Oakland University’s Model United Nations Team Wins Lake Erie Conference for Third Straight Year
For the third consecutive year, Oakland University (OU) emerged as the top team at the Lake Erie Model United Nations Conference. Eight schools competed at the event, which took place November 9-12 in Huron, Ohio.
During the event, participants were judged based on how well they represented the interests of different countries on United Nations (UN) committees and organizations. Students debated numerous issues, including North Korea, Afghanistan, cyber security, uses of outer space, corporate responsibility, rights of children, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Of the 22 OU students who competed at the conference, eight earned individual honors. Their names, assignments and ratings are as follows:
- Alex Bertges – Holy See, Social and Humanitarian Committee, Excellent
- Abigail Brown – United States, NATO, Superior
- Ryan Dempsey – Russia, Security Council, Excellent
- Robert Olesnavich – Chile, UN Council for Trade and Development, Excellent
- Brian Quinn – Germany, Historical Security Council, Excellent
- Nathan Roberts – Syria, Special Political Committee, Excellent
- Arielle Sturr – Czech Republic, NATO, Excellent
- Richard Williamson – “A Team” of absent/unrepresented states, Excellent
“This year I thought we had a really strong team, and their performance really exceeded my expectations,” said Paul Kubicek, professor of political science and Model UN faculty advisor. “It’s nice that the trajectory for Model UN seems to remain headed up, and that we keep raising the bar in terms of how we perform and what we hope to achieve.”
To prepare for the conference, students spent weeks learning about the issues, developing research and presentation skills to effectively advocate for their country’s interests. They also held open practice sessions in the Oakland Center. Model UN is open to students of all majors and can be taken as the course PS 362.
The team’s next competition is in February at the North American Model UN Conference in Toronto. In March, they will host 250 high school students for the third annual OU Model UN Conference. For more information visit OU’s Model UN Team.