Earlham hosts Model United Nations
By Sasha Benderly-Kraft
Earlham College Model UN (ECMUN) held its annual conference for high school students last weekend.
The conference, now in its 16th year, was the largest it has ever been, with 210 students attending from nine high schools in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. A 10th school was registered to attend but canceled due to weather problems.
The conference was centered around committee debate sessions. There were six committees, each of which had three or four topics to discuss. The committees included the African Union Peace and Security Council, the Committee on the Status of Women, the Human Rights Council, the Security Council, the United Nations Environment Program and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD).
William Overhauser, a 10th grader from the International School of Indiana (ISI) who represented Belarus on the CSD, said that the topics of that specific committee were sustainable tourism, climate change and the rights of indigenous peoples.
According to senior Nadira Khudayberdieva, ECMUN’s convenor and Secretary-General for the conference, the faculty advisors at the attending high schools were given the main say in their schools’ choices of countries and committees. “They e-mailed me preferences, and we tried to give everyone their first or second choices,” she said.
To the students attending, ECMUN represented a learning experience of several different dimensions. Overhauser mentioned that he learned quite a bit about Belarus, the country he was representing, which he described as “the last dictatorship in Europe.”
Overhauser’s fellow ISI 10th grader, Noah Flaniken, said that “arguing a position from a country’s viewpoint and not your own beliefs gives you much more perspective.”
There was also a strong social component to the experience for the students. The conference gave students a chance to get to know one another, as well as experiencing Earlham campus for themselves. Greg Kelly, a junior from St. Xavier High School in Cincinnati, was very enthusiastic about Earlham’s campus and admired the architecture and size of the campus while appreciating the fact that Earlham is “tucked away in a quiet area.” Kelly also praised the organization of Earlham’s conference, comparing it favorably to the conference he attended last year at the University of Dayton. In particular, he described ECMUN as “welcoming and relaxed.”
According to junior Amrit Moore, who served as undersecretariat-general, that relaxation was a result of good logistics and thorough preparation.
“Most of the work was done beforehand, actually,” said Moore, who served in the same position last year and recognized many students and advisors this year. “What really helped was our use of the ECMUN website – we posted answers to questions, as well as the working papers, online, so that the schools could access them during their preparation process.” According to Moore, that preparation was a major asset for the smooth functioning of the conference.
Yusra Saleh, a sophomore who chaired the Human Rights Commission, cited the high school students themselves as another reason for the conference’s success. “The high schoolers think highly of ECMUN, but we couldn’t do it without them,” said Saleh. “Everyone is actively engaged, and there’s no awkward silence. Plus, the working papers are short and basic – it’s up to the delegates to make something of them, and I’ve been very impressed.”
Saleh also said she was enjoying being a chair, having attended several college-level conferences as a delegate. “Chairing is different; it really helps you understand the structure and framework of the committees,” she said.
Joe Maloney and Jen Wiegle, faculty advisers from St. Xavier, expressed a particular appreciation for this year’s conference, with the added perspective of seven years of experience chaperoning students.
“Our kids are really enjoying the conference,” said Maloney, “the choices of topics and committees are exciting for them.”
Maloney mentioned that the students running the conference always put their mark on the dynamic, and said he was very impressed by this year’s organization.
Wiegle also gave credit to Assistant Professor of Politics Jennifer Seely, who is serving as ECMUN’s adviser while Welling Hall is on sabbatical, saying that Seely has done a great job stepping in during Hall’s absence.
Seely, for her part, elevated the students’ contributions. “I asked them as many questions as they asked me,” said Seely. “Welling had been running this for so long that it had become a part of the institution, but she didn’t write things down.” She cited Khudayberdieva’s experience and energy as essential parts of the conference’s preparation. Seely says that while Hall will likely return to her supervisory role when she comes back from sabbatical, she intends to support ECMUN as much as possible in the future.
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