The College of the Canyons Model United Nations team garnered the Outstanding Delegation Award, as well as 10 individual awards at a conference at UCLA.

The College of the Canyons Model United Nations competitive travel team received another Outstanding Delegation award this past weekend to end their 2017 season.

The team received the award at the Los Angeles Model United Nations conference, an international competition hosted by UCLA that invites premiere competitors from across the country and globe.

College of the Canyons was only second to UC Berkeley, but out-competed schools such as UC Davis and USC, as well as some of their competition from international four-year institutions.

“Dr. Van Hook tells students and faculty, ‘If you can imagine it, you can do it,’” said Dr. Phil Gussin, a professor of political science and the MUN team’s faculty advisor. “And our team took that to heart.”

In a Model United Nations competition, topics are assigned to committees that mimic the actual UN bodies and procedure. Students then study the topics beforehand, and come prepared to work alongside students from other schools representing other countries in order to democratize a solution to these international problems.

“It was such a rewarding experience. We got to work alongside Erika Siao, Younous Albojermi and Mashad Badii, from Berkeley, and Hunter Parnell, from the Air Force Academy, to come up with a solid solution for the safety of journalists around the world,” said one COC student that attended. “Our resolution did not necessarily get the required votes to pass, but I feel like we brought a lot of important issues to the forefront of the discussion.”

Along with the Outstanding delegation award, COC had brought twenty delegates to LAMUN, ten of whom won individual awards.

“These students already possess the intellect and drive necessary for success,” said Gussin. “My role is to boost their confidence, provide some guidance, and then get out of the way.”

This is not the first award the team has received this year nor the first time multiple delegates have won individual awards.

The College of the Canyons competitive travel team was awarded Best Delegation at its previous conference, the Long Beach Intercollegiate Model United Nations Conference, in conjunction with 17 individual rewards.

“When we first started competing on the West-Coast circuit, nobody had ever heard of College of the Canyons. Now, they not only know us, they look forward to competing with us,” said Gussin.

At the end of Fall 2016, College of the Canyons was ranked among the Top 50 MUN programs in the nation — the only community college to achieve that distinction.

“We still don’t have the same funding as the four-year institutions. Hopefully, that will change in the future and we will be able to participate in more conferences. If that happens, the sky is the limit.” said Gussin.

For more information regarding College of the Canyons MUN, visit their Facebook page here.