‘MUNnies’ make ‘money moves’ to move Model UN

Mackey Luffman
A record number of 84 USN students traveled to Murfreesboro to participate in the YMCA of Middle Tennessee’s Model United Nations Conference, sponsored by the Center for Civic Engagement. USN has been making an annual pilgrimage to this conference for decades. Several students served in leadership positions, and many other earned awards.
By Mackey Luffman, HS History Teacher, Model UN Faculty Advisor

At the YMCA of Middle Tennessee’s Model United Nations Conference, University School of Nashville students put their research on international issues into action and present resolutions that build a consensus about how to solve international problems. Students represent the member nations of the United Nations and engage in lively—really lively—debates on the variety of resolutions presented to the General Assembly. The storage boxes of many USN alums are full of awards earned at this conference.

Leading the way this year were Claire Kim ’20, Olivia Rhee ’20, Nicholas Key ’20, Wei Dai ’20, and Yoshi D’Souza ’20, who had been elected by the previous year’s conference to serve as officers in charge of facilitating activities at the conference. Claire and Olivia were Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly; Nicholas was Vice-President of the International Court of Justice; Wei was Associate Justice of the ICJ, and Yoshi was President of the Security Council.

A significant number of USN students participated in the ICJ component. There, students work in pairs as lawyers representing countries that have asked the ICJ to arbitrate treaty disputes according to international legal standards. Jason Kuchtey ’20 and Liam Savona ’20, were a lawyer team in the senior division, while Anne Griffin ’22 & Luke Kim ’23, Krishin Parikh '22, Arnav Reddy ’22, and Riya Narayan & Sheerea Yu ’23 formed lawyer teams in the novice ICJ to argue a possession dispute over Serpent Island in the Black Sea. Krishin & Arnav went undefeated in their case presentations to qualify for the Final Case, a short-notice case for which the students have to prepare in just a few hours to present a country’s argument in a previously unknown dispute. They lost a close decision but were very impressive in their arguments.

In the Security Council, Yoshi D’Souza ’20 ruled with an iron fist and steered potential distractions to the sidelines while keeping the SC on task to preserve the peace as best it could while its members were in character.

Most of the USN students represented countries in the General Assembly. Many students’ preparations paid off with Outstanding Resolution Awards. Winning that coveted award were: Mauritius (Boys’ State Cross Country Champion Tim Hays ’20, Nick Sieders, ’21 Phillip Ratliff ’21, and Jude Warren ’23), Luxembourg (Boys’ State Cross Country Runner-up Pelham Bergesen, Trevor Zhou, Lewis Walker, and Gideon Mosse ’20), and Serbia (Student Council President Michael Gordon '21, Kunaal Saggi '21, Nicholas Beem '21, and Sam Briley ’21). A number of other USN resolutions were highly ranked by the students at the conference and as a result, were presented and passed in the General Assembly.

Individual students in the GA were also recognized for their participation in debate with Outstanding Statesman Awards. Michael Gordon ’21 earned his second award, and he was joined by Erica Friedman ’21, Isaac Chomsky ’21, Emily Wykoff '22, and Jude Warren ’22. USN students dominated the debate, and the proof is in the nominations for Outstanding Statesman, including Bergesen, Mosse, Arushi Mehta ’20, Jillian Horton ’20, Jack Watke ’20, Tatiana Barbic ’20, Niles Clancy ’21, Greydon Franck ’21, Lydia West ’21, Steven Tarleton ’21, Langdon Skarda ’21, Latham Hall ’22, Adeolu Ajayi ’22, Mariam Khalil ’22, and Grace Yin ’22. Last but not least, the ninth-graders represented as Philip Feaster ’23, Viraj Rao ’23, and Peter Xu ’23 were nominated too.

Aasha Zinke ’20 was selected by conference staff to serve as Secretary of the Environmental Programme in the Secretariat Component, seeking to coordinate UN policies and help delegates draft and promote resolutions to meet UN goals. Aasha’s performance led her to be selected to present the Secretariat’s resolution to the Plenary Session, where it passed with flying colors thanks to her leadership.

Finally, the student delegates elect the officers for the next year’s conference. Greta Li ’22 was elected to be a Vice-President of the General Assembly, while Anne Griffin ’22, Arnav Reddy ’22, and Riya Narayan ’23 were elected to be Associate Justices of the ICJ.

It was another great year for our students. Please congratulate them on their achievements! Special thanks goes to Annual Fund Director Claudia Huskey for volunteering her weekend as an advisor and chaperone.

Be sure to check out the @USN_PDS Twitter account for more pics and info from the conference. 

Students who are interested in participating in the Youth in Government conference, a simulation of Tennessee state government in the spring semester, should contact HS History Teacher Mackey Luffman as soon as possible. We are already making plans.
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