Model U.N. enhances diplomatic skills

Political science’s department chairman Dr. Marcus Stadelmann, along with students in 2006 formed a Model United Nations at the University.

The Model U.N. gives students a chance to become diplomats of foreign nations in a simulated environment.

Stadelmann and select students traveled to Model U.N. summits in New York City in the spring.

Experienced or graduate students may travel to Oxford, England in the fall, Stadelmann said.

Stadelmann said in the past program funding came from the student services fee, now the program is funded directly through the University.

The $40,000 budget allows the program to have a part-time aide, and gives a travel budget for the Model U.N. Stadelmann said.

Any student may get involved in the Model U.N. by enrolling in POLS 4315 Model United Nations class where students learn about its history and how the U.N. functions.

The class chooses 10 foreign nations they want to represent and submit the list to the National Model U.N. Conference. The NMUN then selects which country the University represents.

The students then learn everything they can about the country assigned. In the past the University diplomats represented Macedonia, Denmark and Kazakhstan. University delegates from spring 2009 won an honorable mention when they represented Kazakhstan. This put them in the top 10 percent of the 4,000-student delegation.

Stadelmann said students who plan to attend a Model U.N. summit in New York City during the spring semester must show initiative in their academic performance, give speeches and blend well with other members of the group. Stadelmann and select student travel to New York City to the real United Nations where they simulate a U.N. session.

The delegate’s goal is to pass a resolution, which is a written suggestion by the county that deal with an U.N. issue such as human rights. If a resolution passes, then the real U.N. will discuss it when it is in session.

Stadelmann said the delegation in Oxford is much smaller with only 400 delegates, as well as it is more elite and mature. Foreign delegates can possibly be children of heads of state or in line for a throne, he said.