Westminster Sends Delegation to YMUN XXXVII

Westminster sent 15 delegates and two advisors to the Model United Nations Conference at Yale University Jan. 20-23. This is the third year in a row that it has participated in the conference.

At the opening ceremonies, guest speaker, Dr. William Ury, author of “The Power of the Positive No: How to Say No and Still Get to Yes,” talked about his main tenets for reaching conflict resolution. A graduate of Yale and a doctoral graduate from Harvard, Dr. Ury worked with former President Jimmy Carter, with whom he co-founded the International Negotiation Network. After his opening address, the conference was officially declared open, and committee chairs called delegates forward to the site of their committee’s first session.

Westminster was assigned Sierra Leone and Myanmar and had delegates on the following committees.

Disarmament and International Security

Topic: Anti-Personnel Mines and Peacekeeping in the Gaza Strip

Delegates: Ryan Smythe, Ronald Yeung, Bella Zimmer, Carolyn Zimmer

Economic and Financial Committee

Topic: Women in Development

Delegates: Jane Lee, Alex Chaffee

Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee

Topic: Conflict Between Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism

Delegates: Rene Jimenez, Julie LeBlanc

Special Political and Decolonization Committee

Topic: The Afghan Drug Trade

Delegates: Bridget Gorham, Maggie Hark, Alessandro Giacometti, Scott Shay

World Health Organization

Topic: Globalizing the Fight Against Infectious Diseases and Ensuing Global Access to Potable Water

Delegates: Libby Kelter, Emily Teschner

Special Committee:

UK Government – Parliament

Donald Sonn

“New students came back energized by their first taste of MUN delegation work and the veterans were duly casual, but we could sense that they, too, had enjoyed finally getting their teeth into the issues after our half year of research and preparation,” said faculty advisor Mollie Pilling.

In addition to participating in sessions throughout the conference and the closing ceremonies, students took advantage of Yale Day, a dance and movie night. “They came home with fond memories of four days of intense debate, freezing weather and bonding at YMUN XXXVII,” added Mollie.