Honing their public speaking, critical thinking, and teamwork skills, students of debate and political strategy gather to simulate the inner workings of the world’s powers at Model U.N.  With over two hundred thousand participants across the country, it’s easy to see the appeal: “People who love talking about modern political events, people who like to debate, and people who just feel the need to get their opinions out there should join Model U.N.,” says Ms. Schade, one of the two faculty leaders of the group.

Model U.N. teams, such as ours at Kent, operate by attending various conferences, often hosted by colleges and universities.  The team is most excited to attend the Columbia Model U.N. conference hosted in January.  The trip is likely the biggest conference the Model U.N. team will attend this year, and an overnight trip to New York is a definite highlight of the year.  “It’s a beautiful campus, and a great place to be,” Ms. Schade added.  “We’re looking forward to being back at Columbia, in person.”  

Although the club was successful and its members performed well last year, COVID was a huge barrier to Model U.N., with the annual Columbia Model U.N. conference being held over Zoom rather than in person, and the conference Kent hosted being a strictly internal event.  The Columbia conference is normally the most anticipated event of the year for the Model U.N. team, so they were disappointed when the event did not happen in person.  Luckily, this means the team is more ready than ever to put their skills to the test at future conferences.  

Ms. Schade, Ms. Thomsen, and the student leaders of the Model U.N. group, are always seeking to expand their horizons.  Alongside spearheading the group strategically in sessions, student leaders collaborate with the leaders of the club to search for new conferences.  “We’re always looking for more competition,” Ms. Schade said.  One conference the group is considering attending is Dartmouth’s Model U.N. conference.  The team also hopes to host a conference of their own, here at Kent, between April and May, replacing the purely internal conference they hosted at the same time last year.  It looks like it’s going to be an action-packed year for Model U.N. at Kent.