MEMUN Makes History at Memorial

The event had been in the works for nearly a year. Although once thought to be an out-of-reach idea, after months of meticulous preparation and numerous setbacks, Memorial’s Model UN club welcomed students to MEMUN, Memorial’s first student-run Model UN conference. From Jan. 23 to 24, club members gathered after school to attend the conference as delegates. 
“Planning for MEMUN began in March of 2024 after being inspired by similar conferences throughout Houston,” senior Elliot Bernstein, chair of the Union committee and president of the Model UN club, said. “While we hoped to have participants from multiple schools, only Memorial was able to be there in the end. Of course, we still had a great time and practiced some valuable skills.”

Model United Nations allows students to engage in simulations of United Nations meetings. Delegates represent various countries and work with fellow committee members to find solutions to global issues. Model UN brings together students from across the globe, teaching diplomacy, public speaking and cooperation. 

“When I first joined Model UN, I was scared,” sophomore Alice Hu, who represented Ulysses S. Grant, said. “However, my experience so far has been fantastic. I would definitely recommend that people join Model UN. You’ll make so many good friends and amazing memories and learn so much.”

At MEMUN, the delegates were placed in a joint crisis committee centered around the American Civil War. A joint crisis committee is a special type of committee where delegates represent individual characters and are separated into two rooms but still debate the same crisis. In these committees, the decisions of delegates in one room directly affect the delegates in the other; additionally, cross-committee communication is allowed through the “backroom”, where notes can be passed between committees by staffers, introducing a new world of potential strategies and sabotage that delegates need to watch out for. 

Managing finances, military personnel and public opinion of the war, delegates were tested on their tactical strategies and diplomatic abilities. For many delegates, this was their first crisis committee, and for some, their first conference altogether.

“It was a really great experience,” senior Sophia Fan, who acted as Salmon P. Chase, said. “[Crisis] is more free-form than standard committees, and because it was a smaller committee with people I was comfortable with, it was amazing practice for [future conferences].”

The conference featured many battle plans and press releases, as well as unexpected events, including the creation of a new Union currency called “onionbacks” and a duel that ended in Abraham Lincoln’s death. MEMUN brought together both old and new Model UN members, bonding them through the construction of directives, mid-conference dinners and the desire to win the war. The delegates and organizers consider the conference a decided success and plan to host a second conference next year.

“Two evenings with some of the best folks I know, working on a club I love—what more could you want?” Bernstein said. “The community is so amazing and supportive; it’s hard not to love it.”