Samo’s MUN hosts their second at-home conference

On Jan. 24, Samo’s Model United Nations (MUN) club hosted their second at-home conference. The MUN program enables students to act as delegates from different countries in a mock of the UN while exploring foreign policies and politics. The conference went from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and was held in Samo’s Discovery building. Other schools in attendance were the Archer School for Girls, Granada Hills Charter High School, Harvard-West Lake High School, Louisville High School, Malibu High School, Venice High School and Corona Del Mar High School.

Heather Knight / Contributor

Model United Nations students at the opening ceremony of SamoMUN

The theme of the MUN conference was empowerment, chosen by Heather Knight, MUN advisor and Advanced Placement World History teacher.

“I feel like in the world we live in, making sure people feel they have a voice and are empowered is very important,” Knight said. 

The students came up with eight committees. Crisis: Student Solidarity; UN Women: Iranian Empowerment; Crisis: Roman Empire; UN Environment Programme: Renewable Energy; International Labor Organization: Lowering Mortality and Unsafe Working Conditions; Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Issues: Chocolate in Africa; World Health Organization: Uses of AI Medicine and UN High Commissioner for Refugees: Displaced population in Venezuela. Knight also spoke on how students prepared and supported each other for the conference.

“We have new delegates and this is one of their first conferences, so I really put it on the students to teach each other about MUN,” Knight said. 

The keynote speaker for this event was Ambassador Derek Shearer, who is a professor of diplomacy and foreign affairs at Occidental College. He graduated from Yale University and previously served as the U.S. ambassador to Finland under the Clinton administration. He also served as a public diplomat for the U.S. State Department in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. He is also a journalist and has written for the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Huffington Post. Dahlia Scarpa (’27), MUN Social Media Manager, spoke about Shearer’s influence on the conference. 

“He was able to give his perspective on what’s been happening with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and what's been happening on the larger global scale,” Scarpa said. “I think that was a really valuable experience for the students.”

The future conferences for Samo’s MUN team include the eighth Valley Regional Conference on Feb. 7 along with Marymount MUN on March 1.