From February 9th to the 11th, 20 Bob Jones students went to participate in the 10th Annual Model Alabama Model United Nations (ALMUN) at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

The 20 students were involved with the Model United Nations (MUN) Club at Bob Jones, that takes students to conferences like ALMUN or Vanderbilt Model United Nations (VUMUN). The trip was chaperoned by Leah Faris, Debbie Scott, and Michael Hoyle, all who are Bob Jones Social Science teachers.

Leah Faris, a Bob Jones teacher and a sponsor of the Model United Nations Club, said, “We love taking students to Model UN conference because it is a great application of the social sciences and promotes real-life skills…writing, research, critical thinking, speech. Over the years we have even had students that Model UN influenced their fields of study in college and job opportunities.”

Students prepare by doing research on their country and topic, learn parliamentary procedure to use during committee, how to write resolution papers, as well as writing a position paper to submit to ALMUN themselves. While other schools have classes dedicated to Model UN, most of the work in preparation for the conference is done outside of class. However, this is not stopping Bob Jones students from winning awards.

Bob Jones students collectively won six awards in both general assembly and crisis committees:

General Assembly

1. Ryan Williams, United States, United Nations Security Council – Best Delegate
2. Victoria Lee, Kenya, United Nations High Commission Refugees – Best Position Paper
3. Danielle McDowell, United States, World Health Organization – Best Position Paper
4. Audrey Harper, Kenya, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization – Honorable Mention

Crisis Committees

1. Claire Magnuson, Progressive Labor, Summers of Love: The New Left – Best Position Paper
2. Grey Vanderberg, Haley Barbour, Ad Hoc – Honorable Mention

Faris said, “I love seeing how successful our kids can be even when competing with schools where they offer classes or compete in numerous conferences year round. We show up and show out. I couldn’t be prouder!”

There were 12 committees offered to delegates (students) this year. BJ Students have been attending MUN conferences since 2004!

Ryan Williams, who represented the United States in the United Nations Security Council, has gone to ALMUN for three years, and said, “I continue to participate in Model UN because it provides an avenue to learning about global policy, perspectives, and cooperation.”

At ALMUN, students go to committee sessions twice a day for three hours, where they discuss their assigned topics on different issues related to their committee and create papers to solve such issues

Thomas Freeman, a Bob Jones Junior who represented the United States in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, said, “The debates themselves were incredibly fun; to be able to talk about problems facing our modern generation with understanding and accepting company was amazing.”

To join Model United Nations, you can visit Leah Faris or Michael Hoyle in the B hallway. 

“We love having a big group to compete with and would love to see our numbers grow.  There is a place for everyone in Model UN,” Faris said. “It is an experience that will change your view on how bureaucracy works here in America and the United Nation.”