A Winning Delegation Students Earn Honors at Model UN

Eighteen Westmont students traveled to New York earlier this month with Katherine Bryant, assistant professor of political science, to participate in the National Model United Nations conference as part of their International Organizations and Law course. 

The students, who were chosen to represent Slovakia, worked alongside nearly 3,000 of their peers from all over the world to address pressing global issues, ranging from nuclear weapons to sustainable transportation. 

“Through it all, I could clearly see the fruits of their liberal arts education shining through,” Bryant says. “Students thoughtfully engaged with the issues at hand and worked fruitfully with others as they crafted their final resolutions.”

She says reaching a compromise can me incredibly difficult as emotions run high, sleep is in short supply, and the language and structure of the agreement is highly technical.

“They exemplified all we hope is imbued in a Westmont student,” she said. “In fact, our head delegate Emily Lindblad of Edmonds, Washington, was approached by several others who shared with her how highly Slovakia was being regarded in many committees, in particular their excellent character and demeanor, as well as their strong level of preparedness. I couldn’t be prouder of how our students represented themselves and Westmont College.”

Four Westmont students won awards for their position papers, including Chaz Keith of San Diego and Samson Rakhshani of Huntington Beach, who represented Slovakia in General Assembly 1; and Lindblad and Rahel Kebede of Goleta, who represented Slovakia on the committee for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“It is always great to see students recognized for their hard work! This was actually Emily’s second time winning a position paper award, as she also won when we attended the conference two years ago and she represented Thailand.” 

On the last day, the group was able to visit the UN General Assembly Hall for closing ceremonies. “The UN, which is such a key actor in so many issues we discuss in international relations, was a definite highlight,” Bryant says. 

For many students, this was their first time to New York City, and they thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city, visiting Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Times Square, Central Park, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum, Broadway, the Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central.