From April 1 to 5, FAU’s Leon Charney Diplomacy Program (LCDP) sent 47 students to the heart of New York City for the annual National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference, a simulation of the United Nations (UN). Students from the LCDP discussed the academic and financial aspects of NMUN during their trip, which concluded at the UN headquarters. 

Jeffrey Morton, the founding director of the LCDP, reported that FAU won first place last fall for receiving the most delegation awards. However, NMUN stated there were no winners or losers at the conference as they believe participation in the simulation is the reward.

Student delegates from over 230 universities worldwide engaged in global diplomacy and collaborated on various international issues. This spring, FAU ranked “Outstanding” in the following awards for their performance:

• Delegation for the United Kingdom and Egypt
• Position Papers in Committee: Peacebuilding Commission for the United Kingdom 
• Delegates in Committee: Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific for the United Kingdom

Morton highlighted three differences between FAU and the other institutions that attend NMUN.

“First, [FAU] trains students in credited academic courses, [while] most universities offer their programs through student-led clubs,” Morton said. “Second, our delegation is larger than most. Third, the financial burden for FAU students is significantly lower than most students at other colleges and universities.”

In preparation for the NMUN, political science major Ana Alves explains how Professor Morton engages students in diplomatic skill-building exercises during class. These exercises include delivering speeches and crafting resolutions aligned with the assigned countries, committees and topics.

“It has been months of research into the topics with all the assistance from Dr. Morton, and I feel extremely prepared and confident,” Alves said, representing Egypt for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees committee and the Protecting Displaced/Refugee Children topic. 

“His way of designing the program makes sure we have the understanding of how the actual conference works by having simulations and speech rehearsals in class.”

According to Morton, the LCDP is funded by donations from the public, which pays for NMUN conference registration, fees and hotel rooms for students. Francisco Padilla, a political science major, said he had to pay for extra expenses and transportation to/from the conference.

“I was lucky enough that FAU’s [Student Government] is giving us a 200-dollar reimbursement for this trip, but I would have liked to see more help from FAU from the start or a bigger reimbursement,” Padilla said, who is representing Egypt for the Commission in Social Development committee and the social inclusion of elders/addressing food insecurity topic.

Morton announces that LCDP applications are open to all undergraduate students with the minimum 3.0 GPA requirement for the Fall 2024 NMUN conference in Washington, DC.

Michael Cook is a Staff Writer for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected].