Ko'u Hopkins sits down with the leadership of the UIS Model United Nations team as they discuss their steps to the international Model United Nations conference in New York.
Transcribed by AI with Human review:
Ko’u:
Hello, I'm today's Community Voices host, Ko’u Hopkins, and today I'm here with the leadership from the UIS Model United Nations team. Could you please all introduce yourselves?
Romina:
Hi, my name is Romina Trujillo.
Jacob:
My name is Jacob Laurenzana.
Dr. Crocker:
And I am Dr. Adriana Crocker.
Ko’u:
Thank you so much for being here today, especially as the UIS team is very prestigious as we have all been going to this conference for over 30 years. Is that right, Romi?
Romina:
Yes, National Model UN has been a conference that UIS has participated in the past 30 years.
Ko’u:
So could you please share with our listeners what exactly is NMUN?
Romina:
NMUN, or National Model UN, is an organization that is a non-for-profit. It is an academic competition where schools from multiple backgrounds, not only the United States, but also Africa, Asia, and Europe, come together to discuss different topics underneath the United Nations scope. In this case, we will participate as a definite country, and then we will actually discuss and represent the country itself while competing with other students.
Ko’u:
So how many students are there? Because you said this is a global thing. Is there one conference, two conferences? Can you share a little bit more?
Romina:
Sure. So National Model UN actually has two weeks, week A and week B. Week A normally has around 1,200 students, whereas week B tends to have like around 800. UIS participates in week B, and actually our team is composed around 15 students every year, and we try to have a mix between students that return and newer students.
Ko’u:
So I know that you are the graduate assistant, or what we say the GA position for the UIS team, and I know they've had great success. Could you kind of talk about the awards and what that goes into it?
Romina:
So National Model UN, since it's a competition, we have awards that go to the top 10, top 20, and top 30% of the universities that participate. In this case, we are being awarded by our participation, diplomacy, speeches, and academic knowledge of the topic and the committee that we're working in. UIS team has actually been successful even before I joined. In last four years, we have had two outstanding delegations, which we call a first place. One, distinguished delegation, which is a second place. And this year, we got an honorable mention, which is 1/3 place. In either way, being part of the awarded universities is very important because it is just the top 30 of all of the universities. And we're talking about more than 120 universities that participate.
Ko’u:
You talk a lot about committees. Can you kind of break down what you're talking about and how many committees there are?
Romina:
Sure. So the United Nations works as, of course, an international organization. And in order for them to be able to tackle all the global problems that exist, they divide themselves in committees. These committees will have each in a specific scope and specific topics that they discuss about. So for example, the main known one is the General Assembly, where normally diplomats of each country will meet to talk about policies that are more in the general way and that each of them can kind of get inspired by other diplomats that are in the General Assembly. Committees can be just as specific as the Non-Proliferation Treaty, or it can be as global as the General Assembly. It all depends. In terms of NMUN, I think there is around 10 to 11 committees, but last year we participated in around 7 committees.
Ko’u:
Cool. I, for myself, a personal story: I was in a big committee and a small committee. So from your experience, do you like the bigger or the smaller committees?
Romina:
I personally think smaller committees are more for me. When I participated as a delegate, I only was in medium and smaller committees. And it's just because I appreciate getting to know people at a personal level and getting to, you know, foster those relationships. Whereas bigger committees, even though the work is, you know, for a longer time and it's not so rushed, there's so many people that you might never meet the 120 students that are in there.
Ko’u:
And what are you looking forward to next year? Because I think that's going to be your last year as a GA.
Romina:
Yes, indeed. This was my second year. Next year will be my last year. I'm looking forward for a strong finish. I think I have been working on building, you know, what the culture of the team is. Yeah, it's kind of trying to have a really strong end and also being able to continue following what the Model UN team at UIS will do.
Ko’u:
I know that you will be very dearly missed, especially by all the returning students. And I know that you work closely with Jacob. So Jacob, this was your first year as a head delegate. What does that entail and what does that mean?
