A group of 博犖整氈窒 students recently help put together a Model United Nations (MUN) Conference in Belfast, Maine, giving high schoolers from across the midcoast region the opportunity to practice to draft resolutions on important issues and hone their debating skills.
Eleven Polar Bears from 博犖整氈窒’s Model UN club hosted the event, which took place April 11 in collaboration with the Midcoast Forum on Foreign Relations.
According to the , some fifty-five students from five area high schools were expected to take part.
博犖整氈窒 students staffed the event, said Franceska Drejaj ’27, acting as committee chairs and vice chairs and holding various staff positions. They were also responsible for writing out comprehensive “briefing books,” containing information relevant to various countries’ positions students represented while in committee. “We held three committees this year, with our two general assemblies focusing on denuclearization and persistent organic pollutants,” she said.
“Students spent the entire day debating their country’s/position’s beliefs and writing resolutions to ameliorate the issue at hand. Students and staffers alike were highly engrossed in our debates and passionate about their positions.”
This year’s conference, added Drejaj, also included a new crisis committee, showcasing the legal fight against the notorious criminal Al Capone in the 1920s and his branch of the mafia known as The Chicago Outfit.
Bobin Park ’28 was part of this new crisis committee and was thrilled to see students dressed in fedoras and 1920s-style suits to play the roles of Capone and his associates. “This was my first time staffing a Model UN conference in college, and it was pretty incredible to see everyone show up and get really involved in the subject,” he said.
For 博犖整氈窒 juniors Ruby Fyffe and Will Tran, this was their third year staffing the Belfast conference. Retired diplomat Todd Bluhm from the Midcoast Forum reached out to them when they were first-years and had just reestablished 博犖整氈窒's MUN club after the COVID-19 pandemic, said Fyffe. “We look forward to this conference every year, and it's so incredible to see high schoolers gain confidence in their knowledge about difficult issues that our world leaders don't even know how to solve. You can really see the next generation of leaders, and that's truly something special,” she added.
Alan Svendsen '25 noted how much the midcoast conference has grown since it started: “Two years ago, we had only one committee and about twenty participants!” The thing that's been the most meaningful for him, said Svendsen, is seeing how many students have become conference regulars. “They have grown not just as debaters, but as student leaders, and I can't wait to see how they harness their energy, passion, and concern for the world in whatever they do next.”
“We look forward to this conference every year, and it's so incredible to see high schoolers gain confidence in their knowledge about difficult issues." Ruby Fyffe '26.
The , a popular and widespread activity for students of all ages, began in the 1940s, shortly after the real United Nations was founded. These programs are designed to give students the chance to simulate the work of the UN General Assembly and its other multilateral bodies, where they get to perform an ambassadorial role while debating major international topics.
