CMC's Model UN Team Wins Big

More than 2,000 delegates from top schools representing 65 countries converged at the spectacular Convention Centre on the Coal Harbor waterfront in Vancouver, Canada for Harvard's World Model United Nations. Among the delegations was Claremont McKenna College under the leadership of Ajay Sridhar '12, President of CMC Model UN. "Delegates are evaluated based on their ability to lead discussion, provide valuable insight, and create compromise," said Sridhar. "Though the topic of debate is focused on internationally-oriented topics, ultimately those who win are the leaders." That was proven to be the case last week as CMC walked away with the "Best Small Delegation" award at the end of the conference as well as several individual awards.
Many consider this competition to be the World Championship of Model UN, making this victory especially exciting for CMC. Daniel Shane '13, who serves as VP for the team said, "CMCers worked diligently to succeed in this conference, particularly those attending for the first time. We did well last year under the leadership of Shaun Khubchandani '11 and had to perform incredibly in order to build upon that momentum. Knowing this, Aditya Pai '13, Neil Malani '13, Shriya Ravishankar '14, Kanupriya Rungta '14, and Aseem Chipalkatti '15 put in lots of hard work before the conference researching country policy and creative solutions to their respective debate topics. More impressively, they would routinely wake up early and stay late at the conference itself, working with other countries to diplomatically arrive at a solution all were comfortable with." This hard work and recognition was noted by all in attendance and will surely further the image of Claremont McKenna College on a global scale.
When asked why he puts so much effort into this, Sridhar says, "I feel that it truly represents an opportunity to apply the leadership skills I've learned through my CMC education. I've gained skills that allow me to become a leader in a room full of people I don't know. Not only have I been able to participate in a number of conferences, I have had the privilege of working with some of my very best friends."