At the National Model United Nations Conference in New York, April 19-23, 2011, Baylor was recognized as an "Outstanding Delegation" - the highest award the conference gives to participatin schools.

In addition, in two of the committees in which our students served, we received Outstanding Delegation in Committee awards: GA 3 (represented by Jesse Beck and Sam Gomez) and NPT Review (represented by James Blair and Sharita Khaira). These in-committee awards are based upon student nominations.

Thus, our students received recognition from both the staff and their fellow peers at the conference.

Bottom (L to R) Jesse Beck, Samuel Best
Middle (L to R) Samuel Gomez, Sharita Khaira, James Blair, Katy Johnson, Bill Dunker, Paul Warren, Jeffrey Vitarius (Baylor MUN Head Delegate)
Back (L to R) Michael Stevick, Brent Salter, Tyler Kopas

At the 2010 American Model United Nations conference in Chicago, IL (November 20-23), Baylor MUN represented Estonia. The team received an award for Outstanding Delegation in Committee for GA3, which was represented by Sharita Khaira and Jeffrey Vitarius.

The traveling team for this conference was:

Bottom (L to R) Karin Lieber, Sharita Khaira, Katy Johnson
Middle (L to R) Bill Dunker, James Blair, Daniel Abernathy
Back (L to R) Jeffrey Vitarius (Baylor MUN Head Delegate), Jesse Beck, Zack Wynn, Michael Stevick

Baylor's Model United Nations team won several awards this weekend in a competition held at the University of California at Berkeley. The team won second place for small delegation, and half of the team members brought home individual awards.

"Considering half of our team were freshman or it was their first time to compete, I think it says something about the team," said Austin junior James Nortey, who won Best Delegate. "I think we have the potential to be a really competitive team."

Competing as Algeria, Birmingham, Ala., senior Jonathan Turner and El Paso junior Jen Kim each won a Verbal Accolade and Georgetown sophomore Travis Hobbs won Honorable Mention.

Nortey said it was his first time to compete in Model United Nations and that he hadn't heard about the competition until recently.

It was very exciting," he said. "I didn't think I'd get that far."

Competing as Sweden, Boxford, Mass., sophomore Abbie Rosen and Cassville, Mo., sophomore Seth Reed won Honorable Mention.

Team members first tried out to join Baylor's Model United Nations team and then competed again to earn a place on the traveling team, which went to the Berkeley competition.

"We have a great team, but the students who went really had to work hard to get there," Kim said. "I think we really have the potential to start getting more consistent awards."

Model United Nations members compete both as teams and as individuals during the competition, Kim said. They are judged on debate skills, writing resolutions, parliamentary procedure, diplomatic relations with other committees and knowledge of international politics.

It's more than just debating. You have to have general knowledge of how the U.N. works," Kim said. "You have to keep up with current events and know how things factor into what your country is going to do."

Turner said he enjoys the competition because of the experience he's gained as a team member.

I enjoy it because it gives you a greater understanding of how the real U.N. works and gives you experience of life and how real diplomacy works," he said.

"That's one of the reasons I do it."

Nov. 12, 2003
by Haley L. Wright

Feb. 22, 1996

WACO, Texas - Baylor University's Model United Nations delegation earned the Outstanding Delegation Award recently at the national Model U.N. conference held in Boston and hosted by Harvard University.
The team will be honored at a reception from 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, in the White-Beckham Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center. Baylor President Robert B. Sloan Jr. is scheduled to attend to congratulate the team.
The Baylor team had the honor of representing the United States at this year's eighth annual competition. Having earned the Outstanding Delegation Award in both 1992 and 1994, the Baylor team had a history of strong performances. As a result, the team was selected to represent the United States, the competition's highest honor, to compete against more than 200 major universities and colleges in mock United Nations discussions.
The Outstanding Delegation Award is based on the cumulative number of individual awards received by team members and the overall performance of the entire team. The Baylor team brought home six individual Outstanding Delegate awards and one Honorable Mention award.
"Even the students that did not win individual awards contributed to the overall performance of the team," said Dr. Linda Adams, assistant professor of political science and sponsor of the Baylor team. "This is a very intense conference that started Thursday morning, ran late into the nights with various committee meetings, and finished Sunday morning."
Out of 20 Baylor delegates, 15 had never been to a university-level model U.N. competition. "However, this was the best prepared team we have ever taken to the conference," Adams said. "We knew we were representing the United States and that we had to know United States policies, because everybody else would know the United States position."

