Baylor’s Model Organization of American States Team Makes a Splash at Louisiana Competition

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Media contact: Terry Goodrich, (254) 710-3321

WACO, Texas (Nov. 20, 2015) – Baylor University’s Model Organization of American States (MOAS) returned from the Mock Organization of American States (OAS) competition at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with their hands full of awards and their stomachs full of jambalaya.

“MOAS is a special class at Baylor that prepares students to simulate the workings of the OAS, a regional body of the United Nations and the oldest regional organization in the world,” said Joan Supplee, Ph.D., the Lynn Professor of History in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences and director of MOAS. “Students develop a variety of important skills and knowledge by participating. In addition to learning about our Latin American neighbors and how international organizations work, they learn parliamentary procedures, networking, diplomatic skills, public speaking and basic negotiating techniques.”

Students from Texas, Louisiana and Mexico gathered at OAS to debate policies in the Western Hemisphere. Baylor’s MOAS represented Venezuela and Jamaica and presented resolutions that covered issues such as revision of the Rio Treaty, establishing standards for government surveillance, preparing for the hemisphere’s aging population, assuring access of water to all, promoting education and prison reforms, establishing norms for treatment of refugees and establishing budget priorities. In addition, they were tasked with resolving a crisis that involved an outbreak of the MERS virus in Venezuela and its spread to Colombia as a result of the influx of Syrian refugees.

The following were awards received by Baylor participants in no particular order.

Outstanding Delegation Award: Jamaica team

Outstanding Position Paper Award: Jamaica team

Distinguished Position Paper Award: Venezuela team

Outstanding Chair and Rapporteur: Lauren Lee and Jillian Anderson

Outstanding Ambassador: Andrew Salinas

Outstanding Written Resolution: Andrew Salinas

Distinguished Written Resolution: Clayton Jelinek

Distinguished Delegate Clayton Jelinek

Distinguished Delegate: Kelsey Shelton

Outstanding Budgetary Statement: May Atassi

Outstanding Delegate: May Atassi

Outstanding Delegate: Rafael Silva Ramirez

After committee sessions were adjourned, delegates gathered for dinner and fellowship at the Picard Center in Lafayette, Louisiana, where John C. Roberts, Diplomat-In-Residence at the University of Houston, gave the keynote address outlining the qualities needed to become a Foreign Service officer and the benefits of that career.

“Like any outstanding performance, be it academic or athletic, MOAS raises the profile of the university,” said Supplee. “For individual students, it adds another layer of distinction that can help make a resume stand out.”

For more information about Baylor’s MOAS, contact Joan Supplee.

by Ashton Brown, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805

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Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 16,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.