Diplomacy & Fun at TUSMUNCIII At Ursuline’s third annual Model United Nations Middle School Conference on November 21, 2020 delegates used Google Docs, Slack, and breakout rooms in Zoom. We welcomed delegations from St. Ann’s School, Ethical Culture Fieldston School and Brentwood School, Los Angeles. The theme was A New Dawn. In the Aftermath of the First Wizarding War crisis committee (Harry Potter), the delegates needed to help reform the British Ministry of Magic. The NFL Owners Committee tackled three issues plaguing the National Football League today, namely, players’ freedom of expression, international expansion, and gender equality. Finally, fringe militant groups, nuclear weapons, and
an exiled president crashed together to add up to a hostile Yemen Crisis. The leadership team at TUSMUNCIII, with faculty moderators Mrs. Patel and Mrs. Doherty, was Secretary General, Simulation Director Cecilia Visco ’21; Secretary General, Crisis Director (Yemen) Maeve Reynolds ’21; Undersecretary of External Affairs, Alexandria Carson ’21; Undersecretary of Internal Affairs, Nicole Lee ’21; Undersecretary of Research, Crisis Director (NFL) Ananya Singh ’21; Undersecretary of Finance, Crisis Director (Harry Potter) Hannah Parisi ’21; and Crisis Director (Press Corps) Daphne Banino ’22. Special thanks to the Louise Este Bruce Foundation for their continued support of TUSMUNC.
A Leader’s Perspective at TUSMUNCIII By Cecilia Visco ’21 TUSMUNCIII Secretary General, Simulation Director In Model UN, crisis committees task delegates to achieve overarching goals while also presenting delegates with unforeseen challenges that threaten to throw them off course. In this high-stakes format, neglecting to consider any given situation could have dire consequences. At TUSMUNC, we create crisis committees that show delegates the complex web of considerations that factor into our leaders’ decision-making. Little did we know that, in planning our 2020 conference, we would find ourselves under similar circumstances. While the world of Zoom presents many hurdles, moving our conference online raised one major concern. How could we replicate the energy felt at a live conference in the heat of debate? Ultimately, the strength of our community became the answer to our own problem. In the months before the conference, our conference staff remained determined to make their committees wonderfully chaotic and thoroughly engaging. At the conference, this preparation visibly filled our staff with a pride and excitement that translated into a memorable day for all. 54
