Baylor’s Model United Nations Team Achieves Success at Texas Model United Nations Conference

Media Contact: Terry Goodrich, Baylor University Media and Public Relations, 254-710-3321
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by Jessie Jilovec, student newswriter, Baylor University Media and Public Relations

WACO, Texas (Feb. 15, 2019) – The Baylor University Model United Nations team participated in the Fifth Annual Texas Model United Nations Conference (TexMUN) Friday, Feb. 1, to Sunday, Feb. 3.

At this year’s TexMUN, co-hosted by The Osgood Center for International Studies and Lee College in Baytown, Texas. Baylor students received multiple awards at team and individual levels, including Outstanding Delegation Awards in every category: staff, peer and position paper.

Rebecca Flavin, Ph.D., senior lecturer of political science in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences, said the conference brought approximately 100 students together to play the role of diplomats in simulated sessions of four United Nations committees: General Assembly First Committee, General Assembly Second Committee, General Assembly Third Committee and the Security Council.

At the conference, 10 Baylor Students represented the Member States of China and Kuwait. Several topics were researched in advance by students and debated at the conference:

• Addressing the use of chemical weapons.
• The role of emerging technologies in international security and disarmament.
• Development cooperation with middle-income countries.
• Ensuring access to affordable, sustainable and reliable energy for all.
• The elimination of all forms of religious intolerance.
• Ensuring equitable access to education.
• Countering the evolving global threat posed by non-state actors.
• Reviewing the Central African Republic Sanctions Regime.

The conference offers awards but places a greater emphasis on collaboration and working together with other delegates, Flavin said.

Conway, Arkansas, senior and student leader Bailey Craig said each Model United Nations conference offers a different educational experience.

“Learning how to coordinate large group work and lead from within the group while practicing diplomacy is what MUN is all about,” Craig said. “Each year, our team walks away from TexMUN stronger than before and more prepared to take on the next conference.”

Flavin said Baylor MUN benefits from generous support of the department of political science and the College of Arts & Sciences. She also said the team is thankful for Christopher Ruiz, Ph.D. candidate in political science, who traveled with the team and helped coach at the conference.

“We have been proud to participate in the conference every year since its inception, and I am always encouraged by how much our students learn and benefit from their participation,” Flavin said. “The fact that they come home each year with awards is a bonus on top of this educational value.”

In April, Baylor MUN will travel to New York to participate in the National Model United Nations Conference while representing Ukraine.

Award-winning Baylor students include:

• Outstanding Delegations: Kuwait – Sophia Fulton, Courtney Jewett, Shelby Toles and Anna Kate Walker.
• Distinguished Delegations: China – Bailey Craig (head delegate), Lauren McLane, Daniela Pacheco, Andrew Person and Luis Torres (assistant head delegate), Noah Wiatrek.
• Outstanding Delegate in Committee General Assembly First: China – Noah Wiatrek; Kuwait – Anna Kate Walker.
• Outstanding Delegate in Committee General Assembly Second: China – Daniela Pacheco.
• Outstanding Delegate in Committee General Assembly Third: China – Lauren McLane and Andrew Person; Kuwait – Sophia Fulton and Courtney Jewett.
• Outstanding Delegate in Committee Security Council: China – Bailey Craig and Luis Torres.
• Outstanding Position Papers General Assembly First: China – Noah Wiatrek; Kuwait – Anna Kate Walker.
• Outstanding Position Papers General Assembly Second: China – Daniela Pacheco.
• Outstanding Position Papers General Assembly Third: Kuwait – Sophia Fulton and Courtney Jewett.

The Baylor Model United Nations team was established in the early 1960s, and today, members participate in at least three collegiate conferences each year, two national and one regional.

For more information about the assembly, visit the Model United Nations website.

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY

Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 17,000 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.