The Mastermind behind HenMUN I

We all know that Honors students excel in most everything they do (okay, most of the time). Max Kramer, a senior Honors student majoring in political science and economics and Secretary-General of HenMUN, is no exception to this. Kramer’s vision of bringing a Model UN conference to the University of Delaware was realized just this past weekend as approximately 360 delegates from 17 schools all across the country came to participate in the first ever HenMUN

HenMUN, which received coverage from UDaily  and Best Delegate, one of the best resources for Model UN information, provided all participants with the experience of a lifetime. The basis of the conference was to simulate actual situations that one would have to deal with on certain U.S. committees, the EU or the UN. Students were assigned to specific committees ranging from standard committees to specialized and crisis committees. Each one was faced with a certain problem which they had a limited time to debate and solve creatively.

Max Kramer addresses the delegates at the HenMUN I opening ceremony. Photo by Doug Baker for UDaily.

The crisis committees were arguably the ones with the highest adrenaline. Kramer claims that the simulations were so real that some of the kids were woken up in the early hours of the morning, put into a room and given a crisis that needed to be solved in less than 30 minutes. Some of these committees included the National Security Council on September 11, 2001 or the Iranian Hostage Crisis in 1979. There were also hypothetical situations in the future such as the EU facing Russian threats in 2020.

“Many universities have these conferences,” Kramer said. “UD didn’t have a conference of its own and it provided a chance for our Model UN team to gain prestige and recognition, but it also helped the university. If even one of those 360 delegates chooses to attend the university when they weren’t sure before that’s a benefit for UD too.”

The experience wasn’t just life-changing for the high school students, but the college student volunteers as well.

“The volunteers were dedicated 24/7 to their committees and students,” Kramer said. “They did every task they were assigned to do with a smile on their faces.”

The sentiment seemed to be the same from all persons involved as I scanned the Model UN Facebook page. Statements such as “Not sure if I speak for just myself, but I might be the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole life,” and the group sentiment of “gavel separation anxiety” proved that the first ever HenMUN conference was beneficial to all. Overall HenMUN was an earth-shattering success and is sure to be back next year with a new Secretariat that is just as solid at this one.

Kramer, who has been a candidate for the Truman, Rhodes and Marshall scholarships, has traveled to Dubai twice with the Honors section of Global Agenda with Professor Ralph Begleiter. “The Honors Program has done more for me than I could count,” Kramer said.  In addition to these opportunities, the Honors Program was one of many departments that helped make Kramer’s dream a reality this past weekend.

~Chelsey Rodowicz

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1 Comment

  1. Kristin Bennighoff

    March 8, 2013 at 7:52 pm

    Congrats to the entire HENMUN team, especially Max! I am so proud of you!

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