International Relations Club Hosts Inaugural Collegiate Model UN Conference

International Relations Club Hosts Inaugural Collegiate Model UN Conference

• May 21st, 2021
• in International Main

(April 2021) This year marked the inaugural collegiate level Model United Nations Conference hosted by The University of Alabama’s International Relations Cub (AIRC). After two years of planning, the conference, called AIRMUNC, was held April 16-18, 2021. It was organized by a team of 33 UA students led by Secretary General Katie Nuñez, Director General Lucy Philips, and Under-Secretary General Griffin Specker.

Due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, the conference was held virtually utilizing Zoom and Slack. Regardless of the unusual logistics, the conference was a success, with five schools across the Southeast in attendance: Florida State University, Elon University, University of Georgia, William & Mary, and the University of Texas.

Five committees were created to assess the delegates ability in parliamentary procedure, rhetoric/debate, and collaboration.  The committees planned for AIRMUNC were PTA Moms of Tempe, Arizona, Fusiles y Frijoles: The Reign of Rios Montt, Jedi Council: Star Wars the Clone Wars, Valhalla Can Wait: The Chiefdom of Jarl Bjorn Ironside, and International Monetary Fund.

The delegates and staffers had an excellent experience interacting with each other to create policy and outcomes in each committee, learning parli pro, and getting engulfed into the scenarios they created.

The Model UN circuit of conferences is competitive and cut-throat. AIRMUNC was designed to be more laid back, warm, and friendly with dedicated and passionate staffers. The success of this first conference has garnered interest into what the AIRC has planned for the future.

The AIRC is part of the Capstone International Center. The Model UN traveling team, the high school conference (ALMUN) and the collegiate conference (AIRMUN) are the cornerstones of the AIRC, the premier student-led global affairs organization at UA that continuously provides opportunities for its members to learn, develop, find community and make an impact at the Capstone and the world beyond.

UA’s Model UN team ranked in the top 25 in the world for 2020. If you want to be a member of the AIRC, a club that welcomes undergraduate students from every major, you can reach the president at president.airc@gmail.com, or visit https://international.ua.edu/airc/.