Newman Model UN: Passion and Preparation on The Global Stage

Model United Nations is an active and exciting club within the Newman community. Often at the center of the stage, Model UN is about passionate debate, collaboration, and problem-solving. 

Club meetings are twice a week, during co-curricular club times and after school, either on Monday or Thursday. Mia Brillantes ‘26 tells us, “Club meetings are a combination of things, usually simulations of what would happen at a club conference in addition to slideshows and theoretical learning about concepts and skills that can be applied in those conference settings.” 

Conferences typically involve students from many schools, Diana Lytvyn ‘26 says “I really like Model UN, there's a lot of talking, a lot of debating, you get to meet a lot of people with similar interests, and it's also in general a really cool, big international community.”

Before the conferences take place, students are presented with a list of countries and possible committees to be a part of. Diana shares, “You're going to be in the general assembly, usually you'll be assigned a guide with some information about your chairs. Usually, you have to submit a position paper, which is just making sure that you've prepared for the conference. Sometimes you get two topics, sometimes you get one, and you just have to write about your country's position.”

Conferences themselves are about tackling global situations, “international initiatives and brainstorming solutions on the topic.” Mia tells us, “It's a simulation of the international relations and government that occur at the United Nations and solve many issues today.” Collaboration is a key part, sometimes “you're a single delegate and sometimes you'll be in a double delegation, which just means you're working with a partner, and you guys are representing the same country.”

“Delegates Louis'26, Mo'26, and Mia'26 from Newman's Model UN club had a great weekend at the BC High Model United Nations Conference XXXIII!” The Newman School Instagram.

Last year, Newman’s Model UN was part of a conference at the Model United Nations Headquarters in New York. Diana tells us, “It was joined with Italian students, so like 50% of the people at the conference were Italian, which was so cool, I got to meet a lot of interesting people.” Similar conferences took place at Northeastern, where awards were given, including best public speaker and best position papers. This year, members Mia and Mahika won Best Delegate. 

A core element of Model UN is a moderated caucus, a structured form of debate where the chair calls upon delegates to speak on a specific subtopic. Diana says, “Basically, you just go around, you get to stand up, and you go to talk to people. You actually work on writing your solutions, which is called a resolution. Closer to the end of the conference, you present your solution, and then you do a short Q&A period, and people vote on it. That's pretty much how the committee session goes.”

The entire process involves communication and quick thinking, and students can have different solutions, and there are so many layers of politics within, “that's partly why I love it”, shares Diana. A lot of the time, you don’t know what people will motion for, or they might vote on a certain topic you don’t know a lot about, and you have to quickly prepare a speech and speak on your feet. It definitely involved a lot of research skills, too. Mia agrees and says it “teaches researching skills, public speaking, and how to be a leader, and a lot of advocacy skills that you need to be able to debate a point and do it well.”

Outside of the stage, Model UN conferences are known for their fun environments. Mia shares, “one of the most memorable moments has been hanging outside the conferences, during the parties and travelling, and bringing a group of people together.” 

Overall, Model UN is one of Newman’s most exciting clubs as students prepare for debates, actively brainstorm solutions, and win awards, making the Newman community proud!