
Utica University Delegation Participates in Prestigious Harvard Model UN Conference

“It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to gain experience and confidence talking about important international issues in the broader context of international politics.”
Utica University’s Model UN Club competed in the Harvard University National Model United Nations (HNMUN), held last month in Boston.
The eight-member Utica delegation was among more than 2,000 students from universities across the United States and more than 30 countries participating in the 72nd annual session of the competition.
HNMUN is the world’s largest, oldest, and most prestigious Model UN conference. The four-day event provides opportunities for participants to develop and hone their skills in substantive debate, negotiation, diplomacy, consensus-building, and communication while furthering their international awareness.
“It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to gain experience and confidence talking about important international issues in the broader context of international politics,” says Jun Kwon, associate professor of political science and Model UN Club advisor.
Students are split into various United Nations committees and assigned a specific country to represent across a broad array of pressing international issues. Utica students represented Spain, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates over the course of the conference.
Kwon founded Utica’s Model UN Club at the encouraging of Professor Emeritus of Human Rights and Government Ted Orlin. The club is comprised of students from various majors. Kwon says the Club and experiences like the Harvard conference provide students, regardless of their career interests, opportunities to see and understand complex issues through a multitude of worldviews.
Kaw Christ ’26, a dietetics and nutrition major, says it was overwhelming but exciting to compete on an international stage and represent Utica University among the likes of Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Chicago.
“At first I felt pressure, but I think we performed very well,” Christ says. “It was an incredible experience.”
This is the tenth year that Utica University has sent a delegation to HNMUM.
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