Ryan Wen ’27
Kyle Zhang ’27
At Episcopal, students have the opportunity to participate in Model UN (MUN), a club where students act as representatives of various countries to address global issues. Members can participate in one-day conferences and workshops, culminating in the weekend-long Ivy League Model United Nations Conference (ILMUNC) trip. The club, and particularly the ILMUNC conference, are meant to promote cooperation, communication, and civil discourse. Yet, Model UN’s intent has become increasingly warped, with many students attending to do nothing but have fun, often forgetting the weight of the controversies at hand.
Concerns have been raised regarding the solutions proposed at MUN conferences. Issues in global politics are extremely complicated, leading to delegates proposing impractical or overly simplistic solutions. Some argue these unrealistic solutions nullify the value of attending such conferences, as they offer a misleading perspective on global politics. The delegate of Algeria from UNDP commented, “[The resolutions] are not at all feasible because it’s different countries that actually have no relations in real life like North Korea wanting to do sustainability work with less developed countries.” Azerbaijan’s delegate noted, “This was very idealized, everyone gets the best solution possible.”
Photo courtesy of @ea1785 on Instagram
Furthermore, while the official United Nations relies heavily on cooperation and compromises to make tangible progress, MUN conferences, especially prestigious ones like ILMUNC, may promote opposite ideals. Typically, by the end of the entire conference, a few delegates from each committee are awarded “Best Delegate.” Some believe that recognizing only one delegation rewards self-centered, overly competitive behavior, especially when considering the size of some committees, which detracts from the United Nations’ intended focus on diplomacy and working with others.
However, those worried about egocentric delegates looking solely for a plaque to bring home may overlook the importance of communication and dialogue in a MUN conference. Students must reach out to other delegates, forming blocs where inputs from many countries must be considered. The fierce competition at certain conferences like ILMUNC incentivizes cooperation and diplomacy, as only delegates with these values in mind can win any recognition. This social aspect is an irreplaceable facet of MUN conferences; many students attend MUN primarily because of it. When asked what their favorite part of Model UN was, the delegate of Tunisia from the UNDP committee said: “I like the public speaking and getting to know a lot of people across the US and even internationally.”
Despite everything, high schoolers do not need to create feasible solutions for these multifaceted global issues in order to gain something worthwhile from committee sessions. The benefit of MUN arises from the process of researching these significant world events and engaging in lively debate with students from diverse backgrounds. Judging the value of a high school club simply from how successfully it mirrors the real world is an unfair, and ultimately unproductive perspective. High school science research projects are not expected to compare to professional, peer-reviewed experiments performed in university labs, yet, teachers and students alike understand their importance in stoking academic curiosity and providing an outlet to students who are curious about science.
The motivations of EA students who attend the ILMUNC conference have also been questioned. Some believe that certain students are more concerned with seeing the city of Philadelphia and spending time with friends than the committee sessions themselves. “Yes, that’s definitely a valid concern and it’s not something that we’re ignorant of,” says David Mercante, faculty advisor of the Model UN Club at EA.
To ensure students are legitimately interested, the Model UN club takes steps to ensure engagement. “In order to participate in the club, you have to write a position paper,” Mercante says. “We instituted a new requirement this year that if you hadn’t gone to the conference in the past, you had to go to at least one workshop that we ran or participate in one conference or do our EA mini-conference here at school.”
While it is true that some students would rather be anywhere other than a committee session, the Model UN club at EA does its best to encourage all students to engage with issues of global concern through the conference. Even outside of committee sessions, Mercante believes that ILMUNC has something to offer: “I think there is a value that is derived from navigating the city a little bit more independently and interacting with other people and peers from other schools. I think there is still some value, even for the people that are not totally invested in the Model UN side of things.” Model UN may face certain criticisms, but it can be an overall positive experience for students, teaching valuable life lessons.