Outstanding Model U.N. Delegation

Cedarville University’s Model United Nations team returned from the National Model United Nations Competition with outstanding delegation honors.

The competition was held April 14-18 in New York City. The team has received the “Outstanding Delegation” award, the highest award at the competition, four out of the past five years.

— Glen Duerr

The Cedarville team represented the Republic of Kazakhstan, a landlocked country in Central Asia.

Delegates competed in pairs in eight different committees that addressed a variety of global issues, including sustainable development, peacekeeping operations, women’s rights and economic infrastructure.

General Assembly 1

● Maury Funez (Washington, D.C.)

● Kyle Spencer (Hudson, New Hampshire)

General Assembly 2

● Chloie Benton (Lee’s Summit, Missouri)

● Cole Butaud (Bothell, Washington)

General Assembly 3

● Senia Walton, (Aliquippa, Pennsylvania)

● Nicholas Raineri, (Monticello, Indiana)

United Nations Environmental Assembly

● Breanna Beers (Lancaster, Pennsylvania)

● Jacob Sanders (West Richland, Washington)

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific

● Adrienne Krater (Altoona, Pennsylvania)

● Mae Dewhurst (Springfield, Ohio)

Commission on the Status of Women

● Olivia Patterson (Otwell, Indiana)

● Silas La Borde (Poughkeepsie, New York)

Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations

● Emma Sargent (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)

● Caleb Jackson (South Jordan, Utah)

Conference of the Parties

● Alexandria Hentschel (Flemington, New Jersey)

● Rufus Mathew (Olathe, Kansas)

“This team overcame a lot of adversity this year,” said Dr. Glen Duerr, advisor of the Cedarville team. “One competition was canceled due to inclement weather, there were some surprises late in the season and our assigned country, Kazakhstan, had some unexpected changes to their governing structure; yet, the team continued to prepare. Then, when the competition started, they performed at their very highest and represented the university extremely well.”

In addition to the Outstanding Delegation award, eight of 16 team members received special recognition in their respective committees. Patterson and La Borde received the Outstanding Delegate Award in Commission on the Status of Women Committee, Beers and Sanders earned the Outstanding Delegate Award in United Nations Environmental Assembly, Dewhurst and Krater obtained the position paper award in United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and Sargent and Jackson received the position paper award in the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations.

For senior global business major Cole Butaud, this season’s competition provided significant career value. “The competition was an excellent picture of cross-cultural interactions,” he said. “You had to consider the cultural background, language differences and the mixture of different cultures, backgrounds, traditions and languages. The conference provided a unique opportunity to hone my negotiation and public speaking skills, as well as interact with people from over 50 countries around the world.”

Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 4,193 undergraduate, graduate and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Doctor of Pharmacy program, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings and leading student satisfaction ratings. For more information about the University, visit www.cedarville.edu.