The Model United Nations (MUN) team flew to Washington D.C. to attend the North American Invitational Model United Nations (NAIMUN) on Presidents’ Day Weekend, from Feb. 15-18. The tournament was hosted by Georgetown University at the Washington Hilton in Dupont Circle, where students participated as delegates in a large-scale and immersive conferences, discussing global issues and offering different perspectives on international affairs. NAIMUN is the largest student-run Model United Nations conference in the world, with over 3,300 delegates in attendance each year.
Liv Kriger ’25 and Editor-in-Chief Averie Perrin ’24 received a Verbal Commendation for their representation of Bangladesh in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Zoe Kramar ’24 earned an Honorable Mention in a crisis committee, and Owen Huang ’24 won a Book Award for outstanding research.
Kramar said that leading up to the conference, the MUN team dedicated time to research for their position papers and prepping answers, while also strengthening their public speaking, leadership and diplomacy skills at conferences along the way.
“HWMUN has been preparing for NAIMUN all year, learning procedure and honing skills at various other conferences we’ve had this year,” Kramar said. “For D.C. specifically, we had to research our topics, write an essay about our country’s position and prepare some solutions to a problem.”
Kramar said that despite spending the majority of the trip at the conference, she was able to share quality time with her fellow delegates exploring the city.
“Most of our time was spent in committee, but I think the most valuable lesson I learned was how to make the most of even a few free hours with friends in a new city,” Kramar said.
Huang said that the highlight of the tournament involved discovering a spy within his committee, which was centered on the 1993 Taiwan National Development Conference, allowing him to use quick thinking skills to take advantage of the situation.
“The most memorable moment came when a Chinese spy was found in our committee and subsequently fled into hiding in the conference hotel,” Huang said. “We had a competition with the committee representing the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party to track him down, and my five-man group representing Taiwan ended up finding him just two minutes into the hunt. This victory gave Taiwan the upper hand in our negotiations, and the five of us were immortalized as heroes of the Republic.”
Huang said the skills he has picked up from MUN will benefit him in his future.
“Given my interest in international relations, I think Model UN will have a sizable impact on my academic and career pursuits,” Huang said. “It’s taught me many lessons in diplomacy, leadership, research and building relationships with peers from around the world.”
