Debating with the Best: Albright College Model U.N. Takes the Debate to D.C.

By Eric Mack

In October 2010 the Model United Nations Club at Albright College took debating to a new level, moving from the quaint room of Teel 114 to the international stage. After weeks of planning, the college debate team traveled to the nation’s capital over Halloween weekend to participate in an international conference: The National Model United Nations in Washington, D.C.

Hosted by the Osgood Center at the Homewood Suites D.C., the conference drew college teams from around the world. Over the course of an exciting weekend of debate, the Albright club sparred verbally with students from across the globe, discussing international issues of paramount importance, such as nuclear proliferation, eliminating HIV/AIDS in Africa, world development programs and environmental protection.

Representing the nation of Sweden, members of the Albright College Model United Nations would stand before a conference room full of students, presenting their positions, countering points and raising concerns about the issue at hand. In a simulation of the U.N. process, and working with their international peers, they drafted resolutions, made amendments and reached compromises—hard but enjoyable work.

Serendipity delivered a great bonus charged with laughter to leaven the Realpolitik of the capital. On the same weekend as the MUN conference, “Daily Show” host and political satirist Jon Stewart held his nationally acclaimed Rally to Restore Sanity on the National Mall, along with fellow political comedian Stephen Colbert of “The Colbert Report,” who shared the venue with his March to Keep Fear Alive. Students had the rare pleasure of enjoying the political process both in and out of the conference rooms, going from a room filled with people in semi-formal attire and the measured tones of parliamentary procedure to crowds brandishing signs and riding floats—all within a 10-minute walk.

When not parsing political points with their peers, or rallying for sanity or fear with the throngs that packed the National Mall, students had free time to explore the city. It being Halloween, people in costume made their way along the crowded streets at night—another experience that made the trip and the weekend memorable.