Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Strong showing in Taiwan


The West Point Model UN team returned home on Saturday night from Taipei, Taiwan after earning a second place finish at the World Model UN conference.

The cadets' success was achieved in competition that included nearly 2,000 other students from 200 universities and 48 countries from around the world. Six out of the nine cadets competing won individual committee awards.

This accomplishment at Worlds caps off a very successful season for the team, which included "Best Delegation" awards at Georgetown, the University of Pennsylvania, and Oxford University in the fall, and a "Best Delegation" win at Harvard Nationals in February.

Diplomacy Award Winners:

James White ('10), representing a member of the Sri Lankan cabinet in a crisis committee addressing the LTTE conflict.
Dan Hall ('10), representing India in the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Tyler Matthews ('10), representing India in the United Nations Development Programme.
Arron Conley ('10) and Elizabeth Constantino ('12) representing India in the Legal Committee.
Woo Do ('11), representing India in the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.

Jake Haag ('10) and Chris Oblak ('11), representing India in the Special Political Committee, and Alex Thew ('11), representing India in the International Monetary Fund, all did a fantastic job in committee and represented the Academy with distinction.

The cadets capped off the week with a lengthy visit with the Director and country team at the American Institute in Taiwan (the de facto American embassy) for a wide-ranging discussion of Taiwanese political, economic and military issues.


National Champions at Harvard!


This weekend the West Point Model United Nations team won the National championship at the Harvard National Model UN conference in Boston.

11 of the 14 cadets competing earned personal awards at the end of the most rigorous competition the team has ever faced, which included over 3,000 other students from 205 universities and 35 different countries. Perhaps most amazing is that the cadets won the championship while representing Niger (that's right, Niger).

Please congratulate the following cadets for their great work and for carrying on the proud winning tradition of West Point Model UN:

Best Delegate Award Winners (1st Place)
James White ('10) and Dan Hall ('10), representing Niger in the Disarmament and International Security Committee.
Jake Haag ('10) and Chris Oblak ('11), representing Niger in the Special Political and Decolonization Committee.
Will Dickson ('13), representing Niger in the 1994 Historical General Assembly on Rwanda.

Outstanding Delegate Award Winners (2nd Place):
Arron Conley ('10) and Micah Ables ('12), representing Niger in the Legal Committee.
Emmanuel Gfoeller-Volkoff ('10) and Woo Do ('11), representing Niger in the Social, Cultural, Humanitarian Committee.
Mike Kerper ('11) and Alex Thew ('11), representing Niger in the Global Financial Crisis Committee.

Cadets Elizabeth Constantino ('12), Lauren Pasque ('12), and Miles Gabrielson ('13) also did a great job representing the Academy with distinction.

The team will head off to Taipei, Taiwan on 12 March to compete in the World Model UN conference.

Seven Award Winners in Montreal


A strong showing in Canada.

This weekend the Model UN team traveled to Montreal, Canada and competed against over 30 other colleges and universities, including the United States Air Force Academy, Georgetown, Columbia, Princeton, and the University of California at Berkley, at the McGill Model United Nations Conference. The team gave one of the strongest performances of the teams in attendance, with 7 of 10 cadets winning individual awards. Up next, the team will be traveling to Boston to compete in Harvard’s National Model United Nations Conference. Please congratulate the following cadets on their individual success.

Award Winners included:

Best Delegate (1st Place):
Dan Hall ('10): representing Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, in the Indo-Pakistani Wars of Partition Crisis Simulation
Joseph Thew ('11): representing South Africa in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization

Second Place:
James White ('10): representing Garcia Luna, Secretary General of Public Safety, in the Mexican Drug War Crisis Simulation
Arron Conley ('10) & Micah Ables (’12): representing South Africa in the United Nations Disarmament and International Security Council
Emmanuel Constantine Gfoeller-volkoff (’10) & Woo Song Do (’11): representing South Africa in the United Nations World Health Organization

Also contributing to the team's great performance were Issa Moussa ('10), Elizabeth Constantino (’11), Miles Gabrielson (’13), and William Dickson (’13).

Team wins at UPenn

West Point wins in the city of brotherly love.

The West Point Model United Nations team made a clean sweep of its fall season with a "Best Delegation" victory at the University of Pennsylvania this weekend in Philadelphia.

