Over 200 Model UN delegates from 11 different schools around Chicago gathered in the Upper School on Saturday to commence Latin’s inaugural Model UN conference.
The conference, which began at 9 a.m., was held in part to raise funds for the Lou and Jean Malnati Brain Tumor Institute at Northwestern University. Donations from Latin MUN members and those from outside participants totaled over $700 for the research and treatment institute. Latin secretariats sported gray ribbon pins on their lapels to further raise awareness for the conference’s philanthropic goals.
The opening ceremony featured some special guests: Governor JB Pritzker and Illinois State Representative Margaret Croke. As a retired MUN delegate, Gov. Pritzker provided a video to rally support for future leaders. “What you are learning here today matters, and the benefits of all your hard work and preparation will undoubtedly pay off,” he said. “Watching bright young minds wrestle with our challenges across the country and the world gives me immense hope for our future.”
Leaders within Latin’s community offered similar encouragement to the delegates. “I want everybody to have a great day and do the best they can,” Head of School Thomas Hagerman said.
After the keynote addresses, participants shuffled out of the Wrigley Theatre and into one of eight sub-conference rooms. One of the crisis committees, where delegates must respond to and resolve a simulated crisis within a brief period, was themed after characters and events from the Marvel universe.
“I am Daisy Johnson in the Marvel committee,” St. Ignatius College Prep junior Margaret Jirgai said. “To prepare, I really just re-watched some of the show, because that was one of my favorite shows growing up.”
Senior and head chair of the Marvel committee Aria Balani said, “I like that [crisis committees are] more fast-paced and that [they’re] smaller, so there’s a better chance for everyone to get their voices heard.”
Others participated in diplomatic discussions of the 1959 Camp David summit, simulated a front line in the 19th-century Napoleonic wars, and modeled a NATO committee.
In addition to being Latin’s first time hosting a MUN conference, this conference served as many delegates’ first. Latin alone sent 18 first-time freshman delegates.
Freshman Micah Weiss said, “I enjoyed my first conference with my friends, and made a lot of friends there as well. The biggest challenge for me was speaking for the first time. I think I will be way better prepared next time, and it was a great learning experience.”
Freshman Jai Balani echoed this enthusiasm. “My first Model UN conference was extremely fun,” he said, “[and] being in a conference with my friends definitely made the conference a better time. I would definitely do it again as now I understand how MUN works, but I would definitely want to try a crisis conference instead of general assembly, as I saw people running around the halls shooting Nerf guns and having crazy problems dropped on them.”
The conference also allowed many Latin MUN members to take on leadership roles within the conference for the first time, helping organize and conduct different events.
“[Chairing a committee] is a lot; you basically orchestrate,” junior Avery Hellweg said. “You regulate committee flow, you get to make calls in the committee, you get to choose who speaks, and how things go.”
“But at the same time, what gets passed in committee is ultimately up to the delegates. So as much as we can lead the committees, you never know what can happen,” Avery said.
The day culminated with the general assembly events including the FIFA panel and the Economic and Financial (ECOFIN) and Disarmament and International Security (DISEC) committees, both the largest in their respective sessions.
As all conferences concluded, delegates regrouped in the theater to receive awards and send off invitees. By nature of hosting the conference, Latin students did not receive typical awards; instead, outstanding members of Latin’s MUN delegation received informal recognitions for their work.
“Following the closing ceremony, we dismissed invited students and stayed back with the chairs to give them a heartfelt thank you for their hard work over these past couple of months,” senior and head Andres De Marco said. “We are immensely grateful and proud of the dedication and commitment of everybody involved in running this conference, from the chairs, to the Secretariat, and of course, Ms. [history teacher Milena] Sjekloca.”
Senior and head Kayley McCutcheon said, “This conference has been an excellent learning experience for all of the secretariat. We gained a lot of valuable insights, and we’re definitely going to keep those in mind when we start to plan next year’s conference. We’re pleased to have heard all the overwhelmingly positive feedback from the delegates, and we hope that we’ll be able to surpass expectations yet again for LSCMUN II.”