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Vol. 13, No. 14, The University of Chicago Chronicle
by Carmen Marti

For the sixth consecutive year, the University's Model United Nations (MUN) team was awarded Best Delegation at the Harvard National Model United Nations conference, an achievement unprecedented in Model United Nations competition.

The Harvard National Model United Nations conference is the largest, and, according to MUN president and fourth-year college student Glenn Waldorf, the most prestigious conference on the North American circuit. More than 130 institutions and 2,000 students attended last month's conference.

In Model United Nations competition, students debate current international political issues. Schools represent one or more countries at a conference, with team members assigned to advocate specific positions within the context of committee discussions. Prizes are awarded to individuals for excellence in committee advocacy, and the institution with the best overall record is then named Best Delegation.

This year at the Harvard meet, Chicago represented China and Bosnia. The team representing China won a total of seven awards, while the team representing Bosnia earned four. Chicago students won delegate honors in 11 of the 15 committees in the conference, leading to a shared award of Best Delegation with Baylor University.

"We enjoy playing challenging and diverse countries with unusual world views and grand strategies," Waldorf said. "This interest and effort contributes to the conferences we attend and forces our team to improve its abilities. A few years ago, we were the first school to represent post-reunification Germany and the first to represent recent United Nations member Kazakhstan. Our team portrayed the United States just one day after the Gulf War ended.

"Another thing we like to do is compete against ourselves," Waldorf continued. "We've simultaneously portrayed Israel and Syria and North and South Korea, which we think strengthens the conferences and sharpens our skills. We're the only team whose delegations debate each other, and since we've done so well over the years, we're now in a position to choose to be whoever we want."

Waldorf attributes the success of the Chicago team to strong students and solid training. Every autumn, fliers about the organization are given to new students, and applications are distributed at the first meeting of the year. All members -- even veterans of the team -- are asked to participate in debate practice sessions so that team officers can select the best delegates to represent a particular country or attend a specific conference. "We look for enthusiasm, public-speaking skills, experience, background and knowledge of current events," Waldorf said. "About half of the people participated in Model U.N. in high school, but that's not a prerequisite."

The MUN team meets once a week during autumn and winter quarters, the time of year when the major Model United Nations conferences are held. In addition to conducting simulations to train students in parliamentary procedure and public speaking, the leaders of the group review standard committee rules and strategies and then practice using them in the meetings.

"We spend a lot of time refining our technique and reviewing the issues," Waldorf said. "We discuss general national policies. We teach our delegates how to research their country's position on the issue of debate in their committee and how to discover more about that issue itself. Delegates are coached on strategy and speaking style. They are taught how to craft one-page position papers, which are then critiqued extensively by the team officers and revised before they are submitted to the school running a conference."

The University team attends four competitions each year - the Georgetown, Penn and Harvard conferences, as well as the American Model United Nations competition in Chicago. Waldorf said that the team is often invited to attend other meets, including international conferences, but the logistics tend to be too complicated. "We select tournaments based on four factors -- the quality of the conference, ease of travel, the number of class days missed and the relative costs of attending," Waldorf said. "We took 55 different students to competitions this year. We do as much as our budget will allow."

Chicago's Model U.N. team, founded in the 1987-88 academic year, follows guidelines set by the United Nations Association of the United States, but the chapter is run entirely by students on campus. A member of the Coalition of Academic Teams, an umbrella organization that includes the Chess, College Bowl, Debate and Speech teams, MUN is one of the University's largest Registered Student Organizations, with more than 60 members. Most of the participants concentrate on the social sciences, particularly political science, but Waldorf said that students studying physics, philosophy, Near Eastern languages and biochemistry are also on the team.

"The skills we cultivate are applicable in every area of study," Waldorf said. "You learn to ask good questions, you learn that understanding precedes criticism. These are tenets that this university lives by, which is one reason we have such a good Model U.N. team. I hate to give all the credit to Western Civ. and the Common Core, but the fundamental approaches we learn as part of the U of C curriculum help us in every arena, and they will for the rest of our lives."

"Listening and debating, researching, finding resolutions -- these are really important interpersonal skills," Waldorf continued. "They help you asses a situation quickly and accurately, and eventually these skills become instinct. We can size up a room and persuade people. Besides all that, it's fun."