The Political Science Department’s Model United Nations (MUN) program won several awards at the Southern Regional Model United Nations ( SRMUN ) in Charlotte, NC from March 27th – 30th. The SRMUN competition consisted of 600 competitors, representing 70 institutions, including Clemson University, Auburn University, the University of Central Florida, and Wake Forest University. Participating students were able to debate a host of important global issues ranging from the challenges of eliminating forced labor to preventing violent extremism by non-state actors.
Kaela Thompson won ‘Best Delegate’ in her committee, G-77, a committee consisting of 150 students. Kaela’s ‘Best Delegate’ award is the first individual award for Texas State at a Model UN competition. Our students also won two team awards: Representing the Republic of Costa Rica, Alex Cox, Christian Sears, Allison Cason, Zoe Steiner, Darian Bear, and Kaylie Hidalgo won ‘Honorable Delegation’ recognition. Representing the Republic of El Salvador, Natalie Hernandez, Haley Schmidt, Anthony Chavez, Kaela Thompson, and Fernando Mendoza also won ‘Honorable Delegation’ recognition.
MUN president and political science senior, Christian Sears described Charlotte as “an absolutely rewarding experience.” He noted that although “we were not assigned powerful countries . . . the knowledge and willpower to take control of committee resulted in one of the best performances I have ever seen of a Texas State Model UN. I was incredibly proud to see that our delegates were leaders in the committees they served and the quality of the performance was shown in the awards that our team earned as a whole.” Political science freshman, Kaela Thompson observed that “the Charlotte experience gave me a lot of insight into how the United Nations works and allowed me to learn how to better work with those in a diplomatic setting.” Similarly, international studies junior, Natalie Hernandez remarked that “going to the SRMUN conference was an incredibly valuable experience. . . . Seeing the theories and history I learn about in class play out in a simulation really helps me imagine myself in these situations later in my career.”
