Model United Nations Compete at Harvard MUN
By Rishi Gurudevan, Rohit Kantamneni and Leo Zhang
From Jan. 26-29, Phillips Exeter Model UN attended the annual Harvard Model UN conference, the first in-person one since 2019, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Out of 4,000 delegates hailing from all over the world, Exonians took home seven awards, including Best Delegation, Outstanding Delegate, and Diplomatic Commendation. They also had fun between conferences, whether that be eating out, going to dances, or making new friends.
Senior and MUN coach Jessica Huang described how she felt about the return to in-person conferences. “I would say overall it was a rewarding experience since we all learned so much. It was exciting to finally be together as a club outside of campus and bond outside of MUN while taking a break from the stress at Exeter.”
At HMUN, senior Haakon Kohler represented the Anti-Saloon League committee in 1910, a group trying to pass prohibition in the United States. “I represented Billy Sunday in the Anti-Saloon League, who was a very famous preacher before microphones were invented. He had to preach to crowds of up to 4,000 people without a microphone, so I didn’t get one either.”
Lower Harry Clark and upper Parmis Mokhtari-Dizaji were focused on sanctions at the conference. “My partner Parmis and I were on the Economic and Financial committee,” said Clark. “The topic was sanctions: how to make them more effective and reduce their unintended consequences. On the surface, it seemed like a really pretty boring topic. I was bummed when I saw other kids with ‘cooler’ topics like nuclear nonproliferation.”
“It turned out to be fun,” Clark said. “Our block, which consisted of roughly 20, 30 people, created a resolution. It didn’t pass, unfortunately, but we worked hard on it. It involved compensating small countries that were affected by the unintended consequences of sanctions and creating a data collection system that would more strategically analyze the effects that sanctions have. It provided a uniform set of criteria that countries can use to analyze the possible effects of sanctions to determine whether or not they should impose them.”
Being one of the most prestigious Model UN conferences in the world, HMUN fosters a competitive environment. “I’d say HMUN is the most competitive conference I’ve been to,” said upper Atishay Jain. “There were moments where I felt like I was lagging yet other moments I felt like I was doing very well.”
“I believe our delegates, current and future, will continue to develop crucial interpersonal skills in negotiation and compromise that are useful well beyond the world of diplomacy.”
In between conferences, delegates found ways to pass the time. Clark explained an activity that people did during breaks. “[HMUN] had this system where you could send a note to anyone in any committee in the entire conference. And the chair, which is like the judge, would read these notes out on the microphone to all 500 people on the committee. People would be getting funny messages from their friends and everything.”
Jain explained the importance of meeting new people to him. “This is an experience I will remember for the rest of my life because there were kids from all over the world. I got a few Instagrams and Snapchats with kids from Venezuela and Tanzania, which is super cool.”
He also mentioned “FUNMUN”, a tradition where delegates let loose after the debate has concluded, but time still remains in the committee session. “Our committee did superlatives for FUNMUN. Thomas Roper was my partner, and we were nominated for three things: most likely to take over the world, best ‘rizz,’ and most charismatic.”
Senior and MUN coach Cindy Su commented on the importance of HMUN to her. “I met a lot of great people and that in-person experience is truly something that a lot of people can’t forget. I’m really glad to see them smile all weekend, like all the other delegates.”
By taking home five awards and having once-in-a-lifetime experiences, HMUN marks a great success and future for one of the largest clubs on campus. Instructor in History Aviral Pathak, one of the advisors of the club, shared a similar sentiment: “I believe our delegates, current and future, will continue to develop crucial interpersonal skills in negotiation and compromise that are useful well beyond the world of diplomacy.”
