Three Notre Dame juniors get prestigious co-chair positions in upcoming Model United Nations conference.
From left, Notre Dame juniors Mariana Ortiz Luna, Nolan Lawroski and Joe Joppich will be chairing a major committee during the upcoming Southeast Michigan Model United Nations Association (SEMMUNA) annual conference, which this year will be held November 18 at Bloomfield Hills High School.
The student delegates will discuss a variety of contemporary issues, including children in areas of conflict, AIDS in Africa, the Syrian refugee crisis, the situation in South Sudan, emerging energy and the North Korean nuclear crisis among many others. Students from SEMMUNA’s member schools have been hard at work for many weeks, conducting research and crafting positions that represent their “country’s” views on each issue.
Harvard roots
With roots going back to the early 20th century at Harvard University, Model United Nations is a high school- and college-based simulation of the United Nations General Assembly located in New York City. In Model UN, students step into the shoes of ambassadors from UN member states to debate current issues on the organization's agenda. While playing their roles as ambassadors, student "delegates" make speeches, prepare draft resolutions, negotiate with allies and adversaries, resolve conflicts, and navigate the Model UN conference rules of procedure—all in the interest of mobilizing international cooperation to resolve problems that affect countries all over the world.
NDP’s Mariana Ortiz Luna said she has wonderful and vivid memories of last year’s MUN conference and looks forward to the November 18 event with her fellow members.
"At the conclusion of last year’s Michigan State University MUN conference [March 2017], we really wanted to do something more,” she said. “Seeing the impact MUN has had on us, we thought it would be wonderful to give an experience like that to other students, especially students who hadn't had a chance to see anything like it before. Last year at SEMMUNA, I said I could always count on an enriching experience from the conference, and this is still very much true. Introducing the topic of international drug trafficking opens many doors to important discussions and allows all students to think critically about the issue from many different points of view."
At this year's SEMMUNA conference, Notre Dame has been assigned nations that include Bolivia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Africa, Iraq and Kazakhstan. During the conference, delegates will make speeches, debate the issues, caucus, ask and answer questions, and work together to write resolutions that might begin to address each issue.
“These students — from all schools — consistently demonstrate intelligence, preparation, and passion, and the debate is usually well-informed and substantive,” said Notre Dame’s Model UN moderator and upper division social studies teacher Dave Osiecki. This is the fourth year that NDP has sponsored an MUN team.
For SEMMUNA, each separate committee is chaired by students who will moderate the debate and enforce parliamentary procedures. Typically, older students run the committees and at previous conferences, local universities (U-M, MSU, OU and CMU) have sent members of their MUN teams to help chair committees for the high schools.
Three chairs
Osiecki said he is very proud that three juniors from NDP will be chairing one of the SEMMUNA committees that will be focused on the topic of international drug trafficking.
“Over the span of several months, the kids have thoroughly researched their topic and have prepared an extensive background guide for use by the delegates on the committee,” Osiecki said. Notre Dame juniors Joe Joppich, and Nolan Lawroski will join Ortiz Luna in chairing during the upcoming conference at Bloomfield Hills High School.
"This year Nolan and Mariana and I wanted to try our hand at chairing a committee for one of the Model UN conferences,” said Joppich. “This is something only very experienced people do since it involves running an entire committee, so we thought we were up for the task. We also thought our topic choice, international drug trafficking, would be great as it can apply to almost every nation on Earth, it needs a good solution, and could be very fun and informative. I am extremely excited to be chairing because it will be a great chance to further my Model UN career, teach people about an interesting topic and have a good time."
Conference cochair Lawroski also is looking forward to the SEMMUNA event.
“I’m really excited for the conference because it will be my first time chairing a committee,” Lawroski said. “It’s also a really great experience for beginners and veterans at MUN and is a great way to see if you will enjoy it in the future. Overall, I’d have to say that it’s a really fun time. You make a lot of new friends who you will constantly remember and address them as their country, even if the conference has ended.”
More on the Model United Nations (national organization):
MUN’s roots go back to the intercollegiate Model League simulation in 1927 at Syracuse University. Subsequent conferences, known as the Model Assembly of the League of Nations, Middle Atlantic Section, were hosted at various Mid-Atlantic college and university campuses. The transition to a Model UN simulation began in 1943 at Hamilton College campus and 1944 at Bryn Mawr College campus where model United Nations (World War II allies) simulations were held instead of a Model League of Nations. Annual conferences in the organization’s lineage have been held every year since 1927 with the exception of 1945 when U.S. World War II travel restrictions prevented a meeting.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org.