Jacob:
Yeah, so at the conference, my role as head delegate essentially entailed managing the logistics and overall support of the delegation at the conference itself. I helped arrange student transportation, helped manage the organization's finances, and I provided a space during the conference for students to discuss any problems or questions that they had while they were there. While I was at the conference, I attended regular head delegate meetings where I brought up any issues our students were facing while in committee, and I just generally served as a direct line for students to call when any problems arose during the conference. I took a lot of photos and videos of our students in action, and I just did my best to be there to support every student while they gave their speeches as well.
Ko’u:
I know that for me, I was always so excited when I saw you come in our committee room. I was like, "oh, there's Jacob." And it was so nice to feel that type of support and excitement, especially from the leadership side, as everyone is always just so supportive. And could you kind of talk about the classroom side? So what do you do, and what do you do for your students to get them prepared for this conference?
Jacob:
Yeah, so I helped prepare students in the classroom throughout the semester as well. I gave presentations alongside Romi on how to research our country's position on global issues. I gave detailed feedback on each student's position papers, and I created materials for delegates to use. We also challenged students by simulating some situations that could arise during the conference and just generally worked to help prepare a delegation for the conference the best we could.
Ko’u:
What was your favorite part about getting everyone ready?
Jacob:
I think just laying the rules of how the structure of the papers work and how students could really write to the best of their ability. I feel like that's what I found the most rewarding during the semester.
Ko’u:
Yeah, I always really appreciate your feedback because you are so knowledgeable. How long have you been doing Model UN?
Jacob:
This was my 4th and final year doing Model UN.
Ko’u:
Will you miss it at all?
Jacob:
Oh yes, I'll absolutely miss Model UN. I hope someday in the future I'll have a chance to come back in some way with the organization, but it has been a fantastic four years.
Ko’u:
So do you feel like through all of our trainings and all of the papers that we've ever written and the presentations and all of the work and hours that went in, do you feel like the students this year were very well prepared in New York? Or do you feel, or maybe you lie awake at night being like, oh, we could have done this a little bit more?
Jacob:
Yeah, I can confidently say that our students are consistently among the best prepared at the conference. We really stress making sure that they fully understand the conference from top to bottom. All the way from having students give detailed presentations on their committee topics to ensuring students know the grammar rules and proper formatting for working on paper at the conference itself. This year in particular, we had a large cohort of new first-time members, and those students were extremely well prepared, and many served as leaders and resources for others during the conference as well. So I guess in other words, I'd say our students were absolutely prepared for the conference and I'm very proud of their work this year.
Ko’u:
Yeah, we were also very proud of our work this year. And so thank you so much, Jacob. As a student, thank you so much for always supporting, and thank you, Romi, again. And I would like to say thank you, Dr. Crocker, as well, as I know that we have not got to hear from you yet. So, Dr. Crocker, could you kind of explain your position and what you kind of do for the class?
Dr. Crocker:
Yeah, I'm the faculty advisor. I've been faculty advisor for MUN for about roughly 20 years. I began by alternating my teaching responsibilities with Dr. Alini Samurdin, who's also a faculty member from SPIA. And in the last few years, Dr. Brandon Bolte also is sharing the program with me. Over the last two decades, I've seen multiple generations of students and I hope they still remember this experience they have had at UIS.
Ko’u:
I know that I will always remember my time at UIS. This was such a great experience for me, and I always tell people the experiences that I've gone through, and I always encourage others, even people from other schools, and tell them to join Model UN. Have you ever been doing that in your classrooms, asking everyone to join Model UN?
Dr. Crocker:
I have, I'm sure you remember, Ko’u, since you took some of my classes, as well as Jacob. I insisted, actually I would probably ask students who I knew they would do well. I didn't ask all the students, I would ask specific students that I thought they would be interested and that they would try to do their best.
Ko’u:
Stemming off of that, do you feel like maybe Model UN is kind of challenging and you got to put a lot of work and effort into it?
Dr. Crocker:
Oh, definitely. In fact, my favorite part about the NMUN program at UIS is seeing how the students transform. MUN gives students a rare space to practice global diplomacy and collaboration and negotiation. While also building confidence in their expertise. In this case, this year we were Nepal, for example, and the students had an expertise of what Nepal's policies and values were all about when they went to the conference. I asked my students in class if they were going to take something specific about MUN, what would be, what was the best part of it? And most of the students said public speaking. Seeing students starting out during the fall semester, being hesitant and shy and become articulate and very persuasive delegates when we get to the conference. It's very impressive. And of course, leading award-winning programs is a point of pride for UIS and for our students. But the true highlight is witnessing students discover own potential.
Ko’u:
That was a beautiful answer. I love that so much. And especially I felt my own feathers getting ruffled a little bit because I was like, oh, I was one of those students as well. And I know that this year we had some late coming students as well. Could you kind of talk about that and the struggles they kind of went through?
Dr. Crocker:
Yeah, they came, there were two students who actually came in January or even later, perhaps February. So they had a lot less training that the rest of the students have been doing the class both in the fall, a 1 credit hour class in the fall, and a 3 credit hour class in the spring. However, we made sure we put these students with really experienced delegate, including you, who were actually with one of these delegates that we are discussing, and Carolina, who also had a newer student in her committee. And I think they probably, the students learn a lot from you, apart from during the conference particularly, more than the training that they got before the conference, since it was so short time.
Ko’u:
And I think another part of the conference that most people don't talk about is that there are people from all over the world, and even from our school, there are international students, and they have to go through that language barrier. And I think a lot of people forget, it's just they are changing the world in their own ways, but they're also doing it in another language. And I always think we have to remember that and be kind to others as well, because I know at the conference sometimes that gets a little rough.
Dr. Crocker:
I don't experience that because I'm on the other side, but I'm sure you as students do. And at UIS, we try to bring students from both different backgrounds, different majors, not just political science, global studies, but from throughout, different majors from the university.
Ko’u:
So Dr. Crocker, what would you say would you hope for the future for the UIS NMUN team?
Dr. Crocker:
Well, I hope that UIS Model UN continues to grow and as a place where students also challenge themselves and engage with global issues and develop both their academic and practical skills that prepare them for the labor market as well outside these conferences. I want the program to continue being a place where students from very diverse backgrounds and diverse programs come together to work collaboratively and showcase the best of UIS. Most of all, I hope future teams continue the tradition of excellence while keeping the spirit of diplomacy and teamwork at the heart of their experience.
Ko’u:
I concur with you 100%. And I would also like to show my gratitude, again, not only to the leadership, but also to our sponsors. And Romi, I know you have something special to say.
Romina:
Yes, actually, every single year we have been doing better because of our donors. Not only we get funding from the university, but definitely donor-funded Money has been excellent for UIS students. It allows them to be at their peak of performance and also, help them while they're in their time in New York. So we have a UIS fund, a gift fund for Model UN. And if you want more information, you can e-mail me at rtruj4@uis.edu.
Ko’u:
Thank you. And Jacob and Dr. Crocker, would you like to say anything else to our sponsors?
Jacob:
UIS's NMUN delegation is grateful to the Provost's Office for funding much of the expenses to the conference and for funding airfare and our stay in New York. And thank you to all of our current and future donors for making these discussions and students' interactions with important global issues through Model United Nations possible. Thank you.
Dr. Crocker:
We always hope to have a larger and a bigger delegation. So if we have more funding, we'll be able to do so to represent larger countries that students have been thinking about doing, but we haven't been able to do it yet because we don't have enough funding.
Ko’u:
And thank you again so much for everyone. Does anyone have any last things to say? Thank you so much, everyone, for coming in today. And again, thank you so much to our donors and supporters and students and faculty, everyone who's ever been behind us for the UIS and MUN team. Thank you so much. And thank you to our listeners for listening to today's episode on Community Voices. I'm your host, Ko’u Hopkins.
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To donate to this cause, please search in Gift Designation for “Model UN”:
https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/40555/donations/new
If you have any questions, please email: rtruj4@uis.edu
