Volume 67, Issue 8

YUNMUN Preparations in Full Swing
by Michael Rosman

Jewish high school students from around the country have February 9th circled on their calendars, as it marks the thirteenth annual Yeshiva University National Model United Nations (YUNMUN) conference.  This year’s conference will take place at Kutsher’s Country Club in Monticello, New York for the third consecutive year.

YUNMUN, the conference’s more commonly accepted name, brings together hundreds of high school students from all across North America to take part in group sessions simulating real-life operations at the United Nations.  The high school students represent the various countries in the U.N., with each school allotted a certain number of delegates corresponding to those nations.

Students are then chosen to participate in one of the seventeen committee sessions, up from fifteen last year.  The many committees vary in size from the 70 plus delegates in the General Plenary to a concentrated 10 to 15 in the International Court of Justice.  Each committee is chaired by one of several Yeshiva students who are well trained and, for the most part, have previous experience at the conference.

Although it is not a widely known fact, YUNMUN is the primary recruitment program run by Yeshiva’s admissions office.  A simple glance at the numbers and statistics indeed confirms its past success.  Yeshiva’s undergraduate enrollment has risen 25% over the last few years to a whopping 2,200 on campus this semester, compared to the 1,700 in the mid 90’s.  “I think we can point to the success of high school programs the University sponsors, like the Model UN, the Wittenberg Wrestling and Red Sarachek Basketball tournaments, and debate competitions," said Moish Kranzler, Yeshiva’s dean of admissions.

Throughout the school year, the aforementioned events, coordinated by the admissions office, bring high school participants from around the country to Yeshiva, and they are subsequently introduced to the campus and student life.

To spice things up, however, there will be several previously unseen changes instituted specifically for this year’s conference.  Two new committees were added to the core group: the Conflict Resolution Commission with Yeshiva College senior Zack Streit serving as its Chairman, and NATO with Stern College for Women senior Caryn Litt slated to be the chairwoman.

Along with the addition of the two committees, there were some cut backs. Yeshiva’s admissions office reduced the number of students invited to attend the conference.  In all, 450 students are expected this year, down from approximately 700 last year.  When asked to account for the reason for the cutback, Helen Markowitz, associate director of admissions and administrator of YUNMUN XIII, claimed, “A smaller number of students creates a more intimate setting allowing more students to benefit from the conference.”

This year, unlike last, Yeshiva has extended invitations to various faculty advisors from new schools that have not yet attended the conference; Yeshiva anticipates that this will serve as the new precedent for new schools applying to join YUNMUN.  “Because of the seriousness off the conference, we would like to expand the number of schools that attend, and by having these faculty advisors come and see what actually transpires over the three days, we hope they will return the following year with their schools.”

In the past, the conferences have almost always been hailed as a huge success.  This has been greatly attributed to the diligent work of Ryan Hyman, former associate director of admissions for Yeshiva.  This year, many students are apprehensive about Markowitz’s ability to replace Hyman as the head administrator of the conference.  One Yeshiva College junior said, “Ryan has been running a flawless conference for the last several years, and change at a time like this can’t be good.”

Kranzler, however, does not see this as a concern at all.  “We knew before last year’s conference that it was going to be Ryan’s last,” he said.  “We subsequently had Helen work hand and hand with him to prepare her for administrating this year’s conference.  She is very capable and will do a great job.”

Markowitz’s staff includes YC seniors Moishe Singer and his assistant, Uzi Beer, the various coordinators, and this year’s secretary general, SCW senior Bini Bornstein.  “Bini is highly competent and can make this the greatest conference yet,” Markowitz said.

In general, the job of the secretary general is to oversee the conference and ensure that it runs smoothly.  In addition, she is in charge of hiring the staff to run the committees.

“My staff and I have been working endlessly on the preparation for the conference,” said Borenstein.  “We are all excited and expect it to be the biggest and best conference ever!” ¨

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