The fifteenth annual session of the Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference hosted approximately 1,600 high school students at the Renaissance Harbor Point Hotel in Baltimore from Feb. 9 to 12 for a simulation in international affairs. The conference drew participants from throughout the United States and around the world.
A total of 156 Hopkins students staffed the entire conference, which is supported by a $200,000 budget. The Secretaries-General for this year's conference were seniors Erin Reilly and Greg Young, both of whom shared the responsibilities of coordinating the conference, a year-long administrative feat.
The conference has grown rapidly throughout its relatively short history; this year's conference was the largest ever. The keynote speaker of the conference was Will Davis, Director of the UN Development Program's Washington Representation Office since December 2011.
"Ten years ago we were operating out of Gilman and Bloomberg Hall. Now we rent the Renaissance Hotel downtown," junior Daniel Roettger, Special Assistant to the Secretaries-General, said.
There were 78 delegations at the conference comprised of the high school students. Each of the attendees represented a country and served on committees of varying themes, historical periods and sizes. Participants were able to serve on committees of the General Assembly, which were capped at 150 delegates and of the Economic and Social Council. Both centered on myriad economic and social issues. Additionally, the students served on Joint Crisis Committees, in which they debated controversies such as the American Revolution and the Russian Civil War, Councils, Summits and Courts, such as the International Criminal Court and the Board of Xe and Press Corps.
More experienced students represented more influential countries, such as the US, Russia or China, and served on demanding committees, like the United Nations Security Council. Students newer to Model UN participated as delegates to less influential countries and on less rigorous committees.
Once assigned a country to represent, the students researched that country's interests and positions on specific conflicts prior to the conference. While at the conference, delegates made speeches, negotiated with other delegates and crafted resolutions to solve conflicts and crises in their committee sessions.
"Being assigned a country with positions one doesn't personally share can be an intellectually broadening experience. You may not agree with the positions of the country you have to represent, but you have to do the research and come up with strong positions for that country anyway," junior Richard Kumapley, the Undersecretary General for Operations, said.
Hopkins students chaired the delegates' committees and assessed their performances throughout the multiple committee sessions. Furthermore, on Friday night, Hopkins staffers staged a Midnight Crisis for many of the committees. Staffers woke the high school delegates at approximately 1 a.m. in order to attend a committee session. Crisis staffers created and posed international crises to each committee, which the delegates worked to resolve until approximately 4:30 a.m.
While many leading national universities host Model UN conferences, Hopkins' conference is one of the 11 largest conferences in the nation.
The staff for JHUMUNC is extremely diverse. Collectively, staffers are pursuing 34 different majors, speak 27 different languages and have resided in 29 different nations for extended periods of time. Additionally, besides their involvement in JHUMUNC, staffers are members of more than 62 campus organizations.
The Secretariat aspires for an even stronger conference next year.
"We have the best crop of rising seniors in a long time. I have full confidence we'll be even stronger in the future," Roettger said.
Kumapley participated in Model UN in high school and worked in operations for JHUMUNC as both a freshman and sophomore. This year he served as an Undersecretary General, overseeing the logistical planning for the conference.
"I wanted to give back to an organization that was very helpful for me," Kumapley said.
Kumapley attended high school in Ghana and competed in Ghanaian Model UN conferences with approximately 150 participants.
"I'm still getting used to all the rules and procedures with our conference, which has 1,500," Kumapley said.
