Every year, select members of Shorewood Model UN travel to Chicago to participate in the annual conference, Northwestern University Model United Nations (NUMUN). Each participating student is assigned their own country to represent. Within each country students are divided into different committees with differing, diverse global problems. The two main kinds of Committees are the General Assemblies (GAs) which focus on debate and formal resolution papers, and Crisis Committees where delegates represent specific characters/organizations rather than countries.
Before the conference, students from every school are split into many different committees. Each committee focuses on a specific, real world problem. All members of each committee work together to solve the assigned issue.
Students are expected to perform extensive research on the given topic, then compile the most relevant information obtained into a cohesive paper — clearly stating what their position is. The expectation is that each delegate will approach a problem from the perspective of their assigned country/organization/character, requiring a deep understanding of other current, relevant events, and culturally significant aspects. Delegates collaborate to form resolutions about these real world issues that will hopefully be passed by the committee. At the conclusion of the conference, the resolutions are voted on and certain students are selected for their notable to outstanding performance to receive an award.
The 2026 NUMUN conference featured over 14 committees, ranging from simulations of the World Trade Organization to more specific events like the 7th Voyage of Chinese explorer Zheng He.
“We had students in almost every committee, and we also had a lot more Crisis assignments than usual, which made this a lot more interesting,” said Catalina Perez, junior and Model UN Vice President. “It made things a lot more exciting because usually the GAs tend to all meld together and not be as exciting. So I was glad a lot of people, especially underclassmen, got to experience that.”
The preparation for the conference was also different compared to last year because of the sheer amount of new club members, and the fact that the Shorewood was limited to 36 spots for the entire conference.
“This year we had a lot of new members,” said Logan Borchardt, SHS Model UN’s junior liaison. “I was worried about preparing enough on the leadership side, mainly because our ‘learning’ conference Carthage didn’t give us as many spots as usual, so a lot of the new club members that couldn’t go to that conference had their first experience at NUMUN.”
This factor was exacerbated by the fact that Model UN is a very procedure-oriented activity and can be difficult for beginners to learn quickly.
“It’s honestly kind of hard to explain and something you can only learn by participating in it.” Borchardt said “This year at Northwestern we had a lot of new freshmen…but I think everyone did really well and I think really enjoyed it which is great, especially considering that the preparation situation wasn’t ideal.”
Along with the committee sessions, the group also had a lot of free time while in Evanston, including the opportunity to tour campus.
“Generally, the trip is very fun,” Perez. “We have a lot of downtime to socialize with other schools, Evanston also has some really great restaurants, and of course, it’s just nice to meet new people and spend a couple days with your friends.”
On the more academic side of the conference, the Exec Board says that the students put in a very fruitful performance. Both Shahzada Shah (senior) and Catalina Perez won awards in their committees, winning a Diplomatic Commendation and an Honorable Mention respectively.
“I think the weekend went pretty well overall,” Borchardt said. “We’re now just getting ready for elections for the Exec Board next year, but the conference was a good note to end the year on.”