdHoc committee of the Secretary General, the Sons of Liberty. The committees this year passed judgment on the Marshall Islands, got Donald Trump elected as President of the United States, reduced the Five Families to just three, and hosted the rap event of the season.
But there was much more to BarMUN than the committees. Our opening speaker was one of Boston University’s most dynamic alumni, Matthew Trevithik, one of the America
ns recently released from Evin Prison in Iran. Trevithik is a living motif of the theme, “Toward Peace”: a specialist in Middle Eastern Foreign Policy, he has worked as a writer and researcher at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, co-founded SREO Research in Turkey, and published an autobiography of Afghanistan’s first Minister of Higher Education after the fall of the Taliban. Opening ceremonies also featured our distinguished charity, Global Hope Network, a leading organization in the fight against hunger, malnutrition, and global refugee crises in nations such as Egypt, Burkina Faso, India, Indonesia, Afghanistan, and Greece. Saturday night featured our highly sought-after boat party, where delegates danced the night away against the backdrop of the beautiful Boston Harbor. Finally, closing ceremonies brought with them victory for four very prestigious schools after four days of fierce debate:
Best Large Delegation: Vanderbilt University
Outstanding Large Delegation: Georgetown University
Best Small Delegation: Florida International University
Outstanding Small Delegation: American University
BarMUN IX was truly an unforgettable experience for over 200 staff and over 350 delegates from 32 schools and seven different countries around the world – a bigger conference than ever before. And we have high hopes that BarMUN X will be even better! On behalf of the entire Secretariat, thank you to everyone who made these incredible four days possible: all of the sponsors, speakers, staff members, administrators, and most of all, the delegates who brought our committees to life.
