Mt.A MUN goes toMontreal for the McMUN conference
The newly revitalized Mt.A Model United Nations (MUN) society is a fast-growing club with opportunities to debate at both the campus level and participate in conferences with students from around the world. From Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 20 Mt.A students travelled to Montreal to participate in the 37th annual McMUN hosted by McGill. This event was composed of students from all over the world, representing schools in Europe, Australia, and broader Oceania. Acclaimed universities from the United States, like Harvard, Yale, and Cornell, also appeared at the conference. To learn more about the participants’ firsthand experiences at McMUN, The Argosy sat down with members of Mt.A MUN to discuss.
The society was founded in the Fall of 2025 by a team of six political science students. President Anastasiia Stelmakh, Vice President Andrea Bacalu, treasurer Rivka Zickler, communications director Akhrorbek Turdimukhammadov, social media manager Raphael Gatti, and secretary Delphine Reid. Turdimukhammadov is in his second year, but otherwise, all students are in their first year at Mt.A. In the words of Bacalu, despite the formalized titles of the executive team, “we all work as a team and try to share the responsibility as evenly as possible, […] if somebody is overwhelmed, we’re comfortable like stepping into their shoes and like helping them.” Although a MUN club has been represented among Mt.A’s societies in the past, the COVID-19 pandemic dismantled the previous iteration. The fact that the MUN society has been reestablished is a major step for students interested in political debating as an extracurricular. Reid said, “Mt.A trusted a group of mostly first years with [substantial funding] and we lived up to that trust. You wouldn’t get that at a big institution.”
After acquiring funding through the philosophy, politics, and economics department at Mt.A, as well as a private funder, the MUN society created an application for members who wanted to participate in the McMUN conference. The funding helped 20 students, including the six executive team members, to attend. “One thing that we really focused on was getting a range of years,” said Bacalu. “We first went through the fourth, third, and second applicants. Then after we were satisfied with that group, we started looking on to the first years.” Other members of the society expressed their excitement in being able to participate in MUN for the first time, especially first-year students who had not gotten an opportunity to participate in high school. Ryan Kim said, “my high school was pretty small, so I didn’t have many opportunities [like this].” Kim also said one of the reasons he wanted to join was to make the most of his university experience. “[I was excited to] go on a plane ride with people who have similar interests and passions as me, and to go out there and go to the conference. I immediately knew [McMUN] was going to be a good opportunity.”
Beyond the conference itself, students shared an array of exciting moments from the experience. First-year Margaret Beyere shared her experience at the hotel during the first night saying, “people were talking about the debate sessions and unexpected moments. We were all packed into this tiny hotel room just sharing experiences and laughing.” Third-year, Madiha Waqar said “even while working seriously in the committee, there were fun moments like ‘Fun MUN’ night which featured karaoke.” One highlight mentioned by multiple students was first-year Mt.A student Raqeem Haq winning a verbal commendation award, congratulating him for his strong performance.
Despite the Mt.A MUN society’s biggest event of the year coming to a close, there are more opportunities for new and existing members for the rest of the semester. Bacalu and Reid mentioned that the society is planning to host a MUN session on campus in late February or early March. There will also be a gala towards the end of the term hosted by the executive team and professors. It is not too late to join the society for the 2025-26 academic year. Students interested in joining can reach out on Instagram (@mun.mta) and send a message to be added to email communications.