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Learn More About the Model United Nations Club

Dec

13

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A Message from Falecia Williams, President, West and Downtown Campuses

Recently, the Valencia College Model United Nations Club sent eight West Campus students to the Southern Regional Model United Nations Conference (SRMUN) to represent the delegation from Albania.

The students were assigned to four committees — General Assembly Plenary, World Health Organization, International Criminal Police Organization and United Nations Development Program. In these committees, students worked to pass resolutions regarding migration and economic development, challenges to accessing vaccines, combating cyberterrorism and encouraging sustainable development through technology sharing. For their contributions to these committees, the delegates won an honorable mention for their representation of Albania.

In addition to participating as committee delegates, five Valencia College alumni served as assistant directors in the various committees, including two former West Campus Model U.N. presidents, Firaz Motiwala and Valencia’s 2018 Distinguished Graduate Jehojada “J.J.” Merilan. The role of the assistant directors is to run the committees using parliamentary procedure.

Firaz and J.J. both transferred to the University of Central Florida and continued their Model U.N. participation upon their transfer. The skills they acquired leading Model U.N. students at Valencia helped to prepare them for their new roles as assistant directors.

Now Firaz and J.J. are planning to coordinate with Valencia students to create a Central Florida conference for local high schools, so students interested in international affairs and global issues will be introduced to the opportunities available to them at Valencia College. Through these opportunities, students will learn skills transferable to their career paths whether or not they intend to pursue a career in international affairs.

“Model United Nations takes the concept of diplomacy to show us that meaningful solutions are only achieved by listening and acknowledging other opinions, even if they differ from ours,” said Nelly Ontiveros, current vice president of the Valencia College Model U.N. Club. “We learned to work toward effective agreements while making sure every voice is heard.”

If you know of any students who may be interested in learning more about the Model U.N., please refer them to Interim Dean of Behavior and Social Sciences Adrienne Mathews at amathews1@valenciacollege.edu or 407-299-5000, extension 1008, or Professor of Political Science Tyler Branz at tbranz@valenciacollege.edu or 407-299-5000, extension 1429.

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