Members of Missouri State University’s Model United Nations (Model UN) attended the 2024 joint Arkansas Collegiate Model United Nations (ACMUN) / Oklahoma Model United Nations (OKMUN) Conference Nov. 2.

Over 20 MSU students served as Model UN delegates in the following councils: United Nations General Assembly First Committee (GA1), Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and Council of the Arab League (AL).

The conference, hosted by Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, promotes collaborative learning and research in pursuit of solving prominent international issues such as cybersecurity and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, said Dr. Ashley Leinweber.

Leinweber is the Model UN faculty advisor and is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Philosophy at Missouri State.

In addition to serving as faculty advisor since 2013, Leinweber helped form MSU’s current Model UN chapter. A previous organization, the World Affairs Council (WAC), was disbanded around 2010, Leinweber said.

First competition of the season a big success

This was the first Model UN competition for the MSU team this academic year, Leinweber said. It was also the first time MSU had attended the ACMUN/OKMUN conference.

“We were unsure what to expect,” Leinweber added. “The fact that two of our students won awards was very impressive.” Typically, the teams participates in 1-3 competitions a year.

“We always attend the four-day Midwest Model United Nations conference in St. Louis in February,” Leinweber said. “We are hoping to raise enough funds one day to attend other conferences, especially the National Model United Nations held at the UN Headquarters in New York.”

Meanwhile, for the past two years MSU has hosted the Great Plains Model Arab League conference and will host it again in April 2025.

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