Rylee Seavers | Staff Writer
Baylor Model United Nations was honored at the TexMUN conference held from Jan. 13 to 15 in Austin. Baylor Model UN was named Outstanding Delegation by the conference staff, and Baylor delegates junior Kim Andrade, Allen senior Caroline Caywood, San Antonio senior Kate Farley and Walnut Creek, Calif., junior Matt Walker were named best delegates by their peers.
At the conference, Baylor represented Angola, China, Germany, the Russian Federation and Vietnam. Students participating in Model United Nations are assigned to a committee and must research the topic given in order to represent their assigned nation. The three most common committees are disarmament and security, economics and sustainability, and social, cultural and humanitarian issues, said Dr. Rebecca Flavin, senior lecturer in the department of political science and Baylor Model UN faculty adviser.
“I expect them to go in knowing everything about their topic and also knowing how to be a team player and how to be diplomatic,” Flavin said.
Preparation for conferences is researched based, but also includes practicing parliamentary procedure, public speaking, caucusing skills and resolution-writing skills, Flavin said.
“The emphasis is on the educational experience,” Flavin said. “If we ever went to a conference and didn’t come away with [awards], it doesn’t mean that it was a waste of time.”
Each semester, Baylor Model UN researches a different nation and each delegate must be prepared to represent that nation’s policies in their assigned UN committee, according to their website.
“Something that is hard when you are trying to be a good delegate for those roles is how [to] accurately portray [the] delegation without giving in to my own perception,” said Omaha senior and head delegate Megan Rollag.
Rollag will be representing the Russian Federation at an upcoming conference in April.
“You want to be careful not to be disrespectful of other cultures [if] you do go to a conference where you might have students studying here from Russia,” Rollag said.
Rollag was awarded best delegate in the security council by her peers at the American Model United Nations Conference in Chicago, which Baylor attended in November.
“It’s definitely really rewarding to have an honor like that. It means that other people recognized your hard work as distinct from others,” Rollag said.
Students who have participated in Baylor have gone on to careers in law, business and government, Flavin said.
“We have something for everyone,” Flavin said. “[Almost] any career avenue that you can think of, Model UN can prepare you for.”
For information about joining Baylor MUN, visit the Baylor Model United Nations website.
