By Elliott Nace | Staff Writer
Baylor’s Model United Nations team represented Switzerland at the 2025 National Model United Nations, New York Week B Conference last month and took home the highest possible distinction — Outstanding Delegation. The team, made up of 16 undergraduate students, created resolutions to global issues with the help of research and effective public speaking.
According to an article by Dr. Rebecca McCumbers Flavin, Model United Nations academic chair and senior lecturer of political science, students engaged with contentious topics related to domestic and wartime violence, sustainability and immigration, all of which the students studied beforehand through the writing of a “position paper” and independent research.
Jackson, Wyo., junior and Model United Nations PR chair Brianna Uptain said events like these consist of a set of conference sessions, during which students work in a committee setting on how to prepare a plan of action for a given global issue studied ahead of time by the students.
“We are networking and talking to other teams that are representing different countries, and we’re trying to write a big group paper by the end of it,” she said. “The way that Baylor gets Outstanding Delegation, in my opinion, is because Dr. Flavin prepares us really well for research, and then the student leaders also prepare us really well for networking and working well with other people.”
Spokane sophomore and Model United Nations member Gianna Bolla, like the rest of her colleagues, worked with a partner across two committees covering different issues. She mentioned that Model United Nations team members began to prepare for this conference last November, and directed their research toward Switzerland’s existing positions on a variety of socio-political topics.
“We go into a conference and, I guess, be diplomats and try to represent Switzerland’s stance on these issues,” she said. “And then we work with people from all over the world who are also representing different countries and try to come up with a proposed solution for these issues.”
Bolla, who won two other awards alongside her partner, said speaking well and politely allows for more productive discourse and the retooling of good ideas, even if their specifics are problematic.
“If people are arguing over a clause … you can always go to the dais,” Bolla said. “Those are the people that are reading our papers and there to answer any questions. You never want to be aggressive or try to create drama or conflict, but just be as diplomatic as possible in it.”
According to Uptain, listening and providing constructive criticism in a formal manner is a key strategy when addressing a committee topic at a Model United Nations meet.
“I was focused on talking to everybody and seeing the direction of the group that I’m working with and then just making sure that I’m being really aware of who’s in my group, what they seem to be more aware of and interested in, and then trying to pull them in and have them be able to talk to everybody,” she said. “And [I also tried] to make sure that the voices that are louder, which could be mine because you’re supposed to be a leader … are working together.”
Bolla said competing with the Model United Nations team not only gives her insight into academic writing and current events but also teaches her how to work though various issues with a professional lens.
“[You learn] how to network, how to get what you want in a nice way, and how to work with people who truly are from all over the world and are going to have very different backgrounds and very different ideas from you,” she said.
Uptain said even though her studies focus more on practical learning through physics and pre-law, participating on the Model United Nations team has given her both professional skills and a deeper understanding of the experience and expectations of business travel.
“With Model UN, I’ve been able to develop hard skills, like researching … and understanding the UN and the technical language that they use,” she said. “It’s helped me to grow my confidence, and you do that through repetition, practicing public speaking and practicing leading people. You’re able to develop these qualities. I don’t think I would’ve had as much confidence as I have now in my academic career.”
