CMC Diplomacy Wins the Day at Model UN Conference

Claremont McKenna College students won the competition at the second annual Santa Barbara Intercollegiate Model United Nations conference, which took place November 5 6 at UC Santa Barbara. CMC sent 24 students to the conference, competing for the first time in the "Large Delegation" category against schools such as UC Berkeley, UCLA and USC.
Thirteen CMC students at the competition received recognition and CMC students won six of the 10 possible "Best Delegate" awards. No other institution won multiple best delegate awards.
The Model UN program focuses on developing leadership skills while students gain awareness of international issues. CMC's Model UN program focuses on international relations, debate and leadership.
CMC's Model UN team is led by Ajay Sridhar '12, in his second year as president, and Daniel Shane ' 13, in his second year as vice president. Sridhar is an economics and mathematics major currently in the process of applying to Ph.D. programs in economics. He said he hopes to be an academic economist, and hold advisory roles for a number of international organizations, including the UN. Shane is a PPE and Econ-Accounting dual major who hopes to enter a career in international business.
Sridhar says he hopes to establish CMC Model UN as one of the top five teams in the country. "With this decisive victory, CMC Model UN has established itself as the premier Model UN program on the west coast," said Sridhar.
CMC's Model UN team has four more conferences on its schedule this academic year, including conferences at the University of Pennsylvania (UPMUNC) in Philadelphia and Harvard WorldMUN in Vancouver.
The 24 students who represented CMC at the conference were: Lauren Callahan '14, Tess Hubbeling '15, Carolyn Lenderts '14, Neil Malani '13, Sho Kajima '15, Harry Pellicoro '15, Hyo Sung Joo '15, Caitlin Highland '14, Ankit Sud '14, Kanupriya Rungta '14, Andy Willis '14, Karan Malik '15, Vikrant Jain '15, Ian O'Grady '15, Mallika Srinivasan '15, Ali Siddiqui '15, Arjun Kapur '14, Shriya Ravishankar '14, Jasjeet Virk '13, Rita Gilles '15, Dante Toppo '15, Aseem Chipalkatti '15, Daniel Shane '13, and Ajay Sridhar '12.
Students recognized as Best Delegates included: Sho Kajima '15, Daniel Shane '13, Shriya Ravishankar '14, Lauren Callahan '14, Arjun Kapur '14, and Neil Malani '13.
Sridhar said another goal of CMC Model UN has been to host a high-school level Model UN Conference at CMC. The first conference, McKennaMUN I, will be held in January 2013 with Daniel Shane '13 serving as Secretary General.
"It is our aim to turn McKennaMUN into one of the most prestigious high school conferences in the country in the near future," Sridhar said.