By Cate Carrejo
Fordham’s newly formed Model United Nations Club won four outstanding performance awards last weekend at the 7th annual New York University Model United Nations Conference. Eight delegates from both Fordham campuses participated, a strong showing for the relatively new team. Rosalyn Kutsch, FCRH ‘19, was excited about Fordham’s representation and success at the conference.
“I think that speaks volumes to the dedication and passion of our team,” said Kutsch. “We all realize the value of Model UN and see how it develops skills in diplomacy, quick-thinking, developing creative solutions and public speaking. It also helps foster an interest in international relations that can be applied to a real-world context.”
Teams from colleges from around the country were joined by international teams from Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, the Dominican Republic and India at the four-day conference, where delegates were divided into committees based on country and given historical and contemporary issues to solve.
Kacie Candela, FCRH ‘19, the chief leader of the Insurrection in the historical German Southwest Colony Committee and one of only two female delegates in a committee of 13, was the recipient of an Honorable Mention award. Her main objective in the committee was to lead her block of indigenous people to drive out the German colonizers and industrialists. They successfully accomplished their mission and more, declaring independence, liberating a concentration camp and empowering women through an entirely female military force. Candela was one of only two female delegates in a committee that consisted of 13 delegates.
For Candela, Model UN is a way for students to understand historical context behind particularly tumultuous periods in history. “Although we can’t actually rewrite history, acting as if we could enlightened me as to how difficult coming to a peaceful resolution actually was,” she said. “I oftentimes find that in studying history, it seems so clear to us what a more favorable outcome would have been. But it is never that simple in the moment.”
NYUMUNC is currently the largest joint crisis conference in the world, and as such, the delegates debated about various issues and crises, such as refugee health, education reform, liberation and colonization. Once these crises, both domestic and international, occurred, the delegates had to discuss and communicate with each other, as well as with other countries, to come to an agreeable solution to the problem. There could be many solutions within one committee, and therefore, the solution deemed to be the best by the majority would become the decreed resolution, though some members might not favor it.
The future of the burgeoning team includes attending more conferences like NYUMUNC and hosting its own conference for high schoolers next spring. Planning for the event has been underway for nearly a year, but the team members are eager to expose not only high schoolers, but also the Fordham community, to Model UN. “I hope this will show the Fordham community how serious we are about growing our club and team,” said Candela.
