Brimmer Students Model Statecraft at Model UN Conferences

 

 

 

The League of Nations didn’t work—the US didn’t sign on; Japan said “Sayonara” to the League after the Mukden Incident in 1931, it’s spurious invasion of Manchuria, and then WWII soon followed. That League folded faster than the original USFL but with truly dire consequences for the world. Anarchy ruled, and post-WWII, the UN was established with the intention of being much more than the League of Nations 2.0.

 

The jury is still out on the UN—it can be effective with promoting and supporting some degree of human security, not so much with collective security, its original mandate. On the other hand, because it is an educational simulation, Model UN is a successful enterprise, and Brimmer and May students are living proof of that. While the School has offered this activity for a few decades now, and has had stellar delegates in the past — Sam Ravina, ’17 and Miles Munkacy, ’19 come immediately to mind—in the 2020s, we have a stable of self-motivated, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic Model UN stalwarts in the Upper School, and this year the Middle School introduced Model UN to its students, who dipped their toes in the policy-making pool at a winter conference at nearby BU Academy.

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At the Yale Model UN Conference (YMUN), Baden Howard, ’24 earned the Outstanding Delegate Award for his political acumen, parliamentary skills, and creative resolution-writing in his role as Tourist Ken in a Model UN Citizens of Barbieland Crisis Committee—I stopped by to visit this group in session, and yes, it was surreal but serious, deliberative and fun all at the same time. Twenty-two students from Brimmer and May joined 2000 students from around the country and around the world to participate in this year’s 50th YMUN, which featured former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as the keynote speaker. Yale Day, when Yale professors offer lectures on a range of topics to the conference attendees, got our students’ was the solid rocket fuel that launched our students into their weekend sessions and they were firmly in orbit for the next two days in New Haven.

 

At the MIT Model UN Conference, Stephanie Altschul, ’24, earned an Honorable Mention Award for her adjudicating acuity and public speaking as a member of the International Court of Justice; Conno Wagner, ’25, earned an Honorable Mention Award as well for his highly-successful coalition-building efforts as a representative of Bangladesh in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Committee; and Abby Jacobs, ’25 earned an Outstanding Delegate Award for her knowledgeable and impressive representation of Canada in the UN’s Economic and Social Council Committee (ECOSOC). These students prepared, participated, and impressed throughout their committee sessions and represented themselves and the school admirably.

 

Global Studies Diploma Program students have participated regularly in Model UN since the inaugural years of this Signature Program. First-ever diploma recipients Branden Allen, ’12 and Halle Edwards McQuilton, ’12 joined as sophomores and participated through their senior year, and ever since that time it has been a steady parade of Global Studies Program members including this year’s cohort of delegates: Meera Gandhi, ‘26 (MIT and Yale), Nolan Suraci, ’26, (Yale), Amelia Bowman, ’25 (Yale), Sophia Horning, ’25 (Yale), Ryan Hurst, ’25 (MIT and Yale), Conno Wagner, ’25 (MIT and Yale), Polly Zimmerman, ’25 (Yale), and Sydney Heff, ’24 (Yale). Global Studies Program students earn points toward the diploma through their participation in this activity, but this is not the primary motivation for their involvement in Model UN; while the students may writing find the position paper (a researched and argued position from the country or office of the delegate on the topics to be discussed in committee at the conference) a bit stressful, they very much enjoy the debates, moderated and unmoderated discussions, and general camaraderie, and at times competitiveness, of the committee sessions. 

 

In addition, beyond the Global Studies Program members, a number of other students participate as well annually including members of the STEAM Program (a good match here with IAEA and Tech Committees, to be sure) and the CAP Program (all the world is a stage, as we have heard tell) as well as students who are eager to join in the fray and talk world politics with their peers here and at other schools. After the conclusion of a meaty 2-3 hour committee session while loosening ties and kicking off Western business attire dress shoes, our students talk excitedly about their experiences. They make frequent reference to how they’ve used their critical thinking and public speaking skills to good effect and aver that (believe it or not!) ideas, concepts, and terminology that they have learned in their Brimmer coursework has helped them engage successfully in complicated policy debates with their peers. And though they are currently practicing for and simulating how to work to change the world, it will not be long before they have a real opportunity to do so, and I for one, hope they are successful in that endeavor. For our students and the world they will enter as young adults, “[w]e develop lifelong learners who are informed, engaged, and ethical citizens and leaders in our diverse world”—a mission that we stand behind and support with programming such as Winterim, Global Studies, and Model UN.