by John Selby ‘15
Fifty-two Saint Ignatius students shook Mr. Arko’s hand as they climbed aboard the Cleveland Southeastern Trails motorcoach that was bound for the prestigious University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.
But this was no traditional athletic team. This is the kind of team that uses pragmatic reasoning as the ball, parliamentary procedure as the rules, and debated resolutions as the scoreboard.
But all the aspects of the traditional sporting teams are still present: the chemistry and camaraderie needed to succeed as a group, veteran leadership, and months of preparation before the actual game.
The team in question are the J.C.W.A. (Junior Council on World Affairs) Diplocats who compete as a delegation in Model United Nation Conferences held at various universities across the nation.
Model United Nations seeks to educate participants about current events, topics in international relations, diplomacy, and the United Nation’s agenda through the simulation of United Nation committee sessions at conferences of hundreds to thousands of high-school delegates.
At conferences, delegates from across the country meet in their respective committees, the culmination of months of research heading into the conference. Delegates gather, collaborate, debate, and consult with each other in order to write a resolution that tries to address a pre-determined topic like child labor, United States policy towards China, or the 1967 Nigerian civil war.
“It was my first love at St. Ignatius,” says Kellen Dugan ’14, president of JCWA. “It’s shaped the man that I’ve become, and it’s helped me achieve things that I could have never achieved without it.”
The Saint Ignatius Model UN team’s most recent competition was held at the 33rd session of VAMUN (Virginia Model United Nations).
Delegates departed from Ignatius after school on Thursday, November 7th on an 8-hour bus ride to the University of Virginia.
The august college campus was the backdrop for an extremely competitive weekend of far-ranging debate and diplomatic discussions.
Sample committees from the conference include the Papal Conclave in which Charlie Heintel ’16 and Ben Seeley ’14 competed – Ben represented the Jesuit community well as he was elected Pope and chose St. Ignatius as his new papal name – as well as NASA 1961 in which Kellen Dugan ’15 and Tyler Delhees ’14 competed, and the Iranian Revolution in which Tom Horan ’14 represented the Ignatius delegation.
This was the first time the Diplocats attended VAMUN, an upper-level competition attended by schools including top-five nationally ranked Horace Mann, a New York private school whose delegates opposed Ignatius delegates in almost every committee. The Diplocats performed well and received 7 awards, including 5 Verbal Commendations , won by Andrew Beddow ’14, Alastair Pearson ’14, Ben Seeley ’14, Richard Kraay ’14, and Zach Stepp ’14. Two team members won extremely prestigious “paper” awards, an Honorable Mention for Kellen Dugan ‘15 in the NASA 1961 committee (equivalent to third place in committee) and an Outstanding Delegate for Tom Horan in the Iranian Revolution committee (second place).
But JCWA is about camaraderie as well as competitiveness.
“Being on a bus for 20 hours is not fun,” admits Brian Koehler ’15, a first time Model UN participant, “but what is fun is being on a bus for 20 hours when you can share experiences with 51 other people you like and respect.”
Whether it be the football team or magic the gathering or the rock and roll club, a bond is formed between the members of a close-knit group of students.
Members say that JCWA is not something to join because it looks good on a college resume. JCWA gives students opportunities made available only once in a lifetime.
“ [JCWA is] a club that teaches strategy, confidence, and compatibility,” Dugan said. “Kids that join never regret it because it teaches skills that are necessary to be successful in life.”
