2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
BMUN wins big
Model UN represents Paraguay
Shobu Filho
Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: News
| |
|
Model United Nations is a simulation of various committees under the United Nations in an effort to educate participants on the workings of the UN.
Schools send delegations to represent a single country's foreign policy in various committees that range from the United Nations Security Council to the Pan American Health Organization. This year, Baruch College's delegation represented the Republic of Paraguay in addition to the Republic of Italy in a special session of the Security Council.
The conference is the culmination of a year-long process to research a country's foreign policy within the context of the current times. Students meet weekly to learn and brush up diplomatic skills in addition to exchanging
information with fellow students.Baruch's delegation is comprised of a very diverse group of students, and each brings their own special perspective throughout the year. During the conference though, the students all become diplomats of a single nation in various committees and the differences begin to melt.
Model United Nations focuses on the educational aspect of the conference. Students not only learn from their year-long research but learn from fellow students from various parts of the world. This year's conference benefited from the perspective of students from various regions of the U.S. in addition to students from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Egypt, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as others.
Baruch's delegation this year surpassed all expectations. Caroline Defay was chair of the committee on the Status of Women while Deepesh Timbrewala held the position of rapporteur of the African Union. Additionally, Bilal Hussain and Veronica Csorogi represented Italy in an additional simulation of the United Nations Security Council in real-time, where international crisis break out and delegates must diplomatically deal with new issues.
As a result, Baruch's delegation received special recognition for all their efforts. Although the conference stresses its educational mission, it also recognizes outstanding representation with awards. This year's delegation received a Distinguished Delegation award, the conference's second highest.
Additionally, peers voted Baruch delegation President Evandro Migoti the third best delegate in the simulation of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
After the closing ceremony Evandro said, "This was our best performance in Baruch's history so far, congratulations to everyone who helped us along this year." He continued, "Special thanks to United Student Government and Dean Chase at the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences for making this year's conference possible. When I look back on my college years, Model UN will be the first memory that comes to mind."
Baruch College students learned the process of debate within the UN. In addition to understanding how the UN works, this year's delegation also understands the difficulties that the UN faces. Students also benefited from the chance to interact with peers from around the world and practice their networking and public speaking skills. The students furthermore learned better research methods in acquiring foreign policy and current affairs information. One of this year's new members, Kevin Ng said, "Thanks for everything! I will never forget this conference."
Be the first to comment on this story