Described by some as a “social sport for smart people,” Model UN is an academic simulation of the United Nations that involves students from middle school, high school and college.
By Grace Lee
Described by some as a “social sport for smart people,” Model UN is an academic simulation of the United Nations that involves students from middle school, high school and college.
The model itself has been around since the 1920s, since Harvard held a conference simulating the League of Nations, but as the United Nations emerged in 1945, the conference evolved into Model UN. Today, more than 400,000 students worldwide participate in more than 400 conferences in 35 different countries. Many influential people today such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, have participated in Model UN conferences.
In typical Model UN procedure, students act as delegates from a specific UN member state to debate and resolve the world’s biggest social, political and economic issues over the course of a weekend. Each school is assigned a specific country, or countries, and committees such as the ones in the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council organs, the Security Council, and other governing agencies, organizations and commissions within the UN.
Each committee differs in its procedures, allotted power and number of member states, and has a chair and a member of the Dais that helps enforce the rules of procedure. There are three general sessions in parliamentary procedure – speaker’s list, moderated caucuses and unmoderated caucuses, which are used for formal speeches, fast paced debates and informal meetings, respectively.
Delegates are expected to do copious research on the topics, typically two, assigned and write a position paper that states their country’s policy and solutions, occasionally with a partner. We have to wear Western business attire during committee session, as professionalism is expected and enforced. The goal is for delegates to debate their countries’ policies and reach a consensus where a bloc can work together and write a resolution, which is an outline of solutions and methods.
At PDS, Model UN stands as an active, enduring organization in an ephemeral club culture. We go to at least two conferences annually, which are organized by universities and held at hotels from Thursday to Sunday. Club membership varies, as time commitment stands to be a challenge for some who are unable to spend four days away.
We have delegates from all four classes, whom outside of their diplomatic persona, also participate in athletics, arts and other academic ventures. It stands as one of the most demanding clubs at PDS, due to its connection outside of school.
In early December, we attended the Rutgers Model UN Conference (RUMUN) with more than 30 delegates representing Cuba and Myanmar. Currently, we are preparing for the Ivy League Model UN Conference (ILMUNC) hosted by the University of Pennsylvania in late January in Philadelphia. It is one of the world’s largest high school conferences, attended by more than 3,000 delegates from nine countries.
Without fail, it has always been an exciting, demanding and well-organized event. UPenn’s conference has also been one of the most innovative, allowing delegates to write resolutions on laptops and developing a smartphone application, so delegates can access conference information instantaneously. This year, due to the competitive nature of the conference, we have selected 17 of our best delegates to ILMUNC.
Some conferences also have committees that break away from parliamentary procedure and the UN all together, called crises. Most of these committees are either historical or futuristic, and require delegates to act as a specific person rather than on behalf of a country. At ILMUNC this year, PDS has two crises committees, a joint crisis focused on the 2006 conflict between Hezbollah and Israel and another that simulates the Iranian Revolution Committee in 1979.
Crises are engaging and challenging, and demand that delegates adapt in response to any change in events. They are also infamous as they stage midnight crises, where chairs would personally come to the hotel rooms of delegates well into the night and demand attendance within a short period of time due to a crisis situation.
I have been fortunate in representing PDS at every Model UN conference we have attended since freshman year. I have been able to debate issues such as the Syrian conflict, reproductive rights, urban environmental sustainability and human trafficking. At ILMUNC this year, I will be a member of the Press Corps, acting as a journalist and reporting on committees rather than participating in them.
Model UN is a tremendous extracurricular opportunity. It has nurtured my interest in politics and international affairs, helping me learn about issues of vital importance. It has also helped me hone skills in negotiation, problem solving, research, writing, public speaking and living with roommates.
Grace Lee is a junior at Princeton Day School.