High school students donned suits and assumed new identities as United Nations delegates during the fourth annual Dartmouth Model United Nations conference, hosted by the Dartmouth Model U.N. organization. Over 200 students, twice as many as attended last year, travelled from throughout New England to Hanover to participate in the competition.
The student participants, representing 18 different high schools, acted as delegates, working in committees to represent the interests of about 50 nations, according to Dartmouth Model U.N. Secretary-General Chris Talamo '11.
Talamo is a staff columnist for The Dartmouth.
"The delegates are here to take on another country's role," Talamo said. "They assemble in their committees, which have assigned topics -- they make speeches, they caucus, they write resolutions, and then the resolutions that they pass are the consensus."
Dartmouth Model U.N. members directed the participants in the committees, choosing two topics for their committee members to discuss and moderating the deliberations.
Although the committee leaders judged the discussions, awarding engraved gavels to the top delegates in their committee, Talamo said the conference's main focus was not on the commendations received.
"We try to downplay awards," Talamo said. "It's not so much a competition. The point is that there's plenty of stuff you can learn from textbooks, but when it comes down to it, participating in the Model U.N. is the best way to learn about international affairs."
Amherst Regional High School was recognized as the best overall delegation at the conference, Talamo said.
Conference participants said their experiences at the conference helped them gain a better understanding of the U.N.'s process and a heightened level of awareness of the world around them.
"It's the negotiating skills that have come through," Kevin Cho, a participant and student at Deerfield Academy said. "You learn how to compromise while still keeping your country's interests in mind. There are things you can learn in the classroom, and then there are things you have to learn through participation. It's been a great experience."
The conference was "equally as enriching for the college staff," Max Ross '11, who directed the conference, said, adding that the similar ages of the Dartmouth members and high school members helped create a better debate.
The conference taught students important lessons about the United States' role in global education, government professor emeritus Eugene Lyons said during the conference's opening ceremony in Cook Auditorium. Lyons previously served as the director of social sciences at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and was a member various academic associations of the United Nations.
"We need a great change in this country, especially in the attitude of the people," Lyons said in his speech. "If this conference doesn't help that, then I'm not sure what would."
Dartmouth Model U.N. also collected donations at the conference for World Communities, a charity that works with local hospitals to donate expired materials that are still fit for use to hospitals in Africa.
Dartmouth's Model U.N. program is smaller than that of several peer institutions. Yale University's Model U.N. organization aimed to have 1,200 delegates at its January conference, according to its web site. The University of Pennsylvania usually attracts about 1,200 delegates for its Model U.N. conference, the organization's web site said.
