MUN Set to Attend Berkeley Conference

SVHS Model United Nations club is expected to attend the MUN conference at University of California at Berkeley. In past years, the club has attended the esteemed conference at Washington D.C called NAIMUN. This year, they were planning to travel to New York, but due to Covid protocols, they were forced to choose a closer location. 

SVHS had placed a ban on overnight field trips due to covid protocols. Because Berkeley is within driving distance from Sonoma, students would have been able to attend the conference by carpooling from Somoma to Berkeley for the duration of the conference. However, SVHS has since lifted the ban on overnight field trips, meaning as of now MUN members are able to attend the conference and spend the night.

The conference is the weekend of March 4th, giving students something to look forward to as the semester evolves. Although Covid provided uncertainties for club attendance at the conference, they did not struggle to get students to sign up. Junior and MUN member Bella Steinley says, “there are over 20 people expected to attend the conference in March.”  

When asked about the importance of attending these conferences Co-President, senior Bella Quilici states the “conferences are quintessential to the Model UN experience. [MUN members] get to practice parliamentary procedure with like minded delegates and learn about forgein issues.” The BMUN conference allows club members to practice their public speaking skills as they get to present their selected country’s information to their committees during the debate period. 

Junior and Treasurer Sam Cutting reveals “the conferences have a natural competitive nature which is the best experience for building the skills of debate and collaboration.” MUN students are expected to attend the conference assuming Covid rates do not increase resulting in protocol changes.