Upper School Hosts First-Ever Model U.N. Conference
On Sunday, April 18th, Riverdale virtually held its first ever Model United Nations conference. Model U.N., the student-run club, organized the conference into two categories: one General Assembly (GA) Committee and three Crisis Committees. In the GA committee, there was one central topic, the Venezuelan Economic Crisis, and the delegates’ main goal was to pass a resolution (a resolution is a document that contains every issue the committee wants to solve, along with proposals to these issues). Meanwhile, delegates in the more volatile Crisis Committees responded to sudden issues, such as the Yemeni Crisis and the Kashmir conflict.
Each of the four committees was chaired by two Riverdale students. In the committee focusing on the beginning of the Biden presidency, for example, the chairs assigned each participating delegate (from other independent schools in New York) to act as a member of President Biden’s mock cabinet. Responsibilities ranged from discussing foreign relations to answering questions from the media in mock press conferences.
Photos Courtesy of Ms. Jenny Eskin
Riverdale students hosted the conference virtually from campus.
On the day of the conference, the Riverdale organizers gathered on campus to host the event via Zoom. When only 35 out of the 50 expected delegates showed up, the Riverdale student leaders had to act quickly and adjust their plans by elevating six virtual students from the crisis staff to become delegates. The new delegates were adaptive and helpful despite their lack of prior research for the roles. Co-chair of the Kashmir Conflict Committee, junior Sasha Mamaysky, said that “the students’ flexibility, enthusiasm, and knowledge about the topic enabled the conference to run smoothly.”
Seniors Michelle Wen and Owen Reed, the co-leaders of Model U.N., both agreed that the conference was a success. Reed explained that “though there were a few no-shows, everything ran smoothly. There were some hiccups that the [Upper School students] and Chairs were able to address. It was a great intellectual and educational experience for both the people who participated and the students who organized the conference.”
Wen and Reed had discussed planning a conference as early as when they were in Middle School, though it was never a real possibility until this year. According to Wen, they first started seriously considering a potential conference in the spring of 2020, as once-distant possibilities became feasible with the adjustment to an online format. The two organized the conference in the summer of 2020, planning logistics and talking to administrators. Once Model U.N. began in the fall, they assigned each member of the Upper School club to a role. Each member then extensively researched their topics and scripted the committees.
Many of the participants also agreed that the conference was a success, and, most importantly, fun. After months of preparation, the students were able to spend a day acting as crisis staff, chairs, and delegates. And though there were a few hiccups, the conference taught the students to be flexible and make the most out of any situation. Reed and Wen hope that future Model UN leaders will continue hosting conferences in the future, possibly even in-person ones.
