C of I honored at National Model United Nations Conference
2011. 04. 27.
For the fourth consecutive year, The College of Idaho earned an award for excellence at the National Model United Nations Conference, held April 19-23 in New York City. The C of I team stood out among 2,500 students from more than 200 schools, earning a distinguished delegation award and applause from their peers on the floor of the General Assembly at the United Nations.
“We have a really good group of students,” said Dr. Rob Dayley, a professor of political economy who leads the C of I Model UN program. “For a school our size to have this kind of consistent success is pretty remarkable. To get noticed at the conference, you really have to be assertive and confident leading others. Our students are well-prepared because they are used to doing that in class.”
Model UN is a co-curricular program at The College of Idaho. Dayley has taught the class and accompanied students to the National Model United Nations Conference for the past 10 years. At the conference, each delegation is assigned a country and a topic and asked to write resolutions that serve their country's best interests. This year, C of I represented Bosnia and Herzegovina, the homeland of six of the delegation's 15 members.
“It was especially meaningful for our Bosnian students,” Dayley said. “But to earn an award, your delegation has to be strong across the board, and all of our members really stepped up and contributed.”
Delegation awards are given to teams who exemplify diplomatic cooperation in committee, lead in resolution writing, and accurately represent their country's positions. Members of the C of I team include Jessi Barnes, Victoria Hess, Azra Cickusic, Tyler Hatch, Azra Basaric, Zach Theiller, Anel Cokoja, Amelia Bennett, Aldina Okanovic, Jasmina Hasic, Nancy Cortez, Michelle Wooten, Jessica Perez, Ariel Lawson and Iris Cvijanovic.
The 2011 performance adds to C of I's growing reputation as a perennial award winner at the conference. The College of Idaho has earned a delegation performance award in each of the last four years, earning an outstanding delegation award in 2009 and honorable mention in 2008 and 2010. NMUN is the largest Model UN conference in the world, attracting more than 200 colleges and universities from 55 countries.
The C of I delegation wishes to publicly thank the Associated Students of The College of Idaho and the Student Senate for bolstering their financial support this year.
Founded in 1891, The College of Idaho is the state's oldest private liberal arts college. It has a century-old tradition of educating some of the most accomplished graduates in Idaho, including six Rhodes Scholars, three Marshall Scholars, and another ten Truman and Goldwater Scholars. The College is located on a beautiful campus in Caldwell, Idaho. Its distinctive PEAK curriculum challenges students to attain competencies in the four knowledge peaks of the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences and a professional field, enabling them to graduate with an academic major and three minors in four years. For more information on The College of Idaho, visit www.collegeofidaho.edu.