Baylor Students Excel at American Model United Nations Conference in Chicago

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

WACO, Texas (Dec. 10, 2015) – Baylor University students recently traveled to Chicago to participate in the American Model United Nations Conference, an annual event which brings together 1,500 university students from around the world to participate in a simulation of the United Nations.

The Baylor team represented Slovakia at the conference, serving as diplomats in simulated sessions of the United Nations General Assembly committees, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and the International Court of Justice.

“Conference participation is a wonderful educational opportunity, allowing students to hone their skills in research, public speaking, technical writing and small-group negotiation,” said Rebecca McCumbers Flavin, Ph.D., lecturer of political science in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences. “All of these will be beneficial, regardless of students’ post-graduate plans. Also, as they prepare for conferences, our students become policy experts for a particular region and a set of issues, which varies from conference to conference.”

Topics explored at the conference included migration, agriculture, food security, climate change, terrorism, international law and eco-tourism.

Baylor students who participated include:

Cambrey Dent, senior, political science

Conor Burns, senior, political science and philosophy

Katrina Mañalac, junior, secondary education and social studies

Renie Saenz, senior, history, head delegate

Caroline Caywood, junior, international studies and French

Bailey Craig, freshman, pre-psychology

Chris Strange, junior, political science

Luis Andres Torres, freshman, pre-neuroscience

Megan Rollag, junior, Spanish and international studies

Kate Farley, junior, University Scholar

Matt Demond, senior, economics

Marc Webb, junior, international studies, assistant head delegate

Conor Burns, Bailey Craig, Cambrey Dent and Renie Saenz received individual awards at the conference and were named Outstanding Delegates by their peers in their respective committees.

Model United Nations is an academic conference focused on developing solutions to today’s international problems. Teams are assigned a country within the United Nations and must research their assigned country’s policy in regard to specific foreign policy areas. Baylor’s Model United Nations program began in 1989.

“I think student participation in activities like Model United Nations reinforces Baylor’s ‘Pro Futuris’ aspirations in a number of ways,” Flavin said. “In particular, it prepares our students to be global citizens and provides them with opportunities to cultivate their leadership skills in ways that aren’t easily replicated in a traditional class setting.”

For more information about Model United Nations, click here.

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

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

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.