 It’s been about a month but Tonicia Williams can still vividly recall the moment she saw the words “The University of the West Indies” appear on the massive projector in the hall at the Boston Park Plaza hotel.
“I just remember screaming,” says the 24-year-old student from the Institute of International Relations (IIR) at The UWI St Augustine.
And well she should. Tonicia, along with her fellow delegate and IIR student Terriann Baker, had just been announced “Outstanding Delegates” in the intensely competitive 65th session of the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN), besting student delegates from the most recognised universities around the world. They weren’t alone.
Two other IIR students, Nestor Garcia and Asabi Rawlins, were awarded the coveted “Diplomatic Commendation” at HNMUN. Students from UWI Mona also received three certificates, meaning the entire UWI delegation (including St Augustine, Mona and Cave Hill) took an incredible five certificates in competition with Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford and many others. In total, 3000 students from 90 countries took part.
“It’s really a phenomenal accomplishment,” says Dr Georgina Chami, Coordinator of the Postgraduate Diploma at IIR, Research Fellow and Faculty Advisor for the St Augustine HNMUN.
Founded in 1955, the HNMUN is the “oldest, largest and most prestigious” (the official statement says) model UN. Model UN’s are called “simulations” because they allow students to experience the working life of a delegate.
As Asabi says, “While such conferences are ‘simulations’, I truly think it benefits your personal and professional growth. It’s a confidence builder, expands your appreciation and awareness of complex global issues and strengthens your negotiation skills. Less than two weeks after HNMUN, I went to the actual UN headquarters in New York thanks to my job and I certainly see how MUN prepares you for real world diplomacy.”
HNMUN is also a competition with the goal of crafting the “winning” resolution (a type of treaty). Participants can also win certificates for their performance, as was done by the UWI team. HNMUN was held from February 14 to 17 in Boston.
“There is a duality,” says Nestor. “It’s all about cooperation but it is in a competition setting.”
The UWI St Augustine delegates in particular had to overcome the challenge of a small window of time to prepare for the event. Model UN simulations are no small matter and universities make major investments in time and teaching for their students to compete.
“For several universities taking part in model UNs is part of their curriculum,” explains Dr Chami. “They take it extremely seriously.”
 Although UWI Mona has a model UN club and St Augustine created one at the end of 2018, the four delegates - Nestor, Tonicia, Asabi and Terriann - had no such resource to rely on. Instead they had a rigorous, three-month training process to prepare them.
“It was extensive,” says Nestor, who, unlike the others had taken part in the HNMUN before.
Tonicia elaborates: “First, you have to submit a position paper which is a country’s stance and solutions to your topics, for each subtopic in one page. And so, the research that went into that was intense, because that’s the Dais’ first introduction to your work and how your country is thinking, and then on top of that we had training. We had no idea what to expect. Giving impromptu speeches was one of the hardest things to learn, especially with no preparation and that’s why research was so important.”
However, the team benefited greatly from the experience of two HNMUN veterans, Akeela Marin and Brandon Rampersad, who both have competed in the model UN several times.
“They are very seasoned,” Dr Chami says of them. “They came and did a lot of training with us in the areas we were lacking.”
The complete UWI team for HNMUN was assigned the role of the delegation for Kenya. Terriann and Tonicia represented the World Health Organisation and Asabi and Nestor represented the International Organisation for Migration Committee. Within their respective groups both partnerships were competing and cooperating with more than 160 delegates.
Despite the challenges it was an extremely rewarding experience:
“It really taught me to be brave and confident in my ideas,” says Terriann. “There were so many great experiences. There is a different dynamic when you are speaking, a different dynamic when you are writing, and a different dynamic when you are collaborating with your partner.”
She was also pleased with how UWI was able to take a position among the top universities on an equal footing and show its excellence.
Tonicia stressed that even though it was a competition they were able to become acquainted with people from all over the world. “It kind of humanises the whole experience, as much as we were there to win and we are very happy that we won those awards.”
Dr Chami, who gave a special thanks to the Office of the Vice-Chancellor of The UWI for its support, was most pleased for the students:
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of preparation and then they get their moment in the sun,” she says, smiling. “You know what these students have been through and you want them to shine.”
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