Sponsored by the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, the Georgia Tech Model United Nations Competitive Team has returned from their first conference of the Fall 2013 term. The team sent 14 delegates to the Boston Area MUN VI (BarMUN) conference hosted by Boston University at their main downtown campus from October 9-13, 2013.

BarMUN hosted universities predominantly from the northeastern US and Canada, including from Colombia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Georgia Tech’s delegation included undergraduate students from the Nunn School, from Public Policy, and Economics within the Ivan Allen College and undergraduate students from the Colleges of Engineering, the Sciences, and computing. GT’s competitive MUN team is notable in its interdisciplinary diversity. At the BarMUN competition, Anna Malcom, a first-year nuclear engineer, received an Honorable Mention award accompanied by three teammates Hari Tiwari (Industrial Engineering), Anju Suresh (Industrial Engineering), and Surya Bhatia (Computer Science) who each received Oral Recommendations.

At BarMUN, Georgia Tech students acted as one-man (or woman) delegations each representing non-state groups that ranged from the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and Libyan General People’s Committee to news organizations, CNN and China’s Huawei. Each GT student addressed a wide-range of difficult and real-world problems such as civil unrest, corruption, maintaining foreign relations, and economic reformation through a simulation of international governance.

While representing the interests of both the character and committee, each delegate utilized their analytical, debating, and lobbying skills in order to accomplish their initiative. Also, public speaking and resolution-writing remained a prominent factor in each committee. All MUN conferences offer the opportunity for students to showcase and improve their leadership abilities in an academic environment while learning about global and domestic issues.

Events, such as these crises conferences, teach students that organizations handle issues of all inclinations; sometimes the easiest part is implementing a change, whereas the hardest can be prioritizing the multitude of crucial impending issues to solve. A beneficial part of this particular conference was witnessing Georgia Tech students collaborate with students from various backgrounds to learn these lessons, better themselves, and gain new perspectives on international affairs.