Mercy College’s Model United Nations (U.N.) team attended the National Model U.N. conference in Washington, D.C. in early November and won two awards: Outstanding Delegation — the highest honor — and Outstanding Position Paper. Mercy represented Italy on several simulated U.N. committees alongside delegations from over 60 other colleges and universities. These latest wins extend a long streak of winning awards at every Model U.N. conference the team has attended for the past 10 years. And with this experience, the team will be even better prepared to succeed at the larger Model U.N. conference in New York City in the spring.
“The Washington, D.C. conference was a mind-blowing experience,” said James Israel Marcus ’23 who is majoring in international relations and diplomacy. “It was my first time at a Model U.N. conference, so I was very nervous. But after all the preparation we did during class, we knew exactly what to do, so the nerves just turned into adrenaline that helped us do really well.”
Mercy’s Model U.N. team is lucky to have the support of faculty advisor Michiko Kuroda — senior instructor in international relations and diplomacy — who previously worked at the U.N. for 30 years. In Mercy’s two-semester Model U.N. course, Kuroda teaches students about how the U.N. works, how to research countries and analyze issues, how to write strong position papers, how to present and speak publicly and how to network and negotiate with other delegations. “By participating in Model U.N., students learn to focus, strive for excellence and work as a team,” said Kuroda. “If they master these three life skills, they can do anything.”
As part of the course, students participate in regular online practice sessions with Model U.N. teams at other schools such as the University of New Haven and in virtual simulations of Model U.N. conferences. That practice helps students feel more comfortable and confident once they get to the conferences in person. “One of the reasons I came to Mercy is because of Model U.N., so I was very excited to take this course and participate in the conference,” explained Luna Tejedor Amblar ’24 — who is also majoring in international relations and diplomacy. “When this course began, I was confused for a while, but the simulations with other schools really helped me understand the format and the work better. And then it was really exciting and fun.”
Aurora Ruud ’23 — who is also majoring in international relations and diplomacy — served as head delegate and felt a special responsibility to guide her teammates well since she is the only one who had attended a Model U.N. conference before: “It’s important to me that Model U.N. conferences feel inclusive. There are lots of people with lots of opinions. You need to make your voice heard, but you don’t need to be aggressive. And everyone should have a good time. I’m proud that our team was very conscious of that.” Kuroda noted Ruud’s skilled leadership: “Head delegate is a new role for her, and she did an amazing job. She guided her teammates in such a kind way and really grew as a leader.”
Kuroda explained that she was extra impressed by the team’s strong performance in Washington, D.C. because most of the students were new to Model U.N. this year. “My takeaway from this experience is that mindset is so important,” she said. “The students really wanted to do well. Success comes more from a willingness to learn than from sheer knowledge.”
Students were so motivated to continue to improve that they did not stop working even once the conference began. Fabiola Edmond Thomas ’23 — who is also majoring in international relations and diplomacy — asked a teammate to record her first speech, for example, so she could watch it that night to determine what she could improve for the next day. That dedication will help the team succeed at the larger Model U.N. conference in New York City in the spring.
The team will remember many moments from the Washington, D.C. conference — big ones like the award ceremony and small ones that revealed the power of Model U.N. “At one point, I was going through a resolution sentence by sentence with delegations from New Zealand and Croatia,” said Marcus. “Working that closely together was glorious. This is what the world needs. It wasn’t about who was right. We were just trying to find the best way to address the issue. There was no prize for that, but I think we all won right then and there.”