The Howard Payne University Model United Nations team participated in the WorldMUN conference, March 11-15, hosted by Harvard University’s World Model United Nations team in Vancouver, British Columbia.

“The opportunity to participate in the Harvard World MUN conference allowed our students to simulate service as international diplomats with more than 2,000 students from some of the world’s leading universities,” said Samuel Greene, assistant professor of political science at HPU. “Our students more than held their own and had some great intercultural experiences along the way.”

Each school is given a country to represent, or, in HPU’s case, two countries – Nicaragua and Norway. The team spent months preparing for the conference, learning background information needed to represent their assigned countries and writing papers on the positions their countries held on the given topics.

During the conference, each country sent two representatives into a room to discuss a different topic, such as “Primary Education Development” and “The European Debt Crisis.” Delegates representing each country shared ideas to form a mutual decision for the addressed topic and created a resolution.

“I liked getting to know people from different cultures,” said Erik Swenson, a sophomore from Carrollton. “It was awesome getting to know them and working together with them to reach a final resolution. This conference taught me how to be a better diplomat.”

Delegates include Swenson; Kathryn Barrackman, a senior from Houston; Bethany Berry, a junior from Post; Elizabeth Davidson, a senior from Georgetown; Callie Ellis, a junior from Tennessee Colony; Lindsey Gholson, a senior from Burnet; Megan Haverlah, a junior from Poth; Caleb McKamie, a junior from Gatesville; Josh Milam, a senior from Midland; Matt Peisker, a senior from Cedar Park; Elizabeth Rogers, a sophomore from Grand Junction, Colo.; and Robin Scofield, a sophomore from Naples, Fla. Dr. Elisabeth Greene, adjunct music faculty at HPU, co-sponsored the trip.

“MUN challenges me to look at the position of another country and consider topics that I’ve never really thought about,” said Rogers. “I also loved seeing how a group of people became a unified team. The team really bonded and it showed in how we approached everything on the trip. This trip reminded me about the value of teamwork and the importance of a Christ-like attitude.”

Pictured at top: HPU’s Model United Nations delegates participated in a Vancouver conference. The team includes, from left, Caleb McKamie, Professor Samuel Greene, Megan Haverlah, Josh Milam, Elizabeth Rogers, Robin Scofield, Bethany Berry, Kathryn Barrackman, Elizabeth Davidson, Callie Ellis, Matt Peisker, Erik Swenson and Lindsey Gholson.