The Hunter Envoy

Issue date: 5/1/09 Section: News

Hunter's Model UN team is riding high this spring.

In March, the team, essentially a Political Science class taught by Professor Pamela Falk, won two awards in the Second Annual CUNY Regional Conference hosted by the Macaulay Honors College. The winning streak continued as the team won top three awards at the National Model UN Conference during spring break.

Model UN competitions invite university students to participate in mock United Nations sessions, debate controversial issues, and possibly come up with solutions and resolutions as the UN would.

The March awards went to two team members, Julian Nowicki and Henrik Dumanian, who received the Distinguished Delegate and Honorable Mention awards, respectively.

Later, the team competed against 300 colleges from around the country and 5,000 students who attended the national conference held at the Sheraton Hotel in Manhattan, where it represented Rwanda as part of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Here the team secured the Outstanding Delegation Award, Distinguished Delegate, and Honorable Mention awards for their work, the latter of which went to students Dumanian and Jeffrey Ruiz.

Nowicki, who won the earlier award in March representing Indonesia on the issue of Somali pirates, said he "was surprised, but glad."

"Being in Model UN requires a high level of engagement. We had a few sleepless nights. Professor Falk keeps us on our toes and keeps us motivated," he said.

"But the best thing is when you win the award and you're being acknowledged. You may have barely slept or drunk seven or eight coffees, but in the end it paid off. Your dedication was recognized," he added.

Professor Falk agreed.

"It was a culmination of a lot of work by the students," she said.

"The most gratifying thing as a coach was to watch the improvement in public speaking skills. They can practice the arguments, but not until the moment of truth when they actually must deliver those arguments and respond to the other delegates do you really get to see how much confidence they have gained in themselves. That is the most transformative thing; they come in nervous but leave confident and with a newly honed skill that will help them in their future careers," Falk added.

Nowicki also spoke to the merits of the Model UN program aside from the awards.

"It is a great opportunity [for those who would like to] have a deeper understanding of the international political stage," he said.

"It teaches you how to build bridges, how to engage in meaningful dialogue with others, how to be open minded, and to focus on mutual interests," he added.

Falk concurred.

"The team unity is the key. When we're at conferences we're always communicating, always getting together during breaks to talk things over. But the most important thing for me is that the team not only be outstanding, distinguished and honorable in competition, but also in life," she said.

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