JHUMUNC hosts 1,600 Model UN delegates

The 19th annual Johns Hopkins University Model United Nations Conference (JHUMUNC) took place from Thursday to Sunday in the Hilton Baltimore and welcomed approximately 1,600 high school students.

Hosted by a staff of over 140 undergraduates, attending students represented over 100 high schools across the country and participated in a weekend of debate in one of 30 committees.

During the four-day event, visiting students were assigned countries to represent in the committee. Upon learning which nations they would be representing, the delegates researched how to diplomatically respond to specific topics that would be debated.

The largest committees, capped at 150 delegates each, are those of the General Assembly (GA), which includes the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL), International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Health Organization; and Social, Humanitarian & Cultural Committee (SOCHUM), among others. Students could also participate in Economic and Social Council Committees (ECOSOC), capped at 65 delegates, and Specialized Committees, capped at 35 delegates. Subject matters discussed during the sessions included the global migrant crisis, responses to disease outbreaks and nuclear waste management.

In addition to traditional Model U.N. committees like the Legal Committee and the Human Rights Council (HRC), this year’s conference included new installments, like a fictional committee based on the Netflix show House of Cards and an Ad-Hoc Committee. The Quad committees featured four Italian city states battling for supremacy in Northern Italy, with the Papal States coming out on top, according to seniors Julia Raphael and Dylan Cowit, the two Secretaries-General of the conference.

“This year, JHUMUNC created its first ever Ad-Hoc Committee, an exciting Model UN experience in which the delegates do not find out the topic of debate until a very short time before committee starts,” Cowit said. “This allows for a high level of debate that consistently keeps the delegates on their toes.”

Sophomore Lilly Su, a staffer for the Disarmament and International Security Committee (DISEC), spoke about her favorite moment of debate at the conference.

“One of the topics was border and security, and some delegates drafted a resolution that would eliminate all borders in the world except one built around Saudi Arabia that was made of gold, diamonds and steel,” she said. “It was ridiculous but they did have some pretty convincing reasoning for that and, as a result, this resolution passed with an overwhelming majority.”

In addition to committee sessions, the conference also featured a keynote address from John McLaughlin, the former acting director and deputy director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who spoke at the conference’s opening ceremonies to the assembled delegates and advisors.

Students also had the opportunity to attend social events, including an ice-cream social at which a band from Peabody performed, a movie screening, a Delegate Dance and a tour of Camden Yards. Delegates were also given the opportunity to tour the Homewood campus and attend an admissions information session.

Even though the weekend consisted of a very time-consuming schedule for the Hopkins staff members, all of the work put in was well worth it, Su said.

“I think the thing that stood out the most to me in JHUMUNC is how it really brings a group of people who don’t have anything in common together,” she said. “We saw a lot of good cooperation and people standing up for what they believed in during the conference.”

Overall the JHUMUNC staff was pleased with the delegates’ performances this year, even if some could be frustrating sometimes. Cowit said that the event was a success.

“The conference went really well this year. We got such great feedback from both the delegates and their advisors, all of whom seemed to really enjoy the entire experience,” he said. “Julia and I are both so proud of our staff for putting in all the time and effort to make this conference the best it could be.”