Students attend Model United Nations, earn Best Small Delegation
award
Ohio State
Newark political science students in pilot program
November 14, 2007- Newark, OH- Political science students from The Ohio State University at Newark won the Best Small Delegation Award at the Lake Erie International Model United Nations (LEIMUN) conference. They competed with 20 other schools in the simulated United Nations event which took place from October 25 – 28 in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Ohio State Newark team was made up of sophomores Hawa Ali, Alex Daniels, Michael Crosdale and senior Derek Martin. The students formed two separate committees, each working with students from other schools in the simulation. They chose to represent France, one of the top five super powers.
“It felt real… and demanded a lot of research beforehand,” said Crosdale, who would like to one day serve in an ambassadorial post.
From 11 pm on Friday until 2 am on Saturday, the students were placed in lockdown and given a scenario in which terrorist threats were announced to the Security Council. In keeping with United Nations practices, the students were kept in their meeting rooms until the emergency had been dealt with.
“You would think, ‘Oh, it’s just a bunch of students,’ that we’d talk about everyday things,” said Ali, “but no – we were United Nations delegates the entire time.”
Adjunct political science professor Lori Solomon brought the model United Nations program to Ohio State Newark. The program is currently a pilot program, but Solomon hopes to incorporate it into the curriculum and to cultivate future freshman to participate.
“This was just an incredible experience for the students. It’s a wonderful accomplishment that they participated and that they won this award,” said Solomon. “I’m very proud of them.”
The LEIMUN conferences began in 1980 and “encourage research, understanding of parliamentary procedure, analytical reasoning, problem solving, negotiation, oral and written presentation of ideas and professionalism.” More information can be found at www.leimun.com.