Model United Nations Earns

Accolades at New York

Conference

Galloway, N.J. – When Stockton junior James Culbertson of Absecon went

to New York City as part of the Stockton Model UN team representing
China, he drew on his experiences during another Model UN trip to China
last year.
“By going there, I could really see how they are trying to present
themselves to the West,” Culbertson said. “I could better represent that
country because I knew what to say and how to behave as a representative
of China.”
Thirty-four Stockton students represented China on 21 different UN
committees at the National Model UN (NMUN) conference in New York City
from April 14-18. The team included students majoring or minoring in many
different disciplines, including political science, history, computer science,
biology and criminal justice.
The Stockton delegation took home an award for “Best Delegation,
Honorable Mention,” reserved for the top 20 percent of participating
 schools. The criteria for this award includes remaining in character, actively
participating in committees, and properly using the rules of procedure.
“Stockton students accurately represented the views of China as they
addressed contentious global issues with students from over 125
countries," said Associate Professor of Political Science and Model UN
Advisor Tina Zappile. "Stockton’s team itself has students from more than
ve global regions who speak multiple languages, carry different political
views, and major in different elds of study. They embraced their own
diversity to tackle complex problems, while developing skills in negotiation,
public speaking, intercultural competency, and crisis management. Their
work in collaborating with others to develop and write global public policy
was impressive.”
Several students earned recognition in individual committees with “Best
Position Paper” awards, which are typically given to the top one to ve
percent of students in each committee. The students below received them
for their research and papers on China’s position regarding predetermined
topics. The honorees were:
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 • Mike Cusick and Celine Kamalieh: United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
• Adjoa Co e, Syeda Sanjidha, and Bright Wiafe: World Food
Programme (WFP)
• Jibreel Tompkins, Olivia Norton, and Adjoa Co e: United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
Allison Uhrick, a senior political science major from Sewell, and Dom
Tierno, a senior political science major from Colingswood, both worked as
volunteer staff at the conference and spent months preparing and helping
to organize the conference.
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“We started working in October and began training in January to learn how
to run a committee,” said Tierno. “This is the most well-rounded experience
you can have.”
Uhrick, who also went to China, said all of the skills she developed on
Model UN helped prepared her to work as a volunteer. 
She and other said the lessons they learn in how to negotiate,
communicate and be a good diplomat will serve in in any career.
Culbertson is currently studying Mandarin Chinese and is applying for a
Fulbright teaching assistantship in Taiwan.
“You learn to see so many different perspectives in Model UN,” he said.
“You really get a richness and also see the United States differently through
how others see it.”
Participating students on the team were: Adjoa Co e, Jessica Peoples,
Melody Weber, Ingrid Rivero, Kyle Poteete, Sam Al Hajjar, Wade Van
Orden, Adem Ahsan, Angelisa Diveny, Syeda Sanjidha, Ivan Rosales,
Ahmed Ibrahim, Axavier Dennis, Joseph Hawn III, Nikolay Pertesis, Celine
Kamalieh, Jay Rehani, Alessandra Vetrano, Alan Klingenmaier, Jibreel
Tompkins, Ifrah Qadi, Chioma Uka, Fernando Pelaez-Freire, Anthony Forte,
Dillon Murray, and Shane Moore, Mariam Eskander, Adam Walawender,
James Culbertson, Sean Metzler, Mike Cusick, Bryan Gonzalez-Mejia, Tori
Robbins, and Miroslava Hall.
View photos from the event on the Stockton Model UN Facebook page.
More information is on the Stockton Model UN webpage.
Reported by Kat H. Wentzell and Diane D'Amico.
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Contact:

Diane D’Amico 

Director of News and Media Relations

Stockton University

Galloway, N.J. 08205

Diane.DAmico@stockton.edu

609-652-4593

609-412-8069

stockton.edu/media
Tagged: 2019Model UNAwardsNews