UCLA Model United Nations Summer Institute a resounding success

Friday, July 31, 2015

  • UCLA MUNSI staff. Front: Program Coordinator Andy S. Leung. From left to right, second row — Lauren Haack, Amanda Marshall, Malika Singh, Alex Freer, Tae Vinn Park; back row — Shantham Jain, Rohit Reddy, Virginia Su, Krisitiana Petkova, Min-Jae Yun, Melina Melgoza, Utkarsh Pandey, Aaron Sun, Shushan Ginosyan.

  • Andy S. Leung, program coordinator of the UCLA Model United Nations Summer Institute 2015.

  • Eugen Chivu, Consul General of Romania to Los Angeles, delivers the keynote speech at the opening ceremony.

  • Opening ceremony, Royce Hall. "MUNSI opened my eyes to international relations. I gained a deeper understanding on how important global collaboration is and I now have a deeper desire to go into international politics."

  • Students Ife Akin and Baron Ammons II.

  • "This was my first MUN experience, and so during committee I was reluctant to speak up during the beginning, but as time went on I found that I was understanding the procedure and flow of debate better."

  • Students representing various nations signal their request to speak.

  • MUNSI staff give students background for an upcoming debate.

  • Alex Freer and Amanda Marshall in front of briefing notes on the Syrian civil war.

  • MUNSI participant William Chiu in front of briefing notes on a multi-country intervention in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

  • MUNSI staff members Virginia Su and Tae Vinn Park prepare to address students.

  • "MUNSI confirmed my plan to pursue the study of international relations in college, and encouraged me to take a new approach to the Model United Nations."

  • "Thank you UCLA for cultivating such an amazing group of leaders to guide us through this program. I honestly can say by my phones constant buzzing, the experiences and friends I made here will last a lifetime."

  • Ewan Wolyniec looks askance at the press.

  • "I made a lot of new friends from all over the country and even all over the world, and I believe our friendship will last into the future. Also, the counselors that I met at MUNSI are great resources when it comes to the subjects of MUN, college life, and college applications, and I am sure we will be in touch in the future as well. Also, I gained a better perspective about what college life is like, and fell in love with UCLA!"

  • "It far exceeded my expectations. I went in thinking that it was going to be very school-like and uninteresting but I was dead wrong. I had an amazing time both in and out of committee and could not have asked for more."

  • MUNI staff demonstrate a hostage situation gone awry. Alex Bednar on floor, Alex Freer (with back to camera), Rohit Reddy, and Amanda Marshall with (fake) gun.

  • "I can't wait to continue international relations in college and hopefully make a career out of it. I loved how it enhanced my understanding of the world at large and let me make great friends while I was at it."

  • "Before this program, I did know foreign affairs was a field of interest for me but I was still hesitant. Now, I have no hesitations whatsoever. MUNSI made me fall in love with the entire field of international politics."

  • Leon Grice (left), Consul General of New Zealand to Los Angeles, and MUNSI Program Coordinator Andy S. Leung at the closing ceremony.

  • The full UCLA MUNSI team.

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Some 121 high school students were immersed in mock political scenarios at the 2015 summer institute, the fourth to be offered by the UCLA International Institute.

UCLA International Institute, July 31, 2015 — The International Institute held its fourth Model United Nations Summer Institute (MUNSI) for high school students on campus from June 21 to June 27. Some 121 attendees from across the country and around the world were schooled in U.N. protocols, assigned a country to represent and immersed in crisis scenarios where they argued for their respective countries' interests.

Program Coordinator Andy S. Leung oversaw the week-long training with a team of 20 other UCLA students — all veterans of college-level Model United Nations competitions. The week-long institute included background sessions on specific regions and countries of the world, as well as mock sessions of the U.N. Security Council, General Assembly and U.N. standing committee meetings.

Two real-world diplomats injected a note of reality into the proceedings: Consul General of Romania to Los Angeles Eugen Chivu and Consul General of New Zealand to Los Angeles Leon Grice, who addressed the students at the opening and closing ceremonies, respectively.

Leung and his staff created various political scenarios for the mock sessions, coached the students in public speaking and accompanied their charges on off-campus outings. Not to mention answering questions on the what college life is really like. 

Since the UCLA International Institute launched its first MUNSI in 2012, attendees have more then doubled. A number of students who participated in the 2014 summer institute returned this year, a pattern a number of this year's students hope to continue in the future. As the quotes under certain pictures above show, the summer institute was highly popular with attendees.

All photos provided by UCLA MUNSI staff.