This recap was provided by Rebecca McCumbers Flavin who is the faculty sponsor in the Political Science department at Baylor University
WACO, TEXAS – On October 8, 2011, Baylor University held its 16th annual High School Model United Nations Conference (BUMUN). With 15 schools and more than 250 students participating from across central Texas, the conference was one of the largest Baylor has hosted.
The delegations in attendance were encouraged by this year’s Secretary General, Katy Johnson, to, “Work for consensus and compromise through listening and collective agreement”. Ms. Johnson challenged the delegates with a lofty aspiration: “Our goal is to pass all resolutions by acclimation at this year’s conference”. This set a tone of collective agreement for the BUMUN conference, which held true throughout the day.
Six committees were represented at the conference: GA Plenary, 1st and 3rd, as well as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Security Council (SC). All of the committees successfully drafted and passed resolutions dealing with contemporary international issues. For example, the GA Plenary session dealt with issues of self-determination as they relate to the current events in countries such as Libya, and the WHO considered sanitation in the developing world.
At the conference, participants were challenged to think critically in their committees, and many submitted position papers before the start of the conference. Although all papers showed commendable advance preparation, Nolan Catholic High School of Forth Worth, TX, showed excellence through ample research and eloquence, earning this year’s award for best position paper.
Awards were also distributed for performance in committee as well as for the best small school delegation, large school delegation and best country delegation. The best small delegation award went to Claudia Taylor Johnson High School from San Antonio, TX, and the best large delegation was Strada MUN, a club which is comprised of home school students from across Texas. Strada was also named this year’s outstanding country delegation for their representation of Brazil. For the complete list of award winners as well as information about each of the topics addressed at this year’s conference, visit Baylor MUN’s website: http://www.baylor.edu/modelun/
Awards
Security Counsil
