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Students join world community at Model United Nations session

Sacramento State students will get a taste of international diplomacy when they travel to New York City for the National Model United Nations session, April 4-11.

Government Professor Ronald Fox will take 11 students to the annual session where they will debate and work with 2,300 students from across the United States and about 30 other nations.

The students will represent the Third World Network, a non-governmental organization that advocates for policies beneficial to countries in the Southern Hemisphere.

Topics for debate are chosen ahead of time from suggestions made by faculty and staff, and are based on contemporary issues debated in the U.N.

Fox started the University’s Model U.N. program in 1977, and this is the 23rd year Sacramento State students have participated. Students have won delegation awards at the spring New York session, including “Best Position Paper” three of the last five years.

Sacramento State students also take part in the American Model U.N., held in Chicago during the fall. At those sessions, Sacramento State’s delegation has won the “Overall Best Delegation” award five of the last six years, including four straight, representing Colombia, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela. Sacramento State is the only school in the conference’s history to win more than two consecutive titles, and won last year for representing Mexico.

There are many rewards for the students, Fox says. Participants learn about the U.N., and international diplomacy while improving their communication and interpersonal skills. Most importantly, he says, is the enhanced awareness students gain about multicultural diversity through their interaction with delegates from around the world.