By Jane Maloney

Members of Saint Michael’s College Model United Nations (MUN) Club attended a weekend conference on Nov. 9-12 held at the University of Pennsylvania where they discussed world issues, such as the relocation of refugees.

This was the second conference that the club has attended. Five students were sent to the conference in Philadelphia: Alec Medine ’18, Ryan Lawrence ’20, Shane Coughlin ’21, Matt Narsiff ’18 and Asah Whalen ’19. Whalen and his fellow delegates competed amongst about 600 students from other schools, and represented the country of Slovenia. Most other schools sent teams of 30 students, Whalen said.

MUN, according to Whalen, is basically a scaled down version of the real United Nations in New York City. Students, known as delegates, represent countries and debate global issues in moderated committee sessions and then write and vote on resolutions to address those issues. Topics that were addressed included refugees and resettlement, rules of engagement for private military companies, and protection of international journalists.

Delegates enter committee sessions in pairs, with one person listening to the speakers and the other conducting the actual politicking. The team from St. Michael’s had three committees where only one delegate attended.

“We were either in committee listening to the floor dialogue, or we were out back talking to people,” Whalen said, “It’s challenging when you’ve got only the minimum number of people.”

Coughlin, who took a semester-long MUN class in high school, said his experience at the conference was very new for him.

“I’ve never been involved in such a large Model UN experience, so to be in a room with maybe upwards of 150 people…that was a really big change,” Coughlin said.

Whalen said what surprised him most about the conference was the manipulative and sneaky tactics used by some of the delegates to push their resolutions forward. “Man, there were some, I’ll call them ‘snakes in the grass’” he said. In committee, the way delegations communicate with each other is through the passing of notes. A member of the St. Michael’s delegation had not been receiving notes throughout the conference, on the last day he found a folder in his row with a stack of notes that were addressed to him but did not receive after being intercepted by another delegation.

Despite lacking in manpower compared to other schools, the team performed well, Whalen said. They did not take home any of the awards for best delegation or best resolution, but succeeded in upholding their values.

“If people can look at you and know what school you’re from…you’re doing a good job. A lot of other people were just trying to make sure their resolutions were passed,” Coughlin said, adding that the team’s only goal wasn’t to win titles at the conference. It was to represent St. Michael’s.

The team hopes to get more people involved in their weekly meetings, Whalen said. The club currently has 22 active members, a number Whalen hopes can grow to 30. He also aims to make the club more appealing to women and people of varying majors

The club gained official recognition from the Student Association this past year. The SA requires the club to have over 20 active members, a constitution, and an advisor, according to Secretary of Student Policy Megan Krueger ’19. SA President, Sophia Adams ’18, said she sees the club growing in the future.

“It’s great for admissions. It’s great for prospective students,” said Krueger.
The club will continue to hold weekly meetings at 8 p.m. on Thursdays in Saint Edmunds 104, said Whalen, where they hope to hone their debate skills and refresh knowledge on procedures for their next conference, which will take place at Harvard in February.

A team of 10 students will attend, representing the country of Angola. With a larger number of delegates and more experience, Whalen hopes to take it all this time.

“We really learned how the game works,” he said. “When we go to Harvard we want to really go for the win.”