The annual University of Chicago Model United Nations Conference, one of the world’s largest high school conferences, is held in Chicago and LFA delegates and many other international and national high schools will participate. Held at the historic Hyatt in Chicago from February 6th – 9th, nearly 3,000 students will participate along with thirty delegates from the LFA community to discuss and debate global issues.
At LFA, Model United Nations delegates were chosen after trying out for the club by writing a mock position paper and taking a short quiz on two countries. The preparation and hard work began after thirty delegates were selected from all four grades. Delegates were assigned to committees from the following categories: General Assembly, Economic and Social Council, Regional Bodies, Specialized Agencies, Hybrid Committee, Continuous Crisis Committee, or Ad Hoc Committee of the Secretary-General. This year, LFA was given the Czech Republic, Comoros, Andorra, Liechtenstein, New Zealand, Cambodia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Serbia to represent during the convention. Over winter break, delegates conducted extensive research on their countries and wrote their position papers. The position paper is an informative document about the current state of their country and how they plan to navigate the two possible topics given.
Third-year, returning delegate Madison Rosen ‘25, will complete her last year with LFA at Model United Nations in February. Rosen commented, “My favorite part about MUNUC is interacting with students from around the world on really interesting topics.” Reflecting on her growth as a delegate, Rosen added, “I’ve learned to be assertive with my positions, unafraid to speak in front of a large group, and to collaborate and create consensus among competing opinions.”
First-year delegate Liza Lewis ‘28 expressed her excitement for the upcoming conference, “I’m looking forward to the Model UN conference for many reasons. First of all, I want to hear all opinions and viewpoints about the problems we are discussing. It will make me much more knowledgeable if I can hear everyone’s opinions. Also, the people at the conference are the next generation leaders, and I would love to associate myself with the future decision-makers.” Along with Lewis’ ambition to make important theoretical decisions, she explained why she joined Model United Nations, “I tried out for the club for multiple reasons. Being a part of Model United Nations will expand my knowledge of the countries around me and will push me to understand the world I am living in. It will help me become involved in real-world issues and attempt to solve them.”
LFA’s Model United Nations club advisor Christian Dozois explained his favorite aspects of MUN, “I love to see how excited and interested the students are, especially when they get there. People get involved in so many things, and we do a good job of being ready to go; just seeing all these kids who are together with these 3,000 other students … people are really interested in international relations, economics, and governance.” Dozois added the importance of MUN in gaining life skills, “You learn about the importance of the entire international community; so if you’re representing Russia, you still have to negotiate with a tiny little island nation if you want to get something done. You also learn that it is a global community and not just isolationism – which is problematic politically and culturally – and this really opens people’s eyes to that.” Over the past decade, LFA’s MUN team has continued to perform well in the conference; however, Dozois touched on his goals for the upcoming conference, “We’ve won awards over the years but I’d love for our students to get recognition because I think they’re really awesome and sometimes don’t get recognized.”
During the conference, The Spectator will have a live broadcast featuring key moments during the Model United Nations Conference. This will be available on the online Spectator website. Members of the Model United Nations team encourage non-members to try out next semester if they are interested in current events, social justice, and experiencing a terrific opportunity.
