(Angela H./Staff)

Advised by Mr. Compton and led by seniors Tiko B. and Alicia D., forty-nine students travelled to Georgetown Univeristy, which hosted the North American Invitational Model United Nations. Academy’s attendance marks a return to pre-pandemic traditions of overnight trips and rooming with friends.

At Model UN students simulate inner workings of the United Nations by representing a country, organization, or person as a delegate. Over 3000 participants arrived in D.C. from across the globe to serve on committees, pass resolutions, run crisis simulations, and heighten their understanding of the international political system.

A Viking was present in all seven General Assemblies: Disarmament and International Security (DISEC); Social, Cultural, and Humanitarian (SOCHUM); Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL); United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); World Health Organization (WHO); International Labor Organization (ILO); and United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 

Also serving in the Economic and Social Councils, Academy students covered the British House of Commons, the Pan-African Parliament, the Chapultepec Peace Accords, Pacific Island Cooperation Summit, and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

Two historical crises—The Tokugawa Shogunate and Kohimarama Conference—and one contemporary crisis—Newcastle Board of Directors—had CA participants. The only categories with fewer students were the National Security Apparatus, where delegates debated over the Indonesian Revolution, and non-Traditional categories, with two and three students each. 

The keynote speaker, inaugural Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, spoke to the delegates, offering wisdom acquired from prior military service and jobs within the Department of Defense and Department of State. By relating his presentation to his experience of change, he encouraged students to be more open-minded and to go where life takes them.