SCSU students impress at Model United Nations

When asked to define what Model United Nations is, you get some pretty entertaining answers from St. Cloud State University students in the Political Science 395 course:

“Cosplaying as countries.”

“Political nerd improv.”

“Professional yapping.”

No matter what your definition of Model UN is, SCSU students had a tremendous showing at MinneMUN 2024 last month, the collegiate Model UN conference hosted by the University of Minnesota.

SCSU was awarded Outstanding Delegation, and students brought home awards for Outstanding Delegate in the Third Committee, Best Delegate and Outstanding Delegate on the Korean Crisis Committee and Honorable Mention on the Crime Commission. 

Political Science Professor Dr. Linda Butenhoff is teaching the three-credit Model UN class this semester, preparing students for a grueling four days of debates.

The competition places students in either the United Nations general assembly or a committee, giving them a specific country to roleplay.

First they research how their chosen country would respond to a specific topic, which could vary from international issues like equitable education or digital privacy rights. Students write a paper on their country’s stance and what resolutions they would want to see passed. This gives students valuable background for debate topics in the three-hour sessions of Model UN.

Dr. Butenhoff has been very impressed by her students’ depth of research and preparation for Model UN, seeing them instantly gel as a group and help each other put together position papers, speeches and resolutions. 

“It’s an in-depth, interdisciplinary application of research into a country,” said Chantal Oechsle, a Political Science major and student in the Honors College. “I came back into school as a transfer student after taking 14 years off to raise a family … I’d been volunteering in politics in my spare time, and I discovered politics lights my soul on fire. Model UN was a no-brainer for me, because not only does it create that distinction on your resume, but it’s an opportunity to break from the traditional drudgery of politics and have a lot of fun.”

Tarek Alduri, a Political Science and International Relations major, knew that he had to get involved once the class was announced for the spring.

“I come from a big debate background, so being able to take the context of all these countries and debate from not my own perspective, but a totally different perspective that I may not agree with … was a big draw,” Alduri said.

The immersive experience made students feel like they were real United Nations delegates. Freshman Mya O’Connell has a strong interest in international relations, and Model UN was a perfect pairing of her passion and future career plans.

“I’m planning on going to law school and being a lawyer, so I should get the practice in right now of making my public speaking skills better,” O’Connell said. “I always had a fear of it, but this made me more confident.”

The sessions get intense, with students making alliances with total strangers in efforts of lobbying their goals. This builds bonds with classmates and people they may have just been arguing with for hours.

“Not only do I feel closer with the other 13 students (in our class), but even during the convention, I feel like I made a family with each and every delegate,” said Spenser Norling, a junior who is double majoring in Geography and Planning & Community Development.

Of the 14 students participating from SCSU, only one had ever competed in Model UN prior to the March event. Mohamed Jama graduates in the spring with a degree in Global Business Management, and he had always wanted to get involved in Model UN but never sought it out.

He credits Dr. Butenhoff for pushing him to take the class in his final semester.

“When I was playing my character, I could go anywhere with it; It helps you be creative and you learn a lot about history,” Jama said.

He was a part of a crisis committee staged in the era of the Korean War, playing a women’s rights advocate before facing an untimely demise. Other committees involved Star Wars, Paul Bunyan and more. Model UN isn’t just for people into politics; it’s for everyone and anyone.

Dr. Butenhoff praised Provost Abbey Zink for making SCSU’s participation a reality by supporting the class and helping fund the team’s travel to Minneapolis via bus.

“We got second overall, and we beat a lot of people who have been doing Model UN for 3-4 years,” Spenser Norling said. “Dr. Butenhoff prepared us really well for the experience in terms of background of the countries, how resolutions are made and the role playing we did beforehand.”

And with a year of experience under their belts, expect big things out of SCSU’s Model UN team in any future endeavors.

“It has been exciting to be around this group of students who have so much energy and positive attitude,” Butenhoff said. “I feel lucky to be their instructor.”