On October 23-26, Colgate’s Model UN attended its first conference of the semester in New York City at Columbia University.

The conference consisted of over 150 students from different universities who gathered to form different committees and simulate general assemblies. The ten Colgate students who competed were each assigned to a specific committee three weeks prior to the conference.

Within each committee, students were designated to represent various countries and people, which therefore simulated an actual UN meeting.

By the end of the three-day conference, each committee developed a proposal to resolve the issue at hand. Sophomore Hilary Hursh was placed in a crisis committee to discuss the Enron scandal.

“Since I was in a crisis committee, we received press leases and news reports each day that we had to respond to and change our course of action,” Hursh said. “Columbia students served as actors and interrupted our committee meetings to relay important news updates about the Enron scandal.”

Other committees focused on economic, political, and humanitarian subjects, such as Somalian Pirates, Cambodian Justice Courts, and Hilary Clinton’s campaign.

While the conference demanded much of the competitors’ time, the students were able to receive a tour of the real UN in NYC. Out of the ten Colgatestudents, three won awards, including sophomore Emily Steiger who wonVerbal Accommodation, senior Chirs Bell who won Outstanding Delegate, and junior Carly Weil who won Best Delegate Award.