Model UN Hosts Annual PEAMUN Conference
By ERIN HAN, ANGELA HE, AARYAN PATEL, and DIYA SANDEEP
Phillips Exeter Academy Model United Nations (PEAMUN XVI) celebrated its 16th annual conference with a return to a pre-pandemic, in-person gathering on Saturday, Nov. 2. Over 450 delegates, part of 12 unique committees ranging from global crises to fictional worlds, as well as keynote speaker Professor Alex de Waal assembled on campus.
At the conference, staffed by chairs and secretariat members from Exeter, delegates get the opportunity to explore real-world international affairs, through public speaking in the form of policy debate. Acting as United Nations delegates, students represent the policies of their assigned countries in committees that range from traditional bodies like the UN General Assembly to high-stakes crisis simulations involving national cabinets, corporate boards, and political organizations.
Upper Peter Roper noted the high caliber of participation among delegates. “I think this was the best I’ve been to of the past three. They did a good job, and there were a lot of people here. Everyone in my committee was really qualified, which bodes well for the conference—it was like a high-status conference almost.”
Lower Crane Lee, a delegate in the ECOFIN committee on access to healthcare in low- and middle-income countries, said, “As a newer member of model UN, PEAMUN definitely encouraged me to get more involved in MUN in the future.”
Another new member of MUN, prep Veda Nayar, part of a Crisis Committee, a slightly smaller group, expressed, “I thought it was nice to work with a lot of different people that were from different schools like Andover and Noble and Greenough.”
Nayar emphasized the unique benefits of Model UN, noting its practical focus on diplomacy over competition. I really like Model UN,” she explained, “because it’s different from debate; it’s just more diplomatic, which is more applicable. It gives you more life skills because, in reality, you have to be diplomatic in talking and talking to people with an open mind, be able to see you from their point of view, and compromise. Model UN really embodies that and helps you with real life.”
Throughout the conference, many delegates were able to experiment with their debating and speaking in front of a large committee. “One fear which I think later became a highlight of the conference for me was just getting on the podium in front of about 90 other delegates,” Lee said. “It was definitely something new but it was a great experience.”
Nayar agreed, stating, “I learned to be a better public speaker because you have to give a 30-second speech. I’ve learned to be more confident as well as improvise better.”
Lower Drona Gaddam served as the vice chair for the economic and financial committee, discussing the lack of healthcare access for low to middle-income countries. As a vice chair, he shared his unique perspective regarding what he gained from this conference. “I learned how to better handle large groups of people and also, understanding the chair’s perspective will help me when I compete in more conferences as a delegate.”
With the conference garnering over 450 students from 26 schools across New England, the large-scale of the event required much preparation and coordination from club leaders.
“Conference preparations started mid-spring,” explained co-head and PEAMUN secretary-general Tanay Nandan. “Over 30 Exeter students worked over the summer to prepare their committees, planning out their committee topics, possible avenues of debate, and crisis breaks to shake up debate.”
He added, “On our end, the Sec-Gens had to reach out to schools to secure participants, work with facilities, campus safety, and catering to plan the physical setup of the conference, and we worked with StuAct to process payments, create all conference materials like lanyards and placards, and to design awards—we had custom gavels for every committee!”
Under secretary-generals Davido Zhang and Mazin Sihweil manned the PEAMUN website.
“I’ve been the under secondary general of technology for two years now, so this year I pretty much did the same thing as I did last year, which was mostly to revamp the website and deal with any technical issues,” said Zhang. “We started pretty early, and tried to get all the committee information on the website by sometime in the late summer.”
He continued, “There was a bit more work last year because the website was not in very good shape. Me and Nhan, who was a senior last year, worked a lot on revamping the information so everything was the most transparent and also added a bunch of other stuff, just to try and make the website a bit more appealing. This year there was less work because I just had to update information and start a new cycle of how to register and all that.”
Zhang added, “This year, we also set up everything in the Assembly Hall, all the rooms, and the projectors, making sure that they’re okay, and also communicated with the IT department.”
Nandan also noted the preparation that went into crafting the day’s schedule. “We also had to reach out to potential speakers to secure a keynote speech, and we were lucky enough that Alex De Waal, executive director of the World Peace Foundation, agreed to speak to us and Exeter faculty.”
He noted that de Waal’s speech ended up being a highlight of the day. “I quite enjoyed Mr. De Waal’s keynote speech. He has a lot of unique experiences from the time he’s spent in Africa, and delivered fresh perspectives on the possibility of World Peace. It was also great to see everything come together and see students debating topics like the environmental impact of Formula One, or the Turkish Invasion of Cyprus in 1974, because you know they’re one step further on their MUN journey.”
At the end of the day, Exonian organizers left the conference with their leadership skills sharpened and their scope of interests developed. This year’s PEAMUN conference stood as a triumphant labor of their hard work and dedication.