The following recap was provided by secretary-general Serena Frechter, head delegates Kai Salem and Clem Aeppli, and delegate Hunter Moskowitz from Concord Academy.
It was a cold Saturday morning on April 5th, but that did not stop over a hundred hungry MUNers from showing up to CAMUN 2014, Concord Academy’s ninth annual Model UN conference.
CAMUN 2014 started the minute CAMUN 2013 ended. Last year’s secretariat gathered around at the follow-up meeting, eating pizza and calling out suggestions for the next year: “Let’s have more committees than ever!” “We should contact our guest speaker earlier.” “How about a community service component?”
Over the next months, we watched CAMUN 2014, the 9th annual conference held at Concord Academy, take shape. The five committees–including a GA, a Security Council, one historical committee, one modern specialized committee, and one time- and space- bending experimental committee–were led by a team of experienced Concord Academy delegates.
“Led by the largest group of seniors ever assembled in our Model UN Club, CAMUN 2014 went flawlessly. The talented and decorated secretariat knows how to win gavels, and showed all the delegates in attendance that they knew how to use them as well. ” Serena Frechter, the Secretary-General, knew that this was the year–ten years after the inaugural conference–for the biggest CAMUN yet.
All the committees were anchored by strong work from the crisis team. Crisis Director Nathan Greess had planned out several press releases and had even recorded newsflashes, complete with the NBC theme song, for the committees. However, the team demonstrated an admirable ability to think on its feet: Even the GA had a surprise crisis towards the end of the day. Events ranged from attempted takeover in the Cuban Revolution committee to the discovery of an international, illegal weapons cartel in the Security Council. Throughout, the Chairs were in contact with the crisis room and their specific crisis staffer, using a set of custom email accounts to ensure communication.
One unique committee stood out at the end of the day: Ignoring the laws of time and space, the United Minds for an Ethical Future Committee brought together philosophers of all eras to the year 2015 to debate issues such as human cloning and overpopulation. UMEF chair Mary Hollinger said “As I was watching Thoreau and Confucius debate the future of humanity, I was struck by the competence and dedication of the delegates; our debate reflected their interest in and the importance of the issue and their philosophies.” Delegates praised this committee as their best MUN experience ever.
However, the quality of debate and the enthusiasm of delegates in this committee was only a sample of the fabulous experience as a whole of CAMUN 2014.
Choate Rosemary Hall walked away victorious, winning Best Delegate on nearly every committee. An independent delegation from Boston University Academy also had great success, with every delegate winning an award. However, awards were just an embellishment on an already stimulating and rewarding day. CAMUN 2014 saw the true values of Model UN shine through: thoughtful consideration of important issues, dedicated debate, and clever diplomacy.
If you have any questions about CAMUN 2014, or have any questions for the CAMUN team, don’t hesitate to reach out to us at modelun@concordacademy.org! You can also visit our website, camun.org.
Child labor regulation met nuclear proliferation in the General Assembly.
Delegates in the Security Council debate the illicit international arms trade.
Delegates in UMEF represented philosophers from throughout history.
Delegates in General Assembly.
Chairs presenting awards for Cuban Revolution (above) and UMEF (below)