This victory follows the team's win at Oxford two weeks ago and its win at Georgetown in early October. The 16 cadet delegation was competing against over 1,300 students from 83 universities. This was also a victory over teams from Navy, Air Force, and the Coast Guard Academy; not a single delegate from the other academies won a committee award. A photo of the team with the victory trophy in front of Independence Hall is shown below:

**Best Delegate Award Winners (First Place):
Tyler Matthews
('10): representing France in the UN Children's Fund committee
George LeMeur
('11): representing a member of the North Korean cabinet in the nuclear crisis committee

**Outstanding Delegate Award Winners (Second Place):
Andrew Swick
('11) and Miles Gabrielson ('13): representing France in the UN Disarmament and International Security Committee

**Honorable Mention Award Winners (Third Place):
Arron Conley
('10) and Brett Phillips ("13): representing France in the Special Political committee
Chris Oblak
('11) and Brett Schuck ('12): representing France in the World Health Organization
Elizabeth Constantin
o ('12): representing Secretary of State Cordell Hull in the Origins of WWII crisis committee

**Verbal Commendation Award Winners (Fourth Place):
Jake Haag
('10): representing France in the UN Human Rights Council
J. Alexander Thew
('11): representing France in the World Trade Organization
Lauren Pasque
('12): representing the Culture Minister in the Iranian cabinet crisis committee

Cadets Dan Hall ('10), Connor Kilpatrick ('12), Mike Kerper ('12), and Will Dickson ('13) were also outstanding in their performance during the conference.

Victory at Oxford!

West Point wins 'best' at Oxford.

The West Point Model United Nations team won a huge victory this weekend at the Oxford University Model United Nations conference in the UK.

Six of the eight cadets competing won an individual committee award, five of the six were named "best delegate" in their committee. When the conference Secretary General announced West Point's "Best Delegation" award, she remarked that the "saturation of talent" on this team was unprecedented, while the team racked up a better overall win ratio than any previous Oxford competitors.

The cadets' victory is even more impressive given the fact that the Oxford conference attracts a very large percentage of graduate students and law students from the best universities in Europe. The cadets were competing against nearly 500 students from 38 universities.

**Best Delegate Award Winners (First Place):
James White ('10): representing India in the Historical General Assembly
Arron Conley ('10): representing India in the Special Political Committee
Woo Do ('11): representing India in the World Health Organization
George LeMeur ('11): representing India in the United Nations Environment Program
Elizabeth Constantino ('12): representing India in the Human Rights Council

**Honorable Mention Award Winner (Second Place):
J. Alexander Thew ('11): representing India in the International Monetary Fund

Cadets Tyler Matthews and Jake Haag were also outstanding in their performance during the conference.

Another strong showing at Georgetown

Model UN Team Wins Again at Georgetown

For the ninth year in a row, the West Point Model United Nations team won the first place team award at the National Collegiate Security Conference at Georgetown University.

The team competed against over 20 other colleges and universities, including tough competitors like the College of William & Mary, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, and McGill University.

Of the 11 cadets that participated in the conference, 9 brought home individual awards in the 10 committees of which the team was assigned. This was an impressive victory for the team, and kicks off what will surely be a successful 2009-2010 season.


Please recognize all our participants for their individual success:

Best Delegate (1st Place):
James White (’10): representing the United States of America in the United Nations Security Council
Emmanuel Constantine Gfoeller-Volkoff (’10): representing Deputy Prime Minister Gamal Salem in the 1956 Egyptian Cabinet
Arron Conley (’10): representing Cameroon in the 2011 Peace and Security Council of the African Union

Outstanding Delegate (2nd Place):
Woo Do (’11): representing France on the United Nations Peacebuilding Commission
Honorable Mention (3rd Place):
Jake Haag (’10): representing Carlos Alberto Bolona Behr, Minister of Economics and Finance, in the Peruvian Cabinet
George Lemeur (’11): as chief military advisor to the Ad-Hoc Committee of the Secretary-General
Andrew Swick (’11): representing Khalid al-Falih, President and CEO of Saudi Aramco on the 2011 Council of Ministers of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Connor Kilpatrick (’12): representing Daman Diu of the Bharatuya Janata Party of the Lok Sabha

Verbal Commendation (4th Place):

Micah Ables (’12): representing Portugal on the NATO Assembly on Cyber Warfare
Christopher Oblak (’11) and William Dickson (’13) were strong committee members and helped contribute greatly to our team’s success.

Up next, the team will travel across the pond from 30 October to 1 November to the Oxford Model United Nations Conference.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Welcome

Welcome to the blogger page for the West Point Model United Nations Team!

Each year, the West Point Model UN Team participates in several conferences worldwide, with the mission of representing the US Military Academy well as diplomats by engaging with peers from other universities.

With this blog, the team hopes to keep its friends and supporters updated on its efforts throughout the year. Please note that this blog in no way represents the official positions of the US Army, the US Military Academy, or the USMA Department of Social Sciences.

Thanks for your support!