Hunter Model UN Team Wins Top Prizes at National-International Conference

Hunter's Model UN team won a record number of top awards at the 2012 national/international competition of the National Model United Nations Conference, where dozens of colleges from around the world competed.

Twenty-four Hunter students attended the conference, where they represented Afghanistan, Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, and Kyrgyzstan in five separate committees. The delegation representing Kyrgyzstan won an Outstanding Delegation award; Cote d'Ivoire and Kuwait both received Distinguished Delegation awards; Afghanistan and Kuwait won Outstanding Delegate in Committee awards; and two student delegates were co-winners of the Outstanding Position Paper award.

At the conference, which took place in Washington, DC, last fall, the Hunter students debated and discussed such topics as the safe use of nuclear technology; vaccine delivery and disease eradication; the economic empowerment of women; and human rights education in areas undergoing political transition.

Commenting on the attitudes and beliefs apparent at the meetings, Hunter delegate Josephine Djonovic, averred that these conferences "bring together students who want to make a difference, who want to dedicate their careers and lives to creating a positive impact on the world." In a similar vein, Hunter junior Waleed Alhariri said, "The passion, collaboration, and teamwork that everyone demonstrated gave me hope for a better tomorrow."

Many participants also noted the dedication and professionalism demonstrated by conferees. Reported political science professor Pamela Falk, faculty advisor to Hunter's Model UN team and Roosevelt Scholar cohort director, "The Hunter College team worked on their position papers for weeks and were prepared with research on the UN, international law, and their countries' positions-and their work was reflected in the record-setting number of awards."

 And Hunter student Audrey Stienon, who, along with her partner, Hoshika Tachibana, received the Outstanding Position Paper award, said, "It was truly exciting to see the ways in which each of the student delegates used their strength to get their work done and promote their ideas, so that all of them contributed to the various resolutions."

Josephine Djonovic and Audrey Stienon were the head delegates of the 24-member Hunter team.