The FIU Model United Nations (MUN) team has been ranked fifth “Best Delegation” in North America by BestDelegate.com in its annual Final College Rankings.
FIU is up two spots in the national rankings since coming in seventh in last year’s 2012-2013 Final College Rankings. FIU MUN is now in the company of Georgetown University and Harvard University, which also ranked in this year’s top five teams.
The education company also ranked FIU MUN as the top team from the state of Florida, followed by the University of Miami, University of Florida and Florida State University.
“I am so proud of our team for ranking fifth in the nation,” said John F. Stack, Jr, executive director of the School of International and Public Affairs. “This achievement is a testament not only to the caliber of the team, but also to the excellence of our FIU students.”
After a year of rebuilding the team, FIU MUN got its big breakthrough when it won the “Outstanding Large Delegation” award at Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN), placing it only behind the University of Chicago. For most of the rest of the year, it competed as a small delegation, taking home the “Best Small Delegation” at National Collegiate Security Conference (NCSC) and a pair of “Outstanding Small Delegation” awards at the University of Pennsylvania Model United Nations Conference (UPMUNC) and Columbia Model United Nations in New York (CMUNNY). The team also contended for a delegation award at Chicago Model United Nations (ChoMUN) and won “Best Delegation” awards at the smaller West Point Model United Nations Invitational (WPMUNI) and University of North Carolina Model United Nations Conference (UNCMUNC) conferences.
“We were certain that our mission shouldn’t be just about sending the proven to harvest awards, but to offer the conference experience to as many students as possible,” said Mark Hodgson ’14, director of FIU MUN. “Our goal to expand from a Small Delegation in the Fall to a Large Delegation in the Spring served the dual purpose of granting greater student access to conferences and creating a backbone of younger delegates for the future of our program.
“All the credit for our success belongs to our delegates, who have made sacrifices and put in an unbelievable amount of hard work inside and outside of the conferences.”
According to BestDelegate.com, FIU MUN’s top five ranking puts the team in elite company and in good position to challenge the rest of the teams in the future. It is expected to be a regular contender against Ivy League-type teams for best delegation awards. Ethan Roberts, a senior majoring in international relations, will take on the role of director of FIU MUN starting this fall.
“Moving forward we want to make this program more visible and accessible to FIU students by partnering with organizations such as the newly formed International Affairs Society, hosting a larger High School Model UN conference, growing the team to include more students and even potentially hosting a collegiate conference by 2016,” Roberts said. “While all of these goals are important they will be achieved while we work toward our main priority: giving FIU Model UN delegates a rewarding experience while maintaining our competitive legacy as one of the top-ranked schools in the nation.”
FIU MUN is a political science course that provides an interactive environment engrossing students in different aspects of political and international affairs. It is supported by the College of Arts & Sciences, School of International and Public Affairs and Student Government Association. FIU MUN is currently recruiting for the Fall 2014 semester and is open to all majors. For more information and an application click here.
The following delegates were instrumental in helping FIU MUN break through to the national Top 5 ranking:
Nicholas Aquart
Jody Arenas
Mario Bocaranda
Michael Carabello
Rudy Constanda
Christopher Cummins
Antonio Ferguson
Michael Franklin
Lourdes Ginart
Gaby Guadalupe
Phil Guerrero
Glenn Hernandez
Kevin John Hernandez
Maylin Hernandez
Raul Herrera
Mark Hodgson
Peter Lynch
Anthony Mercado
Weldon Montgomery
Kristen Nyman
Bianca Ordonez
Harles Perretti
Ethan Roberts
Adnan Samma
Devondra Shaw
Brandon Silberman
Rosa Villa
Eliot Warner
Livio Zanardo