Model UN Students at the National Conference in New York City.
For the eighth time in nine years, California State University, Chico’s Model United Nations (MUN) team received the Outstanding Delegation award at the National (MUN) conference in New York City March 29—April 1, 2015. The award is the conference’s highest honor and places the University in the top 10 percent of participating schools. The team of 33 students, representing the United States of America, served on 16 committees, which discussed a range of topics including biological weapons, the Islamic State of Iraq, women in development, transnational organized crime and drug trafficking.
"I am incredibly proud of the hard work of our students over the past year,” said head delegate Nigel Bocanegra-Speed. “Not only have they achieved great success, but they have gained valuable skills that will better prepare them for the work force. They proved to thousands of people from around the world what CSU, Chico students are capable of." Out of the 200 schools competing, CSU, Chico was awarded the most individual position paper awards per country: eight out of the sixteen possible.
Those receiving position paper awards were Jaydeep Bhatia and Johnny Bryner in the General Assembly First; Aaron Thao and Scott Greenberg in the General Assembly Second; Kate Scarratt and Michael McDonald in the Commission on Population and Development; Sadie Foster and Sam Perkins in the Food and Agriculture Organization; Diego Estrada and Nicole Nicolai in the Human Rights Council; Nicolas Woo and Taylor Johnson in the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Karl Pfeifer and Kristina Houchin in the Security Council; and Mallorie Hayes and David Briggs in the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
“The students and the student officers once again surpassed expectations,” said political science professor John Crosby, who advises the MUN program. “I am tremendously proud of the officer corps this year. The New York conference is the standard and the most rigorous of the MUN simulations. A little less than 10 percent of attending schools are awarded Outstanding Delegation awards. This award, combined with the number of position paper awards, places Chico State at least in the top 4 percent. This internationally recognized conference proves that Chico State students can academically compete and win against any school in the nation and the world.”
CSU, Chico’s MUN program is run entirely by an officer corps of students who competed in prior years and overseen by John Crosby. This year’s corps was led by head delegate Bocanegra-Speed and included secretary general Kady Hammer and officers Joseph Aceret, Mallorie Hayes, Kristina Houchin and Aaron Thao.
In fall 2014, the team also attended the Northwestern Model United Nations conference in Seattle, where they took home the Distinguished Delegation award.
The National MUN conference is the world’s largest university-level simulation of the United Nations. Each year, the event educates more than 5,000 students (half from outside the U.S.) from more than 400 colleges and universities about the United Nations and contemporary international issues.
CSU, Chico students must enroll in Crosby’s Model United Nations course (POLS 340A) in the fall to participate in the spring semester. The program typically draws from the international relations concentration but is open to students from all disciplines.
The MUN team is funded by the Instructionally Related Activities Program and with contributions from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the Department of Political Science, and student fundraisers.