Students Co-Chair Model UN Conference
Four of Rivers’ Model UN Club members showed off their impressive leadership skills as co-chairs of the student-led conference held at the Cambridge School of Weston last weekend. Juniors Natasha McMillian, Thando Khumalo, Becca Stachel and Leighton Young partnered with students from Dana Hall and CSW to organize the debate and preside over the conference whose theme was “Youth and Diplomacy.”
“Normally I get up here and announce that Rivers students won awards in their committees,” said faculty advisor Amy Enright at a recent all-school assembly. “But this time Rivers students were running the committees and giving out, rather than receiving, the awards. They essentially ran the day-long debate—an extraordinary achievement in leadership.”
During a typical academic year, members of Rivers’ Model UN attend two major conferences at the University of Connecticut and Columbia University. The debate is organized by committees dealing with real-world problems—like chemical weapons use, the refugee crisis, rising sea levels—or historical ones—like the formation of the League of Nations. College students serve as the committee chairs, organizing the debate and sometimes creating real-time crises to move the debate in a new direction.
During a typical academic year, members of Rivers’ Model UN attend two major conferences at the University of Connecticut and Columbia University. The debate is organized by committees dealing with real-world problems—like chemical weapons use, the refugee crisis, rising sea levels—or historical ones—like the formation of the League of Nations. College students serve as the committee chairs, organizing the debate and sometimes creating real-time crises to move the debate in a new direction.
At the UConn Conference in November, Alex Klein ’18 and Maddie Cornetta ’19 each won a Best Delegate award while Thando Khumalo received a Most Improved Delegate award.
The UConn Conference is considered a “teaching conference” because it gives students who are new to Model UN the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of conference competitions.
At the Columbia Conference in January, Leighton Young and Theo Haviland ’19 won Honorable Mention (a bronze medal) in their committees and Thando won her second award of the year with a Verbal Commendation (4th place). There were more than 800 students from all over the world at the Columbia conference.
This year’s successful conference and club experiences were the result of the dedication and hard work of senior leadership, composed of Alex Klein, Gio Frometa, Adam Naddaff-Slocum, and Isabel Hardy, as well as by new History faculty advisor Arturo Bagley.
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