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Model UN Team Attends Columbia University Conference

The McDonogh Model UN team had a great trip to the Columbia University Model UN Conference over the weekend of January 11 to 14. McDonogh's delegation of 16 students attended committee sessions for up to 12 hours each day and competed against 800 students from 76 schools across the US and the globe.

In their roles at the Conference, Mark Cherches '25, Connor May '24, and Carly Green '24 were called out for midnight crises from 11:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and tasked with solving emergencies concerning their committees. Under the leadership of Carly Green (President), Jackson Smith '24 (Vice President), and Jon Salenger '24 (Secretary), McDonogh's Model UN team demonstrated the dedication and hard work required in preparation for the conference. McDonogh alumnus Daniel Kim ‘20, the Secretary General of Committees at Columbia University where he studies Economics and Political Science, caught up with the group when they had a spare moment. Congratulations to the entire team and to the following students who earned special recognition:

Jackson Smith won the award for Best Delegate (two years in a row) as Jani Vreto, an Albanian freedom fighter, at the Congress of Berlin, in 1878.

Mark Cherches won the award for Best Delegate as Alvah Bessie, a Hollywood screenwriter accused of having ties to communism during the Red Scare period.

Jon Salenger won the award for Outstanding Delegate as Heliotrope at the Encryption Eclipse Event that dealt with the fictional scenario of hackers attacking the financial epicenters of the world.

Connor May won the award for Honorable Mention as Uesugi Kagekatsu, a powerful daimyo during the Battle of Sekigahara in Japan.