From March 19th to 23rd, Texas State students participated in the Southern Regional Model United Nations (SRMUN) competition in Charlotte, NC. Students debated numerous topics ranging from combating the illegal mining and trafficking of precious metals to expanding cybersecurity capabilities to protect critical information infrastructure in developing member states.
Approximately 600 students, comprising 75 delegations from 45 universities, competed in the SRMUN competition. Participating universities included the University of Colorado, Auburn University, Clemson University, Georgia Tech, and the University of Central Florida.
Texas State represented the following countries:
- Argentina – Gabriel Marquez, Joel Scott, Nolan Ruhland, Preston Love, Valentina Ardila-Rosales, and Caroline Cambron;
- South Africa – Colm Graham, Eris Andrews, Ali Tinubu, Branden Henderson, Em Boegel, Alazne Leon, Emma Hopkins, Alli McCalla, and Simon Kinski;
- Iran – Savanna Tremback, Oscar Friend, Leah Gonsalves, Emily Wheatley, Ethan Guinn, and Emily Hanna;
- North Korea – Ashton Hansen, Sofia Hernandez, Lucy Beaty, Lauren Dekan, and Myra Bennett;
- Afghanistan – Jonathan Hebler, Emmanuel Briseno-Hernandez, Zack Estrada, Carson Raatz, and Joseph Crist.
Texas State students performed extremely well at SRMUN, as they have in previous years. Highlighting our students’ accomplishments, the delegation representing Team South Africa and Team Argentina won co-Distinguished Delegation (2nd Place Overall), while Team Iran and Team North Korea won co-Honorable Delegation (3rd Place Overall). This marks the eighth SRMUN competition in a row that Texas State has had at least one delegation placing in top three. Remarkably, Texas State students also won several individual awards, with Ali Tinubu, Branden Henderson, Em Boegel, Alazne Leon, Preston Love, Nolan Ruhland, Savanna Tremback, Oscar Friend, Lucy Beaty, and Sofia Hernandez winning Best Delegate (1st Place in Committee) in their respective committees. This was the most individual and team awards that Texas State students have won in our participation in the SRMUN competition.
The complete list of awards and honors is as follows:
- Preston Love and Nolan Ruhland – Best Delegate (1st Place in Committee), Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons;
- Savanna Tremback and Oscar Friend – Co-Best Delegate (1st Place in Committee), General Assembly Plenary;
- Ali Tinubu and Branden Henderson – Co-Best Delegate (1st Place in Committee), General Assembly Plenary;
- Lucy Beaty and Sofia Hernandez – Co-Best Delegate (1st Place in Committee), International Telecommunications Union;
- Em Boegel and Alazne Leon – Co-Best Delegate (1st Place in Committee), International Telecommunications Union;
- Ali Tinubu and Branden Henderson – Best Position Paper (1st Place in Committee), General Assembly Plenary;
- Colm Graham, Eris Andrews, Ali Tinubu, Branden Henderson, Em Boegel, Alazne Leon, Emma Hopkins, Alli McCalla, and Simon Kinski – Co-Outstanding Position Paper (1st Place Overall), Team South Africa;
- Savanna Tremback, Oscar Friend, Leah Gonsalves, Emily Wheatley, Ethan Guinn, and Emily Hanna – Co-Outstanding Position Paper (1st Place Overall), Team Iran;
- Savanna Tremback, Oscar Friend, Leah Gonsalves, Emily Wheatley, Ethan Guinn, and Emily Hanna – Co-Honorable Delegation (3rd Place Overall), Team Iran;
- Ashton Hansen, Sofia Hernandez, Lucy Beaty, Lauren Dekan, and Myra Bennett – Co-Honorable Delegation (3rd Place Overall), Team North Korea;
- Colm Graham, Eris Andrews, Ali Tinubu, Branden Henderson, Em Boegel, Alazne Leon, Emma Hopkins, Alli McCalla, and Simon Kinski – Co-Distinguished Delegation (2nd Place Overall), Team South Africa;
- Gabriel Marquez, Joel Scott, Nolan Ruhland, Preston Love, Valentina Ardila-Rosales, and Caroline Cambron – Co-Distinguished Delegation (2nd Place Overall), Team Argentina.
“I had a great time at SRMUN this year,” said Ethan Guinn, president of Model United Nations. “This was my second year, so I was happy to share tips with the members new to SRMUN on succeeding in the competition. I think it paid off, and I was so happy to see all the awards we got.”
For more information on Texas State’s Model United Nations Competition Team, please contact Professor Ben Arnold at ca17@txstate.edu.
