From January 27th to 30th, Dr. Wendy Darby led 17 BWL delegates to the Harvard Model United Nations (HMUN) in Boston. Academic Dean Susan Leonard accompanied the group. The largest of its kind in the country, the international relations summit welcomed 2,500 high school students from 200 schools representing 35 countries. Over the four days, when the action ran from 8:00 a.m. to sometimes past 11:00 p.m., students assumed roles of United Nations representatives and members of other international bodies and national cabinets. Thirteen students represented Fiji, two represented Federal Reserve chairs, one assumed the role of Treasurer of the Japanese cabinet, and one was a member of the Fatimid Caliphate, an Arab dynasty that once ruled over Middle Eastern lands.

 

The snow-delayed train ride, however, was far from the beginning of the delegation’s long journey. This began early in the Fall, when prospective students were interviewed. Beginning in October, the group met twice weekly at 7:30 a.m. to first learn of the relevant background of Fiji, a New Jersey-sized Pacific island that none had ever seen first hand. Then, they learned to think “through the lens of being a Fijian diplomat,” as Dr. Darby says.

 

Juniors and seniors, save those on “special committees,” were paired on teams that would represent Fiji for one of the HMUN’s eight committees. These included, among others, the World Trade Organization; Legal, Social, Economic and Financial; and Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural. To prepare for their respective committees, each class member wrote an essay that, through three carefully reviewed drafts, came to a one-page, single-spaced position paper.

 

And, to keep the group collectively focused on what a real HMUN meeting might look like, Dr. Darby arranged special sessions. One Legal Committee question concerned patent law issues surrounding Plumpy’nut, a high-protein, high-energy, peanut-based paste that is integral to feeding malnourished children. While local non-governmental organizations may now use Plumpy’nut as an inexpensive, simple response to hunger without paying a license fee, multinational food companies are attempting to dispute the patent’s combination of ingredients in order to gain license fees and profit. After winter break, the seniors ran another mock committee, which debated two topics concerning immigration.

 

The Harvard students who organize the conference are notorious for their political theater. “They dressed up as crusaders, the King of Jerusalem, there were executions, and there were riots and revolts, and they’d come storming into the committee room,” recalls Dr. Darby. Every year, they also orchestrate a secret “Night Crisis” meeting that is foisted upon one questionably lucky committee. This year, senior Kevin Lee’s committee learned, in the middle of the night, that Korea was threatening to explode a nuclear weapon. “What makes this crisis memorable is the condition you are in,” he said. “You are exhausted from the night's dance and yet you have the Harvard students drilling in your head that a nuke is coming to kill you and the entire nation. Yet the adrenaline pumps faster, and the feeling of sweat dripping down in a heated argument is just simply exhilarating.” Fortunately, Kevin Lee’s group was able to sleep later that day.

 

Students commented most frequently about the unique chance the HMUN sessions afforded them to learn about actual people from foreign countries. Jordan Dannenberg ’12 said, “The experience has taught me to be more aware of the international community, since as an American it's sometimes difficult to really understand the full scope of what's going on in smaller, less influential countries.” Her teammate Sarah Weinstein ’12 was also struck with the open and diverse perspectives: “In particular, I remember that the students who had traveled from Dubai were the delegates representing Israel. Although Dubai and Israel have strained relations, students from Dubai represented Israel in a manner that an Israeli might have.”

 

Perhaps the most important lesson students gained was one of modern-world diplomacy. As Dr. Darby said, “You have to absorb that you can’t just resolve everything you want. So, it’s a reality check that you can’t just walk in and make things better because you’ve got to get a coalition together.” The rhetoric is already being sharpened for next year’s conference in January.