Model United Nations team wins in Washington, D.C.
By Daniel Le Ray
The Model United Nations team recently returned from Washington, D.C., with two prestigious awards under its belt.
The National Model United Nations D.C. conference in the nation’s capital attracted more than 800 students from across the world, from Walla Walla, Wash., to Marseilles, France. Whitman’s three-person delegation – small by comparison with most – received two awards and an invitation to attend the prestigious Harvard Model United Nations Conference next year.
The first award went to Nick Hochfeld ’16 and Julia Wood ’16, who won the Outstanding Delegation in Committee award.
“Outstanding delegates display diplomacy and poise,” explained Model U.N. Club President Katy Wills ’16. “They are engaged and speak emphatically and gracefully. They listen and collaborate well with other delegates, and they are well researched and well versed on their Member State's positions on international affairs.”
The team also received the Outstanding Delegation award, which recognizes the same qualities throughout all the committees on which Whitman delegates served.
“This is a huge accomplishment, especially for such a small delegation,” Wills added. “Model U.N. gives students an opportunity to practice interpersonal and diplomacy skills in a professional environment. It also gives members a chance to step outside that ever-pervasive Whitman bubble and thoroughly engage in real world issues.”
The Model U.N. team is set to continue competing in the coming weeks, attending the Northwest Model U.N. Conference hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle, and making the trek to British Columbia, Canada, and Portland, Ore., later this year as well.