Model UN Competes in Maggie L. Walker Governor's School MUN Conference
This March, the Model UN team traveled to Richmond, Virginia to attend the 25th annual Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Model United Nations Conference (GSMUN), one of the longest-running and largest high school Model UN conferences on the East Coast.
There were 17 committees, ranging from historical committees, crises, specialized agencies, and general assemblies that focused on current and past global events. Before the conference, the team also had the opportunity to take a tour of the University of Richmond and learn about its unique curriculum and student life. At the conference, delegates got to hear from keynote speaker Jim Gilmore, who served as the U.S. special ambassador to the 57-nation Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and is a former governor of the State of Virginia. The team learned a lot about the complexity of global conflicts and the importance of international organizations.
The event itself for O’Neal students brought a wealth of experience, knowledge, and leadership as many were first-time members. All delegates developed presentational and debate skills while cooperating with other delegates from other schools. Rachel Wolff and John Shepherd represented the United Kingdom in the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural general assembly that focused on Covid’s effect on the refugee crisis. Ava Sounia represented George Curzon in the Turkish War of Independence on the European historical committee. In its sister committee, Michaela Stone was on the Turkish committee and represented Mehmed VI, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph for the Turkish War of Independence. Nathan Reifenstahl represented Henry Ford in the Roaring 20s historical committee. Katie McCloskey represented the leader of the techno union in the Star Wars specialized committee. Ami Batterjee and Katherine Fensterle represented Japan in the UN Environment Program general assembly. Audrey Kim represented Jan Dijkema, an AIOWF Representative in the World Anti-Doping Agency - a specialized agency. JP Lee was Queen Marie-Louise Coidavid in the Haitian Revolution. Lastly, the Model UN team is proud to announce Carson Pusser for winning a verbal accommodation for his role as Manuel Contreras in his Reign of Pinochet crisis committee.
This event was the last major conference for the MUN team for the 22-23 school year. The team will continue to meet throughout the semester while holding thoughtful discussions surrounding current global issues and possibly holding a smaller committee event for the team to practice Model UN procedure.
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