McKendree Model UN Students Win Best Delegation Award at Conference
Lebanon, Ill. — Students in the McKendree University Model United Nations program
won three awards, including Best Delegation, representing Palestine at the American
Model United Nations (AMUN) conference in Chicago from Nov. 19 to 22. Only four delegations
received a Best Delegation award of the 80 participating colleges and universities
that represented more than 100 country delegations.
McKendree’s student delegates included Ben Pollard, Brad Thomas, Brent Nicholson,
Shawn Printy, Lucas Barker, Lance Allen, Tim Rose, Brandon Hoeflein, Tonya Schartung
and Michelle Voegele. Darren Meeker also participated as a member of the International
Press Delegation.
Other awards included a Best Delegate Award in the General Assembly Plenary to Pollard
and Thomas; and a Best Delegate Award in the Security Council to Pollard for representing
Palestine in its attempt to gain UN membership.
Students at Model UN conferences represent countries, debate global issues, and attempt
to pass resolutions to solve those problems.
Pollard and Thomas were in the General Assembly Plenary, whose topics were drug trafficking
and human trafficking.
Nicholson was in the General Assembly First Committee, discussing cyber-security and
disarmament.
As members of the General Assembly Second Committee, Printy and Barker discussed microcredit
and renewable energy.
Allen and Rose were in the General Assembly Third Committee, whose topics were the
right to food and protecting human rights while countering terrorism.
Hoeflein and Schartung were in the General Assembly Sixth Committee, whose topics
were protecting diplomatic missions and international liability issues.
Voegele was in the World Health Assembly, which debated intellectual property in public
health and preventing non-communicable diseases.
Next spring. the program will turn 180 degrees politically when McKendree students
represent Israel at the Midwest Model United Nations conference in St. Louis. At the
2012 AMUN conference in Chicago next fall they will represent Ukraine.
-McK-