Delegates debate resolutions at JHUMUNC.
It was an exciting weekend in Baltimore, Maryland for over 2,000 delegates attending the 18th annual Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference (JHUMUNC) at the Baltimore Hilton Hotel. The high school conference was held Thursday, February 5th, to Sunday February 8th, 2015, and it hosted a realm of students from across the country as well as a plethora of committees that delivered intensity, excitement, and innovation to all delegates.
JHUMUNC transcended most typical high school conferences by offering many procedure training sessions for both experienced and novice delegates as well as advisory workshops during committee sessions, including one presented by Best Delegate Program Manager Laurabeth Goldsmith.
Johns Hopkins University brought an eclectic blend of committees, councils, unions, organizations, commissions, and assemblies to the table this year, along with riveting topics that engaged participants all weekend. In the G20 Summit of 2015 specialized committee, Spain left the European Union, and South Africa cut off all ties to Brazil, and in the Quadrumvirate of Kashmir 1995 joint crisis, Kashmir victoriously won state independence and international recognition while delegates were immersed in constant excitement.
Crisis committees held a midnight crisis session Friday night, pushing delegates to make adjustments to solutions, such as in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia Pacific (ESCAP), in which there was a 8.72 magnitude earthquake crisis in Thailand, and the Department of Homeland Security 2001, in which it was discovered that Hezbollah was involved in the 2002 attack on the Olympic Games. In the General Assemblies, delegates were faced with problems that transcended typical conference topics, including solving the complexities of military contracting and election monitoring in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL), providing rights to freelance journalists in the United Nations Economic, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and proliferating legal immigration throughout the international spectrum in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).
Placards from the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) 2050 committee.
One committee in particular, the Mayflower Compact of 1620 Social Council, stood out for operating within a relatable model. Upon dispute between delegates in committee, the chair, Max Roberts, pointed out that the condemnation of those who changed resolutions to affect the ship and colony was a “most beautiful display of the democratic process. The people are rebelling against their leaders, and this is democracy in action.”
Throughout the four days of JHUMUNC, delegates reinforced their satisfaction with their committees, chairs, and their conference experience as a whole. John Hopkins successfully pulled off, once again, a great conference for high school delegates this year.
Congratulations to the following schools for their delegation awards:
Best Large Delegation: Stuyvesant High School
Best Small Delegation: Riverview High School
Delegates debate in the Commission on the North Korean Crisis.
