On November 7 and 8, Ithaca’s Model United Nations (MUN) Club attended a conference at Hilton High School in Rochester, New York.
Over forty IHS students attended the two-day conference—the largest cohort that the school has brought in years. In the end, Ithaca took home twelve awards: four Best Delegates, four Outstanding Delegates, and four Honorable Mentions.
Members of MUN reflected on the conference with a strong sense of accomplishment. Vice President Joseph Levine ’26 said he was “very proud of all the work that we’ve done.” He and President Owen Kinney ’26 both emphasized how the club’s focus on public speaking helped delegates step outside of their comfort zones and succeed at the conference.
For many students, Hilton was their first conference. New delegates described both their growth and their excitement for future conferences. Livia Avgar ’29 and Alin Wegkamp ’29 highlighted how their experience prepared them for upcoming committees. Avgar shared that they “feel more confident speaking” after the conference, while Wegkamp noted that “it was a really great experience to meet people who shared my interests.” Audrey Gecan ’29 added that “I got over my fear of public speaking and made a lot of new friends,” encouraging newcomers to the club to “put yourself out there in committee.”
Returning delegates echoed this enthusiasm, noting how the conference reaffirmed their commitment to the club. Rodrigo Lanners Campos ’27 described MUN as “a really great opportunity to meet a lot of new people, engage with different perspectives, and learn more about the world and yourself.” Andrew Breen ’27 observed that “MUN has gotten so much bigger since I started as a freshman, so it was really nice to see how the club has grown.” Sarah Nicoara ’28 added that she was “so grateful to have a club to take us to conferences like this.”
For many returning members, Hilton was still a new experience. For Andrew Vajk ’28, this was his first time participating in a crisis-style committee—an experience that earned him an Honorable Mention. He explained that he had to “think more on my feet,” and that he “was really able to see how to work collaboratively with others while trying to advance my own goals.”
Hilton also marked a milestone for Jingying Xu ’27, who was selected by the conference secretariat to chair a committee. She described chairing as “a very enlightening experience, allowing me to meet people with very diverse perspectives which really fostered my love for the community.” The experience, she added, “helped me hone my skills for when I am actually in committee.”
MUN advisor and English teacher David Rosenfeld also viewed the conference as a major success. He recalled walking between committees and frequently seeing Ithaca delegates actively participating: “A lot of times when I pop in the door, sure enough there is an Ithaca delegate at the front speaking and being active. That’s what makes me proud to be the advisor of the club.” He added that he is “looking forward to the rest of the year.”
MUN holds weekly meetings after school on Thursdays in G110. The team’s next conference will be the Central New York Model United Nations (CNYMUN) Conference at Syracuse University on January 9 and 10.