COVID-19. Race relations. Water Scarcity. Who can solve these problems? It all starts with a national debate, but some of the best ideas are coming from local high school students, thanks to Adams State’s Model United Nations team (MUN).
While the team has been in existence for more than a decade, this year, despite the pandemic, the Adams State team expanded its influence through the three-year-old Southern Colorado Model United Nations Conference (SOCOMUN) for high school students.
Their advisor, political science professor Mari Centeno, says the majority of feedback was very positive. There were a few minor technical glitches but nothing major, and the Adams State MUN team presented at the national group of MUN university teams.
“Model United Nations exposes high school and college students to real-world issues and gives them the chance to hone skills in research, critical thinking, and establishing a comprehensive argument,” Centeno says.
The conference invited teams from Colorado and New Mexico to participate in their virtual conference on Oct. 16 and 17. It was a resounding success with over 116 students participating from along the Front Range and as far south as Española and Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The Adams State Model UN team is led by Zoe Serrano, SOCOMUN Secretary General and current MUN president, and Ben Key. Makayla Huffman also chaired the conference; Elizabeth Serna, Sandra Hernandez Gonzalez, Aaliyah Garcia, the web and social media master, and Courtney Hocking also participated.
“I am so proud of the seven Adams State students who worked so hard to make this event successful,” Centeno says. They began the planning stage in the spring of 2020 and met, virtually, once a week through the summer to stay on track.
There was also lots of swag involved in the planning.
“We all pitched in to mail out the boxes of shirts, certificates and awards a few weeks later,” Centeno says.
Every SOCOMUN delegate received a specially designed shirt, along with certificates and judging sheets, and competition winners received a gavel engraved with their name.
The conference included five different committees from beginner to advanced. “Our MUN team created 20-page study guides for the participants with background research links,” Centeno says. The competitions covered COVID and Race; the situation in Lebanon; Water Scarcity; Cyber Terrorism; and Drones. The students did it all, from budgeting to purchase requests.
“It was so much work but also a lot of fun,” Centeno added.
By joining the Colorado MUN Consortium, the Adams State team was linked to high schools across the state to help promote the conference, and Serrano, from Española, helped with recruiting in her home state.
In order to pull off the conference, the current MUN team reached out to Adams State alumni, including Mariah McDermott, Adams State class of ‘20, who initiated the first SOCOMUN Conference, as well as Sean Erice, ‘19, Ashley Swanson, ‘18 and Michelle Longshore, an Adams State social studies major. Other volunteers for the streaming event included former SOCOMUN conference winners and Nick Saenz, an Adams State associate professor of history.
The committee chairs decided on the winners before the end of the conference. “It wasn’t easy, there were some very excellent arguments,” Centeno says. There were five Best Delegate winners.
Centeno gives kudos to the Office of Academic Affairs for helping fund the event. “Now Adams State’s name is out there. We hope to have the event in-person next year and participants can stay in the dorms and visit our beautiful campus.”
In 2008, three years after Centeno became the Adams State MUN advisor, she began taking the team to international conferences. They have attended one every year until 2020 when the conference was canceled due to COVID-19. She has traveled with the team to the Netherlands, Venezuela, Greece, Italy, Switzerland (at the actual United Nations), the Czech Republic, Belgium, France, Scotland, Spain, and London. In 2021 they will participate in the virtual Canadian Conference in March. Throughout the years they have won several Best Delegate awards and honorable mentions.
For more information visit adamsstatemun.wixsite.com/mysite or find them on Instagram at ASU Model UN or Adams State SOCO Model UN, or on Snapchat @adamsstatemun.
