University's Model UN team sweeps awards at UBC competition

The University of Calgary's Model United Nations Team, now in its 17th year, had a successful start to its 2015 competitive season, bringing home several awards from the annual University of British Columbia Model United Nations Conference (UBCMUN) in Vancouver.

Calgary's delegation at the conference was the largest in several years. It won three Best Delegate Gavels, a Best Position Paper Award, an Honourable Mention Award, a Most Diplomatic Award, and the esteemed Best Delegation Award. It was the largest award sweep the team has received at the conference in over a decade, and more than doubles the team’s collective winnings from the previous year.

“I am extremely proud of our team and all the hard work that each of our delegates put in before and during the conference,” says Christian Halt, the team’s vice-president and a Best Delegate Award recipient. “Whether through learning the rules of procedure, researching foreign policy, or debating consistently throughout the weekend on complex global issues, we are extremely privileged to have so many fantastic members with such outstanding commitment and character.”

“Winning Best Delegation meant that every single one of our 25-member team performed well in-session,” adds Leah Schmidt, the team’s president and head delegate. “Which is even more impressive considering that for most of them, this was their very first post-secondary level conference.”

Wide-ranging topics draw teams from leading institutions

Calgary’s model UN team has been competing at the Vancouver conference for over a decade, going up against teams from the University of British Columbia, University of Victoria, University of Washington, and other leading Western Canadian and American institutions.

The topics for the conference covered a wide range, and included: the role of women in post-conflict development, the management of international telecommunications, the situation in the Central African Republic, and a Security Council crisis on the South China sea. Gavin Marchak and Jay Hennenfent, two delegates from the University of Calgary’s team, also competed as members of the International Press Corps, and spent the weekend writing and publishing editorials on the discussion.

“The fact that we were able to represent the University of Calgary so well in an international academic competition is incredibly rewarding,” Schmidt says. “We definitely got the word out about the level of research and dedication the Calgary team brings to conferences.”

First-timers and senior Model UN team members earn awards 

For first-time delegate Bareerah Rab, the experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: “It was an amazing feeling! I’ve been on so many teams, from sports to debate and speech. None of those experiences were comparable to competing through Model UN,” she says. “The level of trust and dedication within the team was incredibly impressive, and I knew that I could depend on my teammates to give every aspect of the conference their best effort.”

Rab received the Most Diplomatic award for her council. Other first-time delegates also came home with awards, including Bhagya Ramesh who was given a Best Delegate award, John Gabriel Cabayao who earned an Honourable Mention, and Michelle McClusky, who was awarded Best Position Paper. Senior team members Leah Schmidt and Christian Halt also walked away with Best Delegate awards.

The competitive season is just starting for the team. On Jan. 22, a large Calgary delegation will be headed out to McGill University to compete at McMUN, one of Canada’s largest competitive conferences. In early February, the team will travel to Portland to compete.

Many team members will also be staffing the University of Calgary’s High School Model United Nations conference in February, and the team will also be hosting the World in Crisis Simulation conference in April.