Model UN held at Blackburn College

By Aubrey Cunningham, Student

If you drove past the entrance to Blackburn College on Thursday of last week, you were sure to see school busses galore and lines of high school students streaming in to the Woodson Center for Business & Economics. The student workers in the Office of Political Science coupled with the students enrolled in the Model UN class at Blackburn hosted, facilitated, organized and carried out the 19th annual Model UN for High School Students. Over 20 high schools participated in the event, coming to Blackburn from as far away as Breese, IL and as close as Carlinville.

Organizer Student Organizer, junior Will Hogsett had this to say about the event, "We were very fortunate to have an outstanding group of students. It speaks to the quality of education in central and southern Illinois. We look forward to organizing and facilitating the event again in the future.”

Model UN is a program that simulates the parliamentary procedure of the United Nations in order to give high school and college students a better understanding of the international governing organizations that affect their world and the world around them. The program seeks to educate students by simulating sessions of different committees who compose the UN. Committees simulated at the Blackburn event included the UN Committee on Human Rights, Economics, and General Assembly. Students who participated drafted resolutions, proposed amendments, and debated the merits of the issues brought to the floor—helping them to gain an understanding of the means and purposes that formulate international law and precedent.

Sophomore Kari Puck, also a student organizer of the event served as chair of the General Assembly in the simulation. Puck noted that, “Model UN gives Blackburn a chance to interact with possible future students. It is a great to watch and help high school students take on today's global issues. The creativity and energy that they put into their solutions truly makes it an amazing experience to facilitate and participate.”

The event was successful in its purpose of education and also exposure for the college. Blackburn students who organized the event have lived up to it’s long standing standard of success, as the college and community look forward to participating in the event next year.