Westminster College Student Wins Model UN Award in Chicago

Nathan Swan, a Westminster College sophomore from Chazy, NY, won the Most Outstanding Delegate Award for his work on the Economic and Finance Committee (General Assembly Committee Two) at the American Model  United Nations (AMUN) held in Chicago.

The AMUN gives two awards at the meeting.  The top award is the Most Outstanding Delegate Award, which Swan earned.  The second award is the Honorable Mention Outstanding Delegate.

“Nathan represents the academic and applied excellence in our Model UN program at Westminster,” says Dr. Kurt Jefferson, Assistant Dean for Global Initiatives and Director of the Churchill Institute for Global Engagement.  “He was awarded appropriately for his outstanding leadership, inter-personal and communication skills.”

Established in 1989, the AMUN is one of the most prestigious model UN competitions in the world.  It hosts over 900 graduate and undergraduate students from several countries including the USA, Venezuela and Japan.

Swan was a part of the Model UN team from Westminster representing Uganda during the simulation.

Westminster’s Model UN is directed by Dr. Kali Wright-Smith, an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Westminster alumni, Class of ’04 and is housed in the Churchill Institute  for Global Engagement.

Westminster College’s Model UN program, established in 1981, raises students’ awareness of world politics and provides a forum for students to debate the most pressing international issues outside the classroom.

Westminster students have a history of high achievement at Model UN competitions.  Last year at the Spring 2013 Midwest Model UN Jenna Teter ’14 from Fresno, CA won an Honorable Mention for her work.  In 1995 Serena Lowe won an Outstanding Delegate Award  for the International Court of Justice simulation at the Midwest Model UN (MMUN) in St. Louis.

When Westminster started its Model UN program, students attended MMUN in St. Louis, which was the oldest Model United Nations program in the world and began in 1962.  In 2007, Westminster students began going to AMUN in Chicago, which is a much larger program with almost twice as many students in attendance.

Nathan Swan, third from left, poses with the entire Westminster Model UN delegation.