CSUN’s Model U.N. Team Heading to N.Y. Gathering

The Cal State Northridge Model United Nations team will hold its final class Wednesday before leaving two days later for the national conference in New York.

The university, which has participated in the national event for 30 years, will send 32 students as representatives of the Russian delegation. The team will prepare by reviewing material about the Russian Federation and watching videos on the country to help them better understand the Russian perspective.

Each student is assigned to a committee at the conference, where they will individually represent Russian interests.

“We have simulations [of participating in U.N. committees] in the classroom, where students are presenting their positions and then they are asked questions by the class,” said professor Henry Lopez, the team’s advisor.

The CSUN team requested Russia as its delegation country because of Russia’s influential position on the U.N. Security Council and because the government has undergone so many changes.

“Russia is going through a major transition from a totalitarian, communist form of dictatorship,” Lopez said. “We thought it would be great to study the new democratic constitution and compare it to the U.S. Constitution.”

Last year, the team represented Mexico.

In addition to learning about the Russian government, the students have an opportunity to develop leadership skills, Lopez said. There will be more than 2,700 students from more than 200 universities, 16 countries and five continents attending the conference, which ends April 4.

The guest speaker this year will be U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan.