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By Phil Williams
pwilliam@franklin.uga.edu
Some two dozen UGA students will soon be selected to find out the true scope of international relations. Next spring, they will attend the National Collegiate Model United Nations Conference, a
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William Chittick
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program that meets in New York City each year and actually works out of the U.N. building.
UGA’s involvement in the program extends back at least 25 years. However, the serious nature of the problems in today’s world, from land mines to starvation, make the Model U.N. perhaps more important than in the past, says William Chittick, professor of political science and adviser for the program at UGA.
“We have had really outstanding student leaders in the program, and we’re looking for more this year as well,” says Chittick. “The students have the sense that they are doing something very real--that this isn’t just a game.”
Final selection of UGA’s team will be complete sometime this month. The university pays for the students’ air tickets, rooms at the Grand Hyatt Hotel and registration to the conference; students pay for their own meals and for surface transportation in New York City.
Students can be enrolled in any school or college on campus. They are selected on the basis of their knowledge of the United Nations and their organizational and leadership ability and academic record. About 60 students apply each year, and about 23 are selected.
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| Danielle Metz (right), a senior at UGA last year, was at the podium in the General Assembly hall as a director of the conference session. |
Chittick, who has been involved with the UGA program for seven years, says that students typically come away from their time at the United Nations with a much better idea of how such groups work--and with a head start on leadership skills useful in their careers.
“Students at first seem struck by what they consider the unreality of it all,” he says. “But they soon find out that their initial lack of knowledge and the hard work they must do to have an impact is pretty typical of the real thing.”
Each participating college selects several countries that it would like to represent at the Model U.N., and the national coordinators then pick one country to assign to the university. All 191 countries at the U.N. are represented. The UGA team should know its assigned country by Thanksgiving. The team prepares for the five-day conference by doing in-depth studies of their country--its strengths, weaknesses and problems.
Some students serve on the Security Council or on committees such as the U.N. Children’s Fund, NATO or the Arab League. During the week, they usually get to meet the secretary general of the United Nations.
“Each fall we submit six different countries we’d like to represent, so we do have some idea what we might be representing,” said Chittick. “When the country is selected for us, we are given a lot of background information and the issues with which each committee will be
concerned.”
In general, there are two UGA students on each assigned committee, since it takes two to keep up with the massive flow of information and political maneuvering that inevitably goes on.
Chittick stresses that the program can make an important difference in a student’s leadership abilities.
“We had a student once who on the first day basically only talked to two or three other people,” he says. “On the second day, she was leading a subgroup in their discussions, and by the last day she was in charge of the whole committee. She’s now in medical school. In that kind of setting, it takes a lot of confidence to be a leader.”
Some students are predictably quieter, behind-the-scenes workers, while others, says Chittick, are “cheerleaders.” Whatever their persuasion, the week requires knowledge, persuasive abilities and sheer stamina for the 10-hour days.
Chittick recalls numerous students who have gone on to use their skills in the international arena. Julie Smithwick, for instance, was involved in UGA student government as well as the Model U.N. She joined the Peace Corps after she graduated and is now in her third year in Ecuador.
Another former student, Bonnie Ling, spent six months in an internship at the Committee on Human Rights in Geneva and later served in East Timor. She still works for the U.N. and is in charge of resettlement for residents of Sarajevo.
“This program gives the students a way to see the good things that get done at the U.N. every day,” says Chittick. “We try hard to match the students with their interests, so it ultimately is a great way for them to get started on their careers.”
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