On March 28-April 3, 16 Baylor University students traveled to New York to participate in the National Model United Nations Conference, which brings together more than 5,000 university students from around the world to participate in two week-long simulations of the United Nations. The NMUN conference is unique among Model UN conferences in that more than half of the attendees are from universities outside the United States.

Our students represented Burundi, and they researched and discussed issues such as:

• control of biological weapons
• the rights of indigenous peoples
• the elimination of racial discrimination and xenophobia
• women in development
• “green” economy
• enhancing the use of technology in peacekeeping missions
• sustainable development in the Arctic
• financing international climate technology transfer
• disaster risk management and food security in natural disaster situations, and
• denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

For a full list of conference topics, visit the NMUN website.

At the conference, our students excelled and represented Baylor well. They are pictured in the group photo above, with a full roster of participants included below.

While the educational experience involved in the Model United Nations program is always the most important part of these conferences, and awards are not the emphasis of the conference or our team, I am delighted to announce that the entire team was recognized as an “Honorable Mention Delegation.” Only a select percentage of delegations receive any recognition as an Outstanding, Distinguished or Honorable Mention Delegation at this conference, so this is a noteworthy achievement.

In addition to the team recognition, one of the position papers submitted to the conference was named “Outstanding Position Paper” – the paper for the General Assembly Second Committee written by Carissa Carlson, Laura Beth Hooper and Elisa Jelley (all senior International Studies majors). The position paper is a short policy memo researched and prepared in advance of the conference.

On behalf of the students, I thank everyone for their continued support of Baylor Model UN. These conferences offer our students a unique opportunity to take the knowledge and skills they acquire in the classroom and apply them to simulated experiences, similar to those they will encounter in their postgraduate careers.

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STUDENTS IN ABOVE PHOTO:

Top row (L to R): Laura Beth Hooper (Baylor MUN Head Delegate; senior, international studies); Matt Demond (senior, economics); Renie Saenz (Baylor MUN Assistant Head Delegate; junior, history); Drew Mackenzie (freshman, University Scholars); Stephen Leland (senior, political science/international studies); Marc Webb (sophomore, international studies); Caleb Gunnels (senior, political science); Conor Burns (junior, political science)