DU’s Model United Nations team hosted the first high school model UN conference this past weekend. The conference was held on Saturday, sponsored by the DU Honors Program in Sturm Hall.
Participants in Model UN take on the role of a specific country, or sometimes non-government organizations, and are presented with an issue in a simulation of a body of the United Nations.
High school students signed up in either single or double delegations to represent one “country” in one of five councils: the Beginner’s Security Council, Intermediate Councils, World Bank, World Health Organization, Human Rights Council and the Advanced Historical Security.
Michelle Yeager, a sophomore from Parker with a major in International Business and minor in Chinese, served as the mock-executive assistant for the World Health Organization. This was her first year participating in Model UN.
“Especially with being an International Business major, anything happening in other countries is pertinent. Model UN is a great way to stay updated and become familiar with other countries’ policies,” said Yeager.
Emily Thompson is a sophomore from Boulder studying molecular biology and International Studies with minors in French, chemistry and math and started Model UN in her junior year of high school. She is the Director General and founder of the DU Model UN, and took primary responsibility for organizing the conference on Saturday.
Many of the other DU MUN members as well as a few volunteers helped facilitate the debates as Presiding Officers, Executive Assistants, Judges and Runners.
“This conference was an ambitious goal, but we wanted to share the DU campus and academic environment with high school students while also introducing them to a whole range of global issues they don’t normally get to learn about,” said Thompson.
Student delegates were required to write a position paper before arriving at the conference and expected to participate in moderated and non-moderated caucuses, adapt to crises situations and collaborate to write draft resolutions to address issues. Students do research before attending the conference to determine their country’s position on the issues at hand.
“It’s impressive to see how much time high school students really put into it. Our delegates had very good ideas, and we heard other councils’ delegates were also very well prepared,” said Yeager.
Thompson cites the Honors Program, especially Shawn Alfrey, the assistant director of the Honors Program, as instrumental in helping organize DU Model UN’s funding, catering, rooms, marketing and overall moral support for the event and for the group as a whole when they were feeling it couldn’t be accomplished.
The DU Model UN donated $1,000 from their proceeds to a nonprofit organization called Project C.U.R.E. through the conference, which in turn helped pay for $40,000 worth of donated medical supplies to be shipped to underdeveloped countries and needy hospitals. Donated funds go to sorting and shipping the supplies.
According to DU Model UN members and school officials who sponsored many of the high school students’ registration fees, the Saturday conference was a great success.
“We received comments from multiple sponsors that this was the best conference they’ve ever been to, across the board, so we owe a lot to Emily, the model UN and Honors [Program],” said Yeager.
DU Model UN grew as a team, and were glad to have the opportunity to influence, meet and teach the high school students who attended.
“We learned a lot about how to collaborate as a team and work together under pressure. Hopefully each student who participated grew personally in their ability to communicate effectively and diplomatically with others,” said Thompson.
For students interested in joining or participating in DU Model UN may contact Emily Thompson at thompson.emily247@gmail.com. Meetings are typically at 6 p.m. on Mondays in Mary Reed 1.
