Converse Wins Outstanding Delegation Award at International Model NATO
By Joe Dunn
For the 18th consecutive year, Converse took the Outstanding Delegation Award at International Model NATO during the February 2023 conference in Washington, DC.
With an award in every one of the six committees, the Converse delegation, representing the United States, bested teams from such high-profile institutions as the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, Howard University, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Universite du Quebec a Montreal, Malmo University (Sweden) [one of the top ten rated universities in the world], Royal Military Academy of Canada, Air Force Academy, Virginia Tech, and many others. Probably the most interesting was the M.A. program in international service at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (where the students were all masters level present or future foreign service officers).
The Converse second delegation, representing Luxembourg, comprised primarily of freshmen, won a Superior rating—the third rating below Outstanding and Distinguished, ranking them in the top third of the delegations.
Among many exceptional performances, junior Pashion Oswalt ’24 (Nisbet Honors) won the single best delegate designation, voted by her peers, in the Nuclear Planning Group. Sophomore Gretchen Berry ’25 (Nisbet Honors) and freshman Fetya Fichtinger ’26, besides taking the peer-voted Distinguished Award in the Political Committee, were designed by the faculty advisor for that committee for the leadership award for the most significant, sometimes lower-profile contributions to the work of the committee.
In my 36 years in Model Programs, I have witnessed many incredible chairs, but sophomore Jack Stokes’ ’24 leadership in the Military Committee, may be ranked at the top. His vote by the faculty as the best chair was virtually unanimous as he bested four other outstanding Converse chairs. Erin Kitchenka ’23 (Nisbet Honors), the Converse co-head delegate, served as Secretary-General for the Model.
The Southeast Model Arab conference will be held at Converse University from March 17-19, 2023.