Conway, AR—The University of Central Arkansas will host the 49th Arkansas Model United Nations (AMUN) Conference on Friday, November 21 and Saturday, November 22 and begin plans for the 50th anniversary of the AMUN.
UCA President Tom Courtway will welcome approximately 425 delegates and faculty advisers from 24 high schools throughout Arkansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Tennessee at the Opening Session at 1 p.m. on Friday in the Ida Waldran Auditorium.
The keynote speaker during the Opening Session will be Jose Guzzardi, a 2007 graduate of UCA with a bachelor’s in international studies. Guzzardi, who served as Secretary-General of the AMUN in 2006, is currently employed as a sourcing manager for Wal-Mart (E-Commerce) in São Paulo, Brazil. Previously, he worked as manager of Institutional Relations for Wal-Mart in Brazil from January 2011 to August 2014. Guzzardi earned a master’s degree in public service at the Clinton School of Public Service in Little Rock.
Committee sessions, involving simulations of the Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Human Rights Council, and League of Arab States, will be held on Friday afternoon and Saturday. The Plenary Session of the General Assembly, including three committees of the General Assembly, will convene in Ida Waldran Auditorium at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The Closing Session, including the awards ceremony, will take place in Ida Waldran Auditorium at 4:00pm on Saturday.
Next year, UCA will host the 50th AMUN conference on November 20-21, 2015. A reception and planning session for the 50th anniversary will be held on Friday, November 21, 2014 in the UCA Student Center, Room 205A at 6:30 p.m. Former AMUN secretaries-general and others who were involved in AMUN are invited to attend the reception and planning session.
Professor Simms McClintock, who taught political science at Arkansas State Teachers College (ASTC), established the AMUN program in the fall of 1966. The first AMUN conference was held at renamed State College of Arkansas (SCA) in Conway in January 1967. David Gruber, from Heber Springs, served as Secretary-General of the 1st AMUN conference. Brett Newcomb, from North Little Rock, served as President of the General Assembly during the 1st Annual AMUN conference, and he served as Secretary-General of the 2nd and 3rd AMUN conferences held at SCA in 1968. McClintock served as coordinator of the AMUN for more than 25 years.
Dr. Mark Mullenbach, associate professor of political science at UCA, has served as coordinator of the AMUN since August 2001. For more information about the AMUN, please contact Mullenbach at markm@uca.edu or 501-804-0618 (cell).
– 30 –
