Model U.N. impresses again at regional conference

The Radford University Model United Nations has made quite the splash in its first year on campus.

Awards and accolades have followed team members from conference to conference as they continue to build the new club, which offers an outlet for exploration of geopolitics in a collegiate setting.

Most recently, the Model U.N. attended the Southern Regional Model United Nations (SRMUN) from April 9-11, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"We were very prepared and very ready to embrace the challenges that this enormous national conference prepared for us," said Model U.N. President Klement Camaj, a senior political science major. "We all enjoyed learning new and different approaches to various international problems. It was indeed a very challenging experience but we all rose to the challenge and came home with awards that we proudly earned."

The team came home with the following awards:

  • Michael Wilson won Outstanding Delegate in the General Assembly Plenary, representing Spain and working on issues of Ebola and water access. There were more than 60 delegations on this committee.
     
  • Steven Lowery won Outstanding Delegate in the League of Arab States, representing Oman and dealing with a variety of issues including Syria and ISIS.  There were 17 delegations on this committee.
     
  • Klement Camaj, Michael Wilson and Elliott Smith won an Honorable Delegation award for representing Spain across their three committees.
     
  • John Bimler, Steven Lowery and Thomas Creed won an Honorable Delegation award for their representation of Oman on the GA Plenary (Ebola and water access), League of Arab States (Syria and ISIS) and Interpol committees (cyberterrorism and arms trafficking).

"[The Model U.N.'s] hard work and stellar performance at the Southern Regional Model United Nations was a tribute to the students’ determination," said Paige Tan, adviser to the club and chair of the Department of Political Science.

The Radford University Model U.N. has attended two other conferences since its founding: The University of North Carolina Model United Nations Conference in February and the Carolina's Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, in October 2014.

The Model U.N. took home awards at each.

"It is amazing what the students have achieved in their very first year as a club on campus," Tan said.

Support for the Model U.N. has come from the Provost, the Office of High Impact Practices, the Scholar Citizen Initiative and the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences.

Apr 29, 2015