College students run the vast majority of Model United Nations conferences.  However, on Jan. 11, 2014, students at Edina High School will take on a challenge when they host the first high school student-run Model United Nations conference in Minnesota.

Planning for the Edina Model United Nations Conference, or EMUNC, began last spring, with the selection of students for the multitude of positions that needed to be filled in order for the conference to be a success.  There were the standard positions of Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General.  Other major responsibilities were divided up among four subgroups:  Conference Content, Committee Operations (Dais), Committee Operations (logistics), and External Relations.

As this is the first time that Edina High School has ever hosted such a conference, Under Secretary-General for Committee Operations Ben Kilberg acknowledged, “We are definitely going to learn a lot through the process.”  Students had to problem-solve together and work through many obstacles that came their way.  For one, organizing the conference over the summer was difficult because students were often out of town or inundated with other responsibilities.  Meghan Hurley, Assistant Secretary General, observed that though “it was hard to find times where everyone from all four subgroups could meet,” this summer was critical in the initial planning of the conference for students to develop a solid base from which to move forward in conference planning.

A key part of the process was selection of the topic, in which the students were particularly meticulous.  “We came up with a list of three different topics, and committee members researched them, tried to figure out which one would have the most relevance, most content, and be unique from other conferences.  We then talked with our advisors and picked rights of indigenous people,” explained David Porter, Under Secretary-General for Conference Content.

From there students focused on finding a speaker for the opening ceremonies that was relevant to the topic.  After many emails and phone calls, students lined up Kevin Lindsey, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, to speak at EMUNC.

Attracting area schools to a high school conference required students to create a website from scratch, write an extensive background guide, and advertise in various ways to make sure the conference met the high standards expected of typical MUN conferences.  “We are selling a conference that is usually run by college students, so the language has to be very professional, the whole look and set-up has to be professional,” stated Bobby Martin, Under Secretary-General for External Relations.  “We really had to step up our game to make sure everything was on a level that far exceeded high school standards,” he continued.

With the help of its two steadfast advisors, Ms. Betsy Nimmo and Mr. Nickie McKeever, Edina Model United Nations has developed from twenty-four students in 2010 to a nationally ranked extracurricular organization with close to two hundred members.  The inaugural EMUNC is a fitting testament to how far the program has come, and hopefully this trailblazing effort will spark a trend of high school-run MUN conferences. Schools interested in the conference can receive more information at emunc.org, with registration closing on Dec. 6,2013.  “It’s really exciting,” stated Secretary General Sarah Nealon, “there’s a lot of pressure for it to go well, but it really is an honor.”