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St. John’s Student Participants in Houston Area Model United Nations

By Christian Maines, St. John's School, School Buzz Editor | February 16, 2016

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Students discuss working papers and draft resolutions. (Photo: Christian Maines)

On Jan. 28 and 29, high school students from all around Houston came to participate in Houston Area Model United Nations (HAMUN 41). Nine hundred students from Houston area schools came to the University of Houston to participate in the event, including a number from St. John’s School.

Model United Nations is an educational simulation of the various committees of the United Nations. Almost all of the simulations take place in the present day, although there are some that deal with historical events. In Model UN, students take the role of delegates from the United Nations member states - not only the ones that people immediately think of, like the United States, China, or Russia - St. John’s sent students representing Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iran, Qatar, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.

At St. John’s, we have had a number of meetings after school to practice parliamentary procedure, following the same rules that are in place during HAMUN conferences. For example, a delegate cannot just speak whenever they want to: they have to motion for a moderated caucus or join the speakers’ list and wait for their turn. Likewise, if they want to ask a question, there are specific guidelines for how that can take place.

All of the committees gave a best delegate award as well as several honorable mentions. St. John’s students Anirudh Suresh and Natasha Gonzalez, both seniors, garnered honorable mentions in their committees.

By the conclusion of the conference, almost every committee had passed at least one resolution. My committee discussed both the crisis of the Syrian Civil War and nuclear disarmament. We ultimately passed several resolutions regarding both topics, with students from schools all around Houston and representing countries all around the world collaborating to sponsor the bills and argue for their passage.

All in all, having experienced two HAMUN conferences before this one at St. John’s, this was another successful year for model United Nations. I know that I and my fellow participants look forward to more conferences to come either here in Houston or off at college, where Model UN is even more popular.