What is Model UN
Model United Nations is an international academic program
for middle school, high school and college students to learn about how the
United Nations operates. Students are assigned as delegates representing
different countries on UN committees. They debate issues from the perspective
of the country they represent and work with delegates representing other
countries to draft and pass resolutions. Students not only learn about how the
UN functions, but they also further develop their public speaking, critical
thinking, and writing skills as they work to build consensus on a pressing
global issue.
The Model UN Program at Gannon University is a student
organization that runs a regional high school conference every fall and
competes in national competitions. The student organization is run by a
Secretary General, an Assistant Secretary General, and an executive board that
plans the high school conference. These students choose the committees and the
topics, create the materials, train the staff, and run the conference under the
supervision of a faculty advisor. The students also select a national
competition for the organization to attend and hold workshops and simulations
as part of their own training.
History of Model UN
Father Joseph J. Barr, Ph. D., then chairman of Gannon College's political science department, founded the Model United Nations. The International Relations Club originated the concept of Model United Nations at what was then known as Gannon College.
Eleven high schools in the Erie area participated in the event. In March of 1954, the IRC held the first Model United Nations conference for high school students in the Erie area. Since then the conference grew to include more than 800 students from
50 high schools in the tri-state area and Canada. Having been founded in 1954, it is believed that our conference is the second oldest in the nation, after Berkeley. But we are the oldest, consecutively run conference in the world!
Father Barr believed that the U.N. could bring us closer to world unity if every person has faith. For Father Barr, the Model United Nations had two purposes. First, the Model U.N. should give students the opportunity to learn more about world problems,
and in particular, to see the different viewpoints and positions which are at work in the United Nations. Second, it should provide experience in organization, leadership, and debate as well as bring together college and high school students to work
as a team.