In February, the 2025 Mount Saint Vincent University Model United Nations Delegation travelled to Toronto to compete at the North American Model United Nations (NAMUN) at the University of Toronto. The delegation is supported by the Department of Politics, Economics, and Canadian Studies (PECS) and MSVU’s Model United Nations Program Coordinator and Head Delegate, Morgan Hussey. Morgan led the delegation, including presenting weekly lectures and workshops in preparation.
The delegation was comprised of seven students who represented various nations and characters in various general assemblies, specialized agencies, and crisis committees. Assignments for NAMUN 2025 included:
- Morgan Hussey (Head Delegate) representing the United States of America on the general assembly United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC),
- Joseph Saoud representing Thailand on UNFCCC,
- Morgan Hobin representing Spain on the general assembly United Nations Women (UNWomen),
- Magnus Gillis representing the People’s Republic of China on the general assembly United Nations Commission on Science and Technology Development (UNCSTD),
- Vanessa Sarkis representing Iran on the specialized agency the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
- Suwela Paim Vassoa representing Grégory Gérin-Lajoie on the crisis committee Festive Foul Play, and
- Daniil Zhelezniak representing Crown Prince Constantine on the crisis committee the Balkan Puzzle.
The delegation saw big success at NAMUN, being named Outstanding Small Delegation for the conference. This award marked the delegation’s greatest success to date in Model United Nations competitions and marks a significant achievement in the delegation’s progress. In addition to the delegation award, two delegates brought home individual awards. Magnus Gillis received the Book Award for his position paper for UNCSTD, and Vanessa Sarkis was named Best Advocate for her performance as Iran on the ICJ.
The delegation’s travel and conference experience was made possible by the generosity of the PECS department and the Marial A. Mosher Scholarship Fund. In addition, the delegation participated in fundraising throughout the year to help finance their conference attendance, including a bake sale held in McCain Atrium in February.
In addition to conference activities, the delegation participated in cultural activities while in Toronto. These activities are designed to complement the conference experience and provide delegates with exposure to cultural activities. The delegation visited Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, where they toured different exhibits and learned about aquatic life in different regions of the world.