The Model United Nations delegation from Portsmouth Abbey braved the elements in order to arrive on time for the Boston University Conference, or BosMUN XVI, at the Park Plaza Hotel on February 10-12, 2017. But the weather could not take away from what was a wonderful experience for the students, as they represented the school extremely well in their various committees.
Kevin Jiang '17 and Caitlin Cao '17 represented Croatia and Greece, respectively, on the Disarmament Committee in which they debated various nations' access to nuclear materials and technology. Rookie delegate Ethan Guan '19 represented Turkey on the Social and Humanitarian Committee as they discussed global bioethics and reproductive rights. Christine Gu '17 and Emily Hyder '19 took on the challenges of universal jurisdiction on the Legal Committee while Annie O'Donnell '17 and Katherine Wang '18 tried to solve the world's refugee crises.
Beyond the General Assembly a number of Abbey students were placed on economic and social committees. Elaine Jiang '18 and David Sun '17 represented Estonia and Hungary in the World Trade Organization. Jane Jannotta '18 represented Hungary as well on the UN Habitat Committee. Evelyn Long '19 worked to solve the world's health problems on the WHO while Lisa Vicini '19 took on climate change at the Paris Conference. Kitty Zhao '18 represented Georgia in the AIIB and Maya Eid '18 served as a representative of Greece in the Council of Europe.
In addition several students portrayed individuals in specialized or crisis committees. Michael Griffin '18 and Kate Kelley '17 served on the Maryland U.S. Senate committees of the 1930s as Millard Tydings and Phillips Goldsborough. Megan Madden '18 portrayed Marcelo Castro in Dilma Rousseff's cabinet. Karl Jackson '18 served on a unique committee that took place in the future and was tasked with solving world problems of 2030. Dan Rodden '18 served as the Russian representative to the IMF while Mary Beth Falvey '18 was Justice Number Twelve on the International Court of Justice.
The highlight of the trip was the special achievement of two of Portsmouth Abbey's delegates. Anny Angel '17 (above, kneeling to the left of the Model U.N. flag) received a Verbal Commendation for her work portraying Paul Revere in the Sons of Liberty Crisis Committee, and Mauricio Garcia-Gojon '20 (above, far right) was named the Outstanding Delegate of the West Joint Crisis Committee in his capacity as French Ambassador Phiippe Doubis.
"It was a great trip in all respects as the students took on major world problems and worked with kids from all over the world to come up with creative solutions," said faculty advisor Nick Michelletti '04 (above, far left). "They also had time to enjoy the sights and cuisine of a cold, wet, but still very exciting Boston."
Boston Invitational Model United Nations Conference, or BosMUN, is an annual three-day simulation of the United Nations hosted by Boston University for high school delegates. The conference encompasses a variety of General Assembly, ECOSOC, Specialized, and Crisis committees – a taste of everything in MUN. BosMUN XVI hosted over 1,500 delegates registered from 90 schools, including 6 international schools.
Congratulations to all for another successful conference!