2024-2025

Baylor’s Model UN Team Takes Pro Mundo to the Nation’s Capital at NMUN-DC

On November 7-10, twelve members of Baylor’s Model United Nations Team traveled to Washington, D.C. for the National Model United Nations Conference, where hundreds of college students from five continents simulated eight United Nations Committees. These committees built on the programme of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, which pursued the theme: “Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development, and human dignity for present and future generations.”

At the conference Baylor’s team, which was named an overall Outstanding Delegation by conference staff, represented the Republic of Korea in six committees that worked on topics in pursuit of global peace, sustainable development, and human rights. In preparation for the conference, students researched and prepared position papers on two topics for each committee, and one of these topics was chosen for focused debate during the three-day conference. In these debates Baylor students worked alongside other college students from around the world, applying their research to collaboratively drafted resolutions striving to achieve global consensus on the following six topics:

· Addressing Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems [LAWS] (General Assembly First),

· The Preservation of Natural Resources for Economic Development (General Assembly Second),

· Addressing Marine Plastic Pollution (United Nations Environment Assembly),

· Addressing the Transition from Relief to Development (Economic and Social Council),

· Upholding Human Rights During Situations of Emergency Migration (International Organization for Migration) and

· The Situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Security Council).

At the conference, students gave speeches in front committees that ranged in size from 30 to 130 students, building coalitions to support their collaboratively drafted resolutions that were composed in working groups that were typically comprised of 15-30 students. New team member Bianca Curiel (Sophomore, Political Science) shared, “I really enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and found that I actually enjoyed the public speaking part of conference.” Returning member David Mikalsen (Senior, Political Science) added, “thanks to this conference, I was able to greatly improve upon my ability to empathize with others who don’t share my views, my conflict resolution skills, and my leadership style. I also had so much fun interacting and making friends with other delegates at the conference.” Manha Asrar (Sophomore, International Studies) similarly “learned the importance of collaboration and flexibility in navigating complex negotiations” and was gratified “to have been a delegate that people were comfortable sharing their ideas with.”

In addition to the Outstanding Delegation Award, which is the highest team award given at Model UN conferences and reflects the work the team did across all six committees, six of the twelve team members received individual recognition at the conference. The full list of award winners is provided below. While our team is always delighted to win awards (and the team has been named Outstanding Delegation at six out of the last seven conferences we have attended), the educational value of Model UN conferences is impossible to quantify and is not tied to awards received. At these conferences students must possess qualities that make real-life diplomats successful: negotiation, listening, speaking, and applying research to resolve some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian and security crises. As Darcey Warne (Senior, University Scholar), the team’s Head Delegate for the conference shared, “this Model UN conference has taught me so much about collaboration and determination. I’m so thankful for all the wonderful delegates from around the world I was able to work with and learn from this weekend and am so proud of all of the Baylor students on the team.”

This conference is the first of three competitive meetings Baylor’s Model UN team will attend this academic year. Later this month, eight members of the team will travel to the National Model United Nations Conference in the Galapagos Islands, where students will work on topics related to global sustainability while representing Ecuador, the Republic of Korea, and Viet Nam, and in April sixteen team members will participate in the NMUN-New York representing Switzerland in eight committees.

Baylor’s Model UN Team is incredibly grateful for the support we receive from the Department of Political Science and the College of Arts and Sciences, which makes attendance at these conferences possible. For more information about our team, visit our website, or follow us on social media: Instagram (baylormodelun) and Facebook (Baylor Model United Nations).

Individual Award Winners

Outstanding Position Paper Award Winners:

GA 2: Manha Asrar (Sophomore, International Studies) & David Mikalsen (Senior, Political Science)

Security Council: Tanvi Sud (Sophomore, Biology & International Studies) & Darcey Warne, Head Delegate (Senior, University Scholar)

Outstanding Delegates in Committee

UNEA: Jazmine Fajardo (Junior, Political Science ) & Walker Snider (Sophomore, English & International Studies)