On Friday, the 3rd of November, eight students left their H block classes to get their luggage and find a big blue bus. They were on their way to UCMUN, which is the Model UN convention held at the University of Connecticut (UCONN).

Conner Fahey, a Sophomore, won the Best Delegate Award representing Germany in the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). Fahey says, “I’m very happy I won. I tried my best and Mrs. Thompson helped a lot along the way.”

Mrs. Thompson was happy to see such a positive result, saying “It was exciting, as always, to bring new students to their first conference. You can’t convey what it’s like until you actually go. The students talking to each other about your committees, offering insight. I think that’s one of the best parts of these conferences.” She continued with, “You don’t usually see students sit around and talk about worldly problems and how to solve them.”

Fahey enjoyed his experience, saying, “I made a lot of new friends. We passed two resolutions. The first one was a comprehensive plan to deal with the rohingya crisis in Myanmar. The second one was guidelines on ethical mass-surveillance. Kind of an oxymoron, but we tried our best. I wrote both of them.” On the activity outside of the conference, Fahey says, “The dance was a blast! It had music and trivia. It was pretty challenging. We played a murder mystery game and we got free t-shirts. It was pretty good.”

For students with busy schedules, Kent MUN is holding a conference here in the spring, Mrs. Thompson says, “We’re having our second annual conference in the spring. We invite local schools and they spend the day debating on campus.”

The MUN kids are holding their normal club meetings, 6 PM in the Headmaster’s study on Wednesday, and are currently gearing up for other conferences. “I am planning to go on every conference that Kent offers, and I’m really excited for Columbia,” said Fahey.