The Seton Hall Model United Nations Club hosted its annual high school MUN conference online from April 10 to11.
Over 120 students across seven committees participated in the virtual event..Each committee addressed both real-world and hypothetical issues. The three “general committees” were dedicated to the health and environmental consequences of smoking, a mock international trial for Kim-Jong Un and a mock 1958 Senate committee overseeing America’s space program and the Hollywood blacklist.
The four “crisis committees” were dedicated to a mock council to address an impending conflict in the fictional “Percy Jackson” universe, to solve the various socio-political problems in the fictional “Avatar: The Last Airbender” universe, a mock 1862 committee on the construction of the transcontinental railroad, and an “Ad-Hoc” committee in which participants represented historical figures.
Peter Eggerding, a junior diplomacy major who attended the conference, said he thought it went “really well” and attributed this to both the “amazing team” in charge of organizing the conference and the fact that the participants have had time to adjust to online learning.
Seton Hall’s Model UN held its previous conference in the fall, which Eggerding said he thinks gave last weekend’s conference time to build and improve upon its previous meeting.
Christina Mones, a sophomore diplomacy major, said she thinks the transition went smoothly. Mones said the conference being held over Zoom made it easy to “moderate debate and make sure that delegates were getting equal speaking time.”
Being online also saved the participants time as they did not have to physically move between rooms as they would in person. Being online also saved money that would be spent on “lodging and transportation.”
Mones said the only serious disadvantage was the lack of personal connections that participants would have had the opportunity to form in person.
Cooper Tennant, a sophomore visual and sound media major, said the conference went well and that he is “even more excited for next year’s in-person conference.”
Mike Durkin can be reached at michael.durkin@student.shu.edu
