The Department of Government, Public Service, and International Studies hosted the 58th Arkansas Model United Nations (AMUN) conference at the University of Central Arkansas on November 17-18, 2023. Some 500 delegates from 27 high schools in Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, and Oklahoma participated in the conference. Gabriel Mince served as Secretary-General, and Sarah Fulmer served as Deputy Secretary-General of the conference. Several UCA students, as well as students from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville, University of Texas-Dallas, and Oklahoma State University, served as committee chairs, co-chairs, and legal counsels. Dr. Mark Elrod served as AMUN Conference Coordinator, and Dr. Mark Mullenbach served as AMUN Faculty Advisor Liaison.
During the opening session held in Ida Waldran Auditorium in Main Hall on Friday, November 17th, UCA President Houston Davis gave the welcoming address to the participating delegates. In addition, six students nominated by their faculty advisors gave delegate speeches during the opening session, including Avery Thomsen (Bentonville-West High School), Jillian Bradshaw (Conway High School), Pranav Neupane (Haas Hall Academy-Bentonville), Daniel Taft (Conway High School), Daniel Hiles (Rockhurst High School), and Lake Nall (Pulaski Academy).
During the closing session, the nine students who were elected Rapporteurs in their respective committees were recognized for speeches, including Omar Ghalayini (European Union), Avery Ferguson (Mexico), Solomon Naraine (Slovenia), Mary Caroline Grimes (Mexico), Michaela Stevens (Kazakhstan), Dylan Mercer (Slovak Republic), Nora Shitandi (Mozambique), Sophia Bogart (Belgium), and Caleb Bowman (Germany). In addition, the Outstanding Delegates for each of the committees were recognized during the closing session — European Union (Har-Ber High School) – DISEC; Saudi Arabia (Haas Hall Academy-Bentonville) – ECOFIN; Greece (Bryant High School) – SOCHUM; Jordan (Pulaski Academy) – Novice GA Committee; Guatemala (ASMSA) – ECOSOC; Mexico (Conway High School) – HRC; Slovenia (Rockhurst High School) – Council of the EU; Mozambique (Har-Ber High School) – Security Council; USA (Pulaski Academy) – Historical Security Council; and Morocco (Haas Hall Academy-Bentonville) – MICJ.
Following the conference, the delegation representing the United States of America (Pulaski Academy) was presented the Outstanding Delegation award. The delegations representing the Russian Federation (Haas Hall Academy-Fayetteville) and Slovenia (Rockhurst High School) were presented the Outstanding Delegation Runner-Up awards. Twelve additional delegations were presented the Outstanding Delegation-Honorable Mention awards, including Azerbaijan (Pulaski Academy), Greece (Bryant High School), Iceland (Haas Hall Academy-Rogers), Jordan (Pulaski Academy), Kenya (Pulaski Academy), Lebanon (Rockhurst High School), Mexico (Conway High School), Nigeria (Pulaski Academy), Pakistan (Pulaski Academy), Poland (Pulaski Academy), Slovak Republic (Conway High School), and Ukraine (Bentonville High School).
