Model United Nations, Model UN, or MUN for short, is a competitive educational simulation of the actual United Nations. Fieldston’s Model UN club was founded in 2014 by Ryan Kelly ‘18, Ben Kaiser ‘18, and David Runte ‘18. The faculty advisor is historian Dr. Gerry Blaney. Since then, the club has undergone a massive expansion with 75 members this year, a middle school branch, a tutoring service, a 24 person travel team, and a strong sense of friendship and camaraderie. A normal year’s schedule for the club is to attend two local conferences (one day each), two college conferences (four days each), and to host a conference for middle schoolers in the Spring. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, EthicalMUN IV was cancelled. I interviewed Model UN Co-Presidents Iva Knezevic (VI) and Theo Dassin (VI) on the growth of the club as well as their reflections on the past, present, and future of the club itself.
Fieldston’s Model UN club has become a force to be reckoned with over the past three years. The club has amassed 14 verbal commendations, 19 honorable mentions, 13 outstanding delegates, and 6 best delegate awards, for a grand total of 52 awards during Iva and Theo’s tenure. While Model UN itself may appear to be heated and aggressive, the club, in true Fieldston style, manages to foster a laid back environment amidst the competition. Co-President of Model UN, Iva Knezevic believes this is because “Our club has a lot of smart and driven kids, creating an atmosphere of hard work. That coupled with some jokesters forms an environment that emphasizes growth instead of winning.”
Her Co-President Theo Dassin agrees. “The club leads to friendship automatically. So much time is spent together on busses and in hotels that it is impossible not to bond. All of the upperclassmen are extremely willing to show the underclassmen the ropes and act as mentors during their high school careers. Model UN is so unique because club members are able to form such strong cross grade bonds. I hope that I was able to mentor the younger kids, because I was fortunate enough to have such great relationships with the older kids when I was an underclassmen. Model UN made me the person I am today”
Iva mentions that she too felt like a mentor figure within the club. “I roomed with three sophomores this year and we’ve become super close friends. It was really impactful to be able to be a mentor figure for them and I’m so grateful I was able to become so close with people that I would have never talked to otherwise.”
She also says that the reason the club manages to do so well is “because we compete as individuals for our team, we do not endorse selfish behavior by club members. Model UN cares about everybody as a whole, not just the individual.”
Iva notes that while the club may be incredibly successful, it does not necessarily receive the recognition it deserves. She says “It’s frustrating to return from a successful conference and not see the same recognition that a sports team may get, however, as a whole the school has been very supportive of the club’s endeavors.”
Iva’s distinction of Model UN being a competitive club that strives for academic excellence vs. a team that competes on a physical level is supported by Theo Dassin, a varsity athlete who will be running track for Amherst college next year. Dassin says, “I would say that Model UN is very similar to a varsity team. Each club meeting is like a practice. There’s also an amazing social aspect to these conferences. You get to engage in tough competition against your friends, but as soon as a committee session is over the club is back to its regular jovial self.”
That being said, Model UN also engenders academic success amongst its participants. Iva believes “that there is a correlation between learning the necessary skills for Model UN and doing well in school, because Model UN teaches you about the world, thinking on your feet, compromise, how to articulate ideas, and many more useful skills.”
Theo concurs and adds that “joining Model UN 100% improves your academic life. Originally, I had no idea Model UN was a competition. It was such a shock to see that all of these kids were so cutthroat, but that’s what taught me to go into things in a prepared manner and be ready to excel. Get done what you need to get done. If you’re not prepared, you’re not ready, and you will be called out.”
Fieldston prides itself on having a progressive mission and value-based learning, so I asked the Presidents what they thought the intersectionality of Felix Adler’s vision and Model UN looks like. Iva strongly believes that Felix Adler would love the idea of a Model UN club because “The club is essentially an embodiment of the school’s mission of a progressive education, inspiring diverse and passionate learners, critical thinkers, and ethical individuals who aim to make the world more humane and just. Most of all, people who do Model UN are genuinely interested in learning more about the world.”
Model UN’s travel team also has a commitment to gender equality, with half of the travel team spots going to male-identifying students and the other half going to female-identifying students.
Theo sees Model UN as Fieldston’s largest embodiment of the school mission. He states “Model UN, more so than any part of my education has taught me how to articulate my ideas. A huge part of the Fieldston mission is to debate and encourage discourse, but in no place other than Model UN was this as successful.”
If it wasn’t clear before, Model UN has developed a cult-like following at Fieldston, thus generating a dedicated membership and large emotional and social investments from its travel team. Theo says “Model UN is a cult in the best of ways. There is a bizarre amount of obsession around it. It’s so much fun having a club that is as close as we are, we are like one big family. Calling us a cult is a compliment.”
Dassin reminds us that just four years ago the club was struggling to recruit members, but this year it became the club with the most sign-ups at the club fair. “That was a super exciting moment, to get the most club sign-ups out of any club at the clubs fair, it was really amazing to see so many kids ready to take the plunge and get into Model UN. The club gave me so much throughout my time in high school, so to be able to provide that experience for so many other kids is such a great feeling.”
Clubs at Fieldston can have a tendency to be competitive with one another, all in the spirit of good fun of course. I asked Theo what he thought about this relationship and he jokingly asked “there are other clubs?”
The coronavirus pandemic disrupted the club’s spring plans to host one of the city’s most notable Model UN conferences for middle school students, but Iva and Theo remain optimistic about the future of EthicalMUN. Theo remains incredibly grateful for Fieldston’s support for Model UN. “The school has shown so much respect for our club. We go out on a limb for the school by representing them, so there is a lot of responsibility that comes along with that. Dr. Blaney is a phenomenal help and it was so nice of the school to trust us to run this. The fact that we go to two college conferences a year shows their commitment to the club and I just know that next year’s EthicalMUN will be the best one yet.” Iva agrees. “There isn’t much we can do about this situation, but I was fortunate enough to lead our club through successful EthicalMUNs and I can’t wait to see the future of the conference.”
On the topic of the future I asked Theo what he envisions the club to look like in a few years and he said “In ten years I see our auditorium filled for EthicalMUN. The auditorium would have been filled this year but the coronavirus forced us to cancel. It would be so cool for our club to run a major New York City conference. I hope the club becomes a major powerhouse at college conferences because I see us sweeping “best delegate” and constantly winning “best delegation.”
Iva and Theo both believe that the legacy they leave behind as club Co-Presidents is one that not only dramatically increased the amount of awards won, conferences attended, and club membership, but a legacy of friendship and community. Theo says “Join Model UN! Regardless of whether or not you enjoy competition our club will always have a place for you.” Iva agrees and adds “Model UN gave me some of the greatest memories from high school. I am immensely grateful to each and every club member and I cannot wait to see what the club continues to accomplish.”
Finally, Iva and Theo were both asked to describe their fellow club leader. Iva said “Theo is always able to exude a calm and positive attitude when under pressure and he does a great job keeping the spirit alive and bringing the team together.” Theo described Iva as “The most dedicated leader the club could ask for. We have such a great yin yang dynamic, and leading Model UN with her has been a highlight of my time at Fieldston.
