The announcement of the Best Overall Delegation award given to a handful of Sacramento State students last fall in Chicago had them yelling, “Three-peat! Three-peat!”

It was the third year in a row the Sac State delegation won the award at the American Model United Nations conference – the first time the same college won three Best Overall Delegation awards in a row.

This week, from Tuesday to Saturday, the Sac State delegation is in New York City attending the National Model United Nations conference. The NMUN brings together 3,600 students from 240 schools. This semester, Sac State is representing a nongovernmental organization, Socialist International.

The MUN conferences bring students from around the country and around the globe to participate in simulations which emulate the real United Nations. Sac State students have done well at the conferences since they began attending in 1976.

Senior social science major Danielle Sanitago said an exciting part of the NMUN are the opening and closing ceremonies that take place in the U.N. in downtown New York.

“Think about it, how many college students can say, ‘Yeah, I have been to the U.N.’?” Santiago, competing for the second time, said. “This is where the world’s best diplomats meet!”

Government professor Ronald Fox started the program 30 years ago.

Each year, professors in the government department recommend students to Fox. Although a good candidate must be well versed in international relations, students don’t need to be government majors. Past delegates included students in chemistry, art, communications, economics and literature majors.

“I have no tolerance for laggards or corner-cutters,” Fox said in an email. “To be a good MUN delegate, a student must be intelligent, analytical, hard-working, an excellent writer and speaker, responsible, dedicated, outgoing, and a bit fearless.”

Knowledge of global issues and interest in international affairs and conflicts is a plus. Those chosen to be a part of the MUN are enrolled in a government course titled U.N. Simulation.After the delegation has been chosen, the preparation for the conference begins. Delegates begin preparing in the early summer for the fall AMUN by reading about their assigned country and researching specific issues to debate at the conference. For the spring NMUN, winter break is often filled with research.

“Students must- prioritize Model U.N. as your top academic priority,” said Heather Woodford, a four-time delegate and Sac State alumna. “Preparing for Model U.N. is very time-consuming, although it is extremely rewarding, and by far the best academic experience I had as an undergraduate.”

Each school at the conference typically sends one delegation to represent their assigned country. These delegations are broken up into different committees. Committees range from the Commission on the Status of Women to Disarmament and International Security to Economic and Financial. Delegates must have a comprehensive understanding of how their country perceives issues and how their county would to solve the problem.

Winning, however, is not the only goal of participating in an MUN. Successful delegates must “stay in character.” All delegates must walk, talk, act and approach topics in relation to their assigned countries. The goal is to make decisions that would be ideal for the country or non-governmental organization of which the delegation represents.

So it was impressive when Sac State won Best Overall Delegation in the fall representing Cuba.

“Since Cuba does not have many close political allies in the world, and many American students are biased against Cuba, this represents quite an accomplishment,” Fox said. “It is quite a challenge to get other countries to support Cuban positions on resolutions.”

The conference revolves around resolutions. An average day at a conference consists of caucusing with small groups in a committee and working with delegates from other schools on resolutions. These resolutions are generally formed with other countries in a bloc, or countries that are allied with one another. Eventually resolutions circulate, and if they gain support, pass.

“In formal session, you will make and hear speeches on the issues you are debating,” Woodford said. “You can later vote to bring resolutions to the floor and discuss and vote on them. Your meal breaks sometimes also consist of working with other students to finesse the papers and strategize about how best to work with other groups.”

Delegates are expected to become mini experts in their field.

“Last semester, my best and worst memory was speaking in a microphone in front of about 150-200 people,” Santiago said. “I would have never guessed that I would have willingly gone up to speak in front of that many people- but I’m glad that I did.”

Santiago and Woodford considered intuitiveness and the ability to think differently and creatively to be essential. Being able to speak and think spontaneously is key to being taken seriously at the conference.

“Many years ago while preparing to represent Burkina Faso at the NMUN, whose president, Thomas Sankara, was a leader of the African socialist movement, Sankara was assassinated just before we departed for New York,” Fox said. “We had to shift gears and ‘wing it’ in representing the new, anti-socialist regime.”

At the 1997 AMUN, Sac State represented Rwanda and the Congo. Because the two countries were at war with each other, fellow Sac State students debated each other.

Another time, at the 1990 NMUN, Sac State won two Outstanding Delegation awards for their representation of Malta and Cuba. Only one Sac State student represented the delegation of Malta.

“He was that good,” Fox said.

Chelsea Follett can be reached at [email protected]