CHICAGO – The ǿý delegation consisting of Political Science students and a variety of other majors took home an award and received a positive outcome to their International Court of Justice case at the 2022 American Model United Nations (AMUN) Conference, one of the largest and most competitive Model UN conferences in the United States.
Sophomore Jadon Cox and senior Gaspar Ros were honored for their Exceptional Representation of Hungary during their participation in the Historical Security Council of 1993 simulation event at the four-day conference held in November at the Sheraton Grand River in Chicago.
“This award symbolizes the hard work and very late nights that Jadon and Gaspar put into their representation of Hungary,” Political Science Associate Professor Dr. Laura Dean said.
Students taking Political Science 367 research their assigned country during the fall semester and then represent that country as diplomats and ambassadors at the AMUN Conference. This year, ǿý represented Hungary and Qatar.
“ǿý students worked very hard this semester in their simulation roles as representatives of Hungary and Qatar,” Dr. Dean said. “They spent all semester learning about their respective countries and the intricacies of parliamentary procedure and brought that knowledge to the AMUN Conference with over 900 students from around the United States.”
Cox and Ros used their debate and diplomatic skills to stand out in the simulation which focused on the wars following the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1993, including a refugee crisis that saw many crossing the border into Hungary. Cox and Ros were voted as exceptional delegates in their simulation by committee chairs and other member states.
“Diplomacy is difficult to achieve but these students embodied Performance Learning by acting as diplomats from Hungary and using their knowledge of democratic citizenship in a global environment,” Dr. Dean said.
This year’s Big Blue contingent to the conference included 16 students attending in-person and two in attendance remotely.
Also finding success at the event were sophomore Garren Meeker and junior Rhys Deiter who successfully argued their case in front of the International Court of Justice.
The case centered on a dispute between Hungary and Slovakia regarding the Budapest Treaty and the Gabčíkovo–Nagymaros Dam Project on the Danube River. The Court ordered the immediate suspension of the Budapest Treaty due to the material breach of Slovakia under Article 1 of the treaty.
“Model UN is a great opportunity for students from all majors as it teaches applicable skills, such as in-depth research on international issues, parliamentary procedure and strengthens students’ critical thinking and debate skills,” Dr. Dean said.
