I heard about this conference near London when I started directing Model United Nations in 1996. I was always impressed with the students who came from Royal Russell and who worked on MUNITY, the THIMUN conference newspaper. Their directors were my mentors, dedicated to their students and really fun to work with. They planted a seed long ago that I should bring students to their conference. There was never a doubt I would be paying them a visit during my sabbatical.
Royal Russell School is an independent school in the Shirley area of Croydon, South London. It is a co-educational day and boarding school. The motto of the school is Non sibi sed omnibus meaning "Not for one's self but for all". With profound content I found this motto ever-present in the proceedings of their 38th annual MUN conference.
As our students simulate the proceedings of the real United Nations, I have an idealistic believe that the delegates are engaged whole heartedly in the business of resolving global issues, protecting human right and finding global peace all for the sake of being involved in the process of drafting a descent resolution that attempts to find a solution to the problem.
So when an MUN conference gives out awards for Best Delegate and Best Delegation I can't help but think delegates will overlook the process and go for the personal win. If you are beating out others in an argument, are you listening to them? When you need to be the main submitter of a resolution in order to win an award or get a good grade for the exercise, how can a resolution be the best it can be when individuals put themselves first over what's best for all? Perhaps I have seen too many delegates fight for the main speaking position for all the wrong reasons, giving me a skewed positions about awards at MUN conferences.
The participants of RRSIMUN gave me a renewed sense of hope in our youth. What I witnessed were empathetic, compassionate, fiercely competitive and incredibly creative delegates who listened to each other and worked together in the spirit of solving real problems in their world today. Not once in the three day exercise did I see or hear a student putting oneself (their nation) over all. If I had to summarize the conference in a few words I'd have to borrow from the philosophy and mission behind FIRST Robotics and use "Gracious Professionalism" and "Coopertition". What I saw at RRSIMUN was a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. Gracious professionals learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. Coopertition is displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition. Coopertition is founded on the concept and a philosophy that teams can and should help and cooperate with each other even as they compete. What a perfect lesson for our global leaders who are creating policy for their nations and negotiating peace in a global setting.
These ideas were most noticeably present in the Crisis Committee that was set up by conference coordinators. In all forums a world crisis was read (see below) and delegates could volunteer to leave their current debate and represent their assigned nations in the resolution of this crisis. Two chairs were appointed by the crisis participants. For an entire day the committee of 20 delegates had to come together to prepare a resolution that would be read and voted on during the plenary session of the conference by all member states.
It was no easy task representing Turkey and Russia in this scenario. They were constantly being put on the spot and asked challenging questions. Members of the Security Council were brought in as experts. There were many opportunities for delegates to crush another delegate because of poorly chosen words or arguments. Instead, delegates rose to the teaching moment and served as mentors, offering advice or redirecting another delegate so the debate would stay on course and not lead to embarrassment. I saw delegates putting themselves in other peoples shoes and realizing it was not the time or place to destroy the spirit of an enemy on the floor of debate or on paper. This committee had a seriousness in purpose and stayed true to the policies/arguments of their nations AND had fun in the process realizing a victory would come if they all worked together and negotiated peace.
For many delegates there is great joy being involved in substantial research, public speaking, debating, and writing, as well as critical thinking, teamwork, and working on leadership abilities. I love that many of the students at the conference were in the first few days of a two week fall holiday. And they chose to spend their time talking about the question of protection from fraudulent pharmaceutical medicines globally, the question of improving agricultural productivity as a means of eradicating poverty or the question of the blockade of Qatar.
I also had the privilege of observing the press team meet their deadlines for their conference newspaper, The Delegate. https://www.royalrussellmun.co.uk/2019-conference/the-delegate-2019/ . I was also blown away by the set up and work of MUNTV at Royal Russell. https://www.royalrussellmun.co.uk/muntv/ . Their control room and ability to live stream the plenary session was brilliant.
Overall I was just so happy to see that awards are so much more than about "winning" a gavel or certificate at a conference. The students participating at RRSIMUN understood that being the best delegate meant doing your research, knowing your topics and country policies, put to good use your speaking and debate skills, and above all else, cooperating and competing in a way where everyone wins.
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