By Vihaan Bhatnagar
Toronto Metropolitan University’s (TMU) Model United Nations (UN) team, MetMUN, competed in the 52nd National Collegiate Security Conference (NCSC) hosted by Georgetown University in Washington D.C. The four-day event was held from Oct. 31 to Nov. 3.
Model UN is an educational simulation where students act as delegates from various regions and collaborate to address global issues, according to the United Nations website.
MetMUN selected 16 TMU students to compete in the NCSC, the annual top-ranked fall Model UN event globally according to their website. Despite not winning any awards, the team viewed their participation in this top-level competition as a strong source of motivation to reach future goals.
Reza Pournaji, MetMUN’s president and a second-year accounting and finance student, said the team’s experience at NCSC provided essential preparation for higher-stakes competitions.
“We got a good taste of a very competitive conference at the NCSC conference. I hope it adequately prepares our members’ mindset for [future competitions],” he said.
Pournaji said the team is aiming to compete at Harvard University, which has the highest-ranked and most competitive Model UN competition globally.
Shervin Akhlaghi, the vice-president of MetMUN and a third-year civil engineering student, expressed his desire to propel MetMUN to new heights.
“Me and [Pournaji], we had this vision, and I’m pretty sure everyone in the club now shares it too: top 50,” he said. MetMUN is currently ranked 63rd globally, up from their 93rd ranking in 2023 after competing in according to their Instagram page.
Asia Vrazalis, director of external affairs for MetMUN and a first-year politics and governance student emphasized the team’s enthusiasm for the experience.
“It was phenomenal. It was definitely a learning experience,” she said. “You’re up against some of the most vicious competition you could possibly be up against, but it was really great having the support of the team.”
MetMUN’s chief of training and third-year civil engineering student, Owen Webbe, described their selection process as “a good mixture of ambition and experience.”
“We were looking for people that were willing to take a risk, to go to another country and represent the school there. Ultimately we ended up with a really good team,” he said.
The team met with Stuart Savage, the Canadian Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS) and former ambassador of Canada to Haiti. Akhlaghi said the purpose of meeting Savage was to gain insight into how diplomats work as many students within MetMUN are pursuing careers in public policy.
Vrazalis said meeting Savage was inspiring for her. “He brought in [some] of the wonderful people he worked alongside and we were just asking them a bunch of questions and got to see what they do in their day-to-day,” she said.
Akhlgahi emphasized Webbe’s critical role in preparing members for upcoming competitions, calling him their “MVP.” Earlier this year, Webbe won the Best Delegate award at the North American Model United Nations (NAMUN), hosted by the University of Toronto.
“It’s one big gigantic game, so we have to play the game if we want to be good and if we want to be recognized,” Webbe said.
MetMUN’s next event will be their annual conference—MetMUN conference—from Nov. 15 to 17 at TMU.
Following this, they will attend McGill University’s McMUN conference in Montréal from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, 2025, and Harvard College’s Harvard National Model United Nations in Boston from Feb. 20 to 23, 2025.
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