ILMUNC: Ivy League Model United Nations Conference

Simrit Uppal

Sixteen students from the Model United Nations Club at John Jay High School had the honor of travelling to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to attend the thirty‐second session of the Ivy League Model United Nations Conference or ILMUNC. ILMUNC, hosted by the University of Pennsylvania welcomed 3,000 delegates to the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel. As one of the largest and most reputable conferences in the United States, ILMUNC prepared a weekend of stimulating debate, invigorating discussion, and presented the opportunity for students to deliberate and solve various pressing issues that the world faces today. The conference offered some of the most competitive and exciting committees to its delegates.

Additionally, the delegate experience was enhanced with the academic, recreation, and social events that ILMUNC provided such as the Summer Opportunities Fair, Delegate Festival and Delegate Dance. The secretariat worked tremendously hard to prepare for the conference and to ensure the quality of the conference with its 24 committees. The dedication and enthusiasm of the secretariat and staff created an enjoyable weekend for all. ILMUNC XXXII exceeded many expectations and created a conference of collegiate quality for high school delegates.

The 24 committees that took place at ILMUNC generated competitive debates and resolutions on the world’s most vital issues. The General Assemblies, ECOSOC, and Specialized committees guided delegates in solving a myriad of crucial controversies. The eight crisis committees covered numerous topics that ranged from historical to modern simulations that tested the ability of delegates to react to crises in an effective manner. All the delegates had the ability to expand their perspective on global affairs and gain understanding of these problems surrounding the world. While ILMUNC allowed experienced delegates to grow and engage in challenging topics and crises, it also focused on permitting less‐experienced delegates to prosper, regardless of prior Model United Nations experience.

The John Jay delegates represented the countries of Iraq and Montenegro in the Disarmament and International Security Committee, the Economic and Financial Committee, the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee, the United Nations Environment Programme, United Nations Office for Project Services and the Political Security Committee (1963). Two delegates had the opportunity to represent Mascouten in the Pontiac Rebellion and Xu Heng in the Court of Kublai Khan. These delegates all actively participated in their respective committees and created some tremendous resolutions throughout the weekend. Congratulations to Lucy Siegel and Kailas Amin for winning the verbal commendation in the Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural Committee as Montenegro and congratulations to Daniel Gordon for winning the verbal commendation in the Court of Kublai Khan as Xu Heng. ILMUNC was a wonderful and enriching experience for all the delegates who attended. The next conferences the John Jay Model United Nations Club will be attending is HunMUN on February 27th and WAMUNC on March 31st‐April 3rd! Meetings are on Thursdays in Q102!

John Jay controls the discussion in the Senate of Basil the Macedonian, WAMUNC 2016 (WAMUNC)