Students gather for Model U.N. conference

Students took their diplomacy skills outside the classroom Saturday as they participated in the first IU Model United Nations regional conference.

The conference consisted of a full General Assembly on two topics: LGBT rights and the Syria conflict.

Delegates from IU, Earlham College and Indiana Wesleyan University acted as representatives of over 30 countries.

The IU Model U.N. club, led by co-President Mara Gonzalez Souto, organized the event, which took place in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs.

“The conference put into perspective how you have to keep in mind the interests of other countries,” Gonzalez Souto said. “It will help students understand how to conduct themselves and engage in diplomatic talks.”

The Model U.N. club works in collaboration with SPEA-V 260 “Topics in Public Affairs: Model United Nations,” said junior and political science, psychology and French major Gonzalez Souto.

“SPEA has been keeping the program alive and functioning well,” Gonzalez Souto said. “They’ve been a great contribution to keep the program growing.”

The Model U.N. class is taught by Susan Siena and meets Fridays.

Graduate students Casey Crandell and Shadea Mitchell facilitate the class and club.

“Most American students don’t really realize what role the U.N. plays,” Crandell said. “For millions, the U.N. has a lot of influence. It’s important for IU undergrads to realize that role.”

Mitchell said delegates organize themselves into coalitions.

“It’s about trying to compromise,” Mitchell said. “Those kinds of lessons are interesting to get from this activity.”

Saturday’s conference encouraged students to have perspectives that are not necessarily their own, Crandell said.

“There’s merit in placing yourself in somebody else’s shoes and trying to understand the issue from both sides,” he said.

At the conference, students passed a U.N.-wide resolution, urging Congress to recognize marriage as a universal right.

The security council did not come to a final conclusion on the Syrian conflict, but the general assembly passed resolutions to better provide for refugees.

“Mostly, just urging the security council to take more significant action since the general assembly is limited in what it can do in that situation,” Crandell said. “Only the security council has the authority to really address those issues.”

About 30 students participate in the club at IU, while between 20 and 25 are enrolled in the course. Across all three participating universities, about 40 students held roles as delegates, Crandell said.

The conference featured a keynote speech from former Indian Ambassador and visiting SPEA professor, Rajendra Abhyankar. Students learned of Abhyankar’s experience as an ambassador, as well as his involvement in Syria and Damascus.

“The students liked that lunch break to meet the ambassador,” Souto said. “It was a very successful conference.”

The club is in its second year and has grown in size and has attracted many international business students, Mitchell said.

“Some organizations are hyper competitive,” Mitchell said. “Model U.N. is not.”

Club members are traveling to Chicago this weekend to participate in the American Model U.N. Conference and will apply the skills they learned Saturday.

“The club has this really great opportunity to practice in a real simulation,” Mitchell said. “It speaks highly of the (SPEA) administration and their trying to gear the school to be more internationalized.”

Follow reporter Hannah Alani on Twitter @hannahalani