About 300 high school students will come to Rhodes Feb. 13-15 for the Mid-South Model UN Conference. Students will travel from several states, spanning as far as Texas, to participate in a mock UN session. The weekend will be hosted by the college and will largely depend on the help of Rhodes students enrolled in the Model UN class offered each semester.
Siena Loprinzi ’17, Rhodes Student Associate for the Department of International Studies and a member of the Rhodes Model UN team, is one student who has been kept particularly busy preparing for the weekend. Loprinzi has worked hard to coordinate training sessions for chairs and co-chairs, create binders with student schedules and a delegate handbook, put together pamphlets for advisors and students, and ensure that the Model UN webpage is kept up to date. Loprinzi also will help to administer any and all events on the program including a delegate dance on Saturday night and an awards ceremony on Sunday.
Rhianna Taylor ’15 and Maria Barnett ’16, both members of the Rhodes Model UN team, also are working to make the event a success by aiding in the planning and implementation of the conference. In addition, there will be about 20 chairs and co-chairs, comprised mostly of students enrolled in the Model UN class, who will help instruct teams. At the end of February, nine members of the Model UN team will travel to San Francisco to participate in a Model UN conference at the college level.
Loprinizi says that this will be a great chance for Rhodes Model UN students to “apply what they have been learning in class.” In addition, she hopes to utilize skills learned as Model UN participant after graduation. “I plan to live and travel abroad and having the ability to see other countries’ perspectives on issues will help me to achieve this,” says Loprinzi.
The Model UN class is a single credit, 7-week course and consists of mock debates. Loprinzi says anyone wanting to learn more about public speaking, debating, and research should consider enrolling.
(information compiled by Rhodes Student Associate Sophie Anderson ’15)