Students participate in NMUN, meet Nikki Haley

The FMU National Model United Nations (NMUN) team represented the Republic of Kiribati in their eleventh appearance at the Model U.N. headquarters in New York City on March 25 through March 29, where they won an honorable mention for best delegation.

Scott Kaufman, chair of the department of history, said the MNUN is a convention where students from different universities around the world are able to experience what members who represent each country of the UN do in real life.

Each school was assigned a country to represent based on the number of student on the school’s team. FMU’s team, which included members Troy Tanner, Baptiste Ruffaut, Ömar Khaif, Kylie Cracknell, Tyler Davis, Emma Driggers, Chasity Inman and head delegate Tyler Hughes, was assigned the Republic of Kiribati. The teams were required to research their country and find out what issues the country was facing and create resolutions. The issues ranged from nuclear weapons to the role of women, and varied between committees.

Emma Driggers, sophomore history and French double major, said it is something all students should be able to experience.

“I had a great time the last few days when we were doing the voting process, and everything had been turned in”, Driggers said. “We got to see the actual United Nations and tour New York itself a little bit. I really enjoyed that.”

The honorable mention was awarded based on a number of factors, including how well the member state was working with other member states, how they interacted with other delegates and how well they presented their positions when giving their speeches.

“The FMU students sat on seven different committees, meaning they worked individually on their own and didn’t work with each other,” Will Daniel, assistant professor of political science said. “All seven committees recommended our delegation as a whole, which is a pretty big deal because it means that it wasn’t just one student who was the best, they were shining in each of the committees.”

To become part of the NMUN team, students were required to fill out an application at the end of the fall semester. The application included a letter explaining why they believed they should be a part of the team, letters of recommendation and their GPA. Professors assessed the applications and selected member to be in a class for NMUN the following spring semester. In the class, the students researched their assigned country and learned how to write position papers in preparation for the convention.

“We had a really hardworking group this year,” Daniel said. “We’ve got students who are politically engaged already, including two foreign exchange students. For each of those students, it’s more than just a free trip to New York. All eight students this year brought really great connections that I think made it really rewarding for them.”

Daniel said the convention was a great way for students to make connections that will continue to help them as they move on from FMU.