Aquinas College :: Political Science Department

Model United Nations at Aquinas College

Model United Nations Conferences bring college and university students together to role-play delegates from their assigned countries. Delegates are judged on their ability to accurately portray their country’s policies and positions on a number of important issues. Knowledge of history, balance of power, alliances and diplomatic skill are fundamental. For example, in the Security Council the issues include the Indian-Pakistani arms race and conflict, the situation in Kosovo, and the ethnic cleansing in central Africa. Students must use diplomatic skills including negotiation, conflict resolution and debate. Knowledge and use of parliamentary procedure is also considered in the judging.

Students at AQ spend several weeks researching and developing their country's positions and policies. They develop specific policy statements and practiced writing United Nations resolutions. Knowledge of the structures and functions of the United Nations as crucial to the success of their portrayal as was knowledge of their country’s positions.

Model U.N. Delegates for 2009

Committee	Croatia	El Salvador	Botswana
Security Council	Brett Barnes Ben Stoltman - HD	No Seat	No Seat
HSC – 1961	No Seat	No Seat	No Seat
GA Plenary	Matt Schousen Mark Heystek	Lindsay VanAartsen Phil Yieter	Will Eberle - HD
GA First	Brad Bosserman John Kalinowski	Connor Sutton Ben Kruid	Sarah Fast Matt Kuczynski
GA Second	Stephanie Merz Hannah Marko	Whitney Fitzgerald Margaret Bennett	Curtis Moran Mary Caldwell
GA Third	Kaitlin Koett Jason Fischer		Joe Ponischil Tayler Spellis
GA Sixth	Ryan Brandhagen Andrew Weaver	Michael McPeek	Asja Jackson Tom Baranoski
ECOSOC Plenary	No Seat	Allyson Putt Cadey Segard	No Seat
World Food Programme (1 per country)	Ann Bishop	Whitney Ehresman Lillian Corder	Meghan Pitsch Kathrine Woodhouse
ECA: Economic Commission for Africa	No Seat	No Seat	Shawn Wanhala - HD Francine Franich
CND: Commission on Narcotic Drugs	No Seat	Albert Smith - HD Mary Beth Hills	Jacob Porter Nihada Lilic
Other: IPD; ICJ Judge	Michael Licari - Judge		Baranoski / Eberle ICJ Advocate

Model U.N. 2009 Awards

The Political Science Department and the POLIS Political Studies Club are pleased to announce the first annual AQ MUN Awards. AQ MUN participants attended the American Model United Nations Conference November 21-24, 2009 at the Chicago Hilton Towers. We had a very large team of 42 students who represented Croatia, El Salvador and Botswana.

Three new AQ Model United Nations Awards have been created:

The Roosevelt Award: This award is in recognition of the Outstanding Newcomer(s) to AQ Model United Nations.
The Nelson Mandela Award for Outstanding Diplomacy under Adversity: This award goes to the individual(s) who, despite difficult procedural or diplomatic circumstances, exhibited extraordinary effort at achieving diplomatic solutions or portrayal of their roles.
The Dag Hammarskjold Award for Most Outstanding Diplomacy and Performance: This award goes to the individual(s) whose diplomatic and content portrayal was superior in every fashion. This is the most prestigious award given in Model United Nations at AQ.

The 2009 Award Winners:

The Roosevelt Award: Michael Licari acting as a Justice on the International Court of Justice representing Croatia; Ryan Brandhagen representing Croatia on the General Assembly Sixth Committee.
The Nelson Mandela Award for Outstanding Diplomacy under Adversity: Francine Franich and Shawn Wanhala representing Ceylon on the 1961 Historical Security Council; Whitney Ehresman and Lillian Corder representing El Salvador on the World Food Programme.
The Dag Hammarskjold Award for Most Outstanding Diplomacy and Performance: Tom Baranoski and Will Eberle, Advocates for Botswana in the International Court of Justice; they also received an Outstanding Award from the American Model United Nations as such.

The 2009 American Model United Nations Conference had an attendance of about 1400 students from across the U.S. and around the world. Teams from the Venezuela, Nigeria and China joined AQ and teams from as far as California, New York and Missouri.

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