By Dr. Mark McGraw, lecturer in Spanish and Baylor Model Organization of American States advisor

The Baylor Model Organization of American States (MOAS) team represented the Republic of Chile at the Washington, D.C. MOAS Summit from April 7-13, 2024. The week in Washington kicked off with an office call with Chile’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States, Sebastián Kraljevich.

Baylor’s Michael Jordan (senior, political science) chaired First Committee, while Samantha Joyce (junior, international studies) served as vice chair for Third Committee during the summit. Team members presented resolutions that were oriented on the humane treatment of international refugees, the proposal of a transnational criminal court in the Americas, initiatives to reduce crime and gang activity, combating illicit arms trafficking, addressing the threat of artificial intelligence to elections, and strengthening efforts to address water crises in the hemisphere.

Six members of the team also participated in the Ninth Annual Inter-American Court of Human Rights Moot Court preliminary hearings on April 5 and 6. The three Baylor teams were seeded among the top four for the finals held at Concordia University in Austin on April 19-20, 2024. Each team represented the State and Petitioner in a fictional case that explores the thin line between national security and freedom of the press. Noah Aune (senior, political science) and Nick Starr (senior, political science) were recognized as Outstanding Overall Team for Legal Research and Writing. Nick Starr wrote the Outstanding Legal Memorial as the Petitioner, Kenton Shieh (sophomore, history) won the Outstanding Legal Memorial for the State, and Noah Aune had the Distinguished State Memorial